Studio Snapshot: The Lady and the Sea Monster

The Lady and the Sea Monster [above] arose from my thoughts on clashes between beauty, modern art, and classicism; I wanted to show the tension that often exists between inner and outer worlds, between abstraction and naturalism, but I did not want to make a painting so self-reflexive as to be gimmicky. And so, a mythology arose in my mind (I have always loved a good epic legend), and bold strokes converged into a sleek, stylized image with a smooth glossy finish. This is a rather large canvas, but due to its tall, narrow shape, it may not look quite right at smaller sizes. Be sure to click on the image for a larger view!