Posts Tagged ‘owls’

It’s not as if I went out of my way to watch Jerry Maguire. I mean, who does that? The thing is, Coral found the movie for $1 at the local Goodwill. Personally, I would have saved my dollar, but it was Coral’s dollar and in her mind owning Jerry Maguire was a fantastic idea. About a week after we watched it I had a bunch of new paintings that I needed to title and that’s when I realized the true intoxicating power of Jerry Maguire. The temptation to name my paintings after things from the movie was inescapable. These paintings are all owls, so it should be obvious that the movie in no way inspired the making of the paintings, but I certainly had fun with the titles.

“The Ambassador Of Quan”
4.25″ diameter (not including the routered edge) – mixed media on wood, signed on the back.
$65, plus shipping. Order here.
This title came from Cuba Gooding Jr.’s emotional line at the end of the movie. See for yourself…

“You Complete Me”
4.25″ diameter (not including the routered edge) – mixed media on wood, signed on the back.
$65, plus shipping. Order here.
This line is easily the most quoted and recognized piece of dialogue from the film. What I did not remember was that it’s first appearance in the film wasn’t even spoken. It was said in sign language! There is a couple in an elevator with Jerry and Dorothy and one of them (the deaf people, not Jerry or Dorothy) signs it to the other. Or maybe they sign it to each other. I really have no idea what they are saying with their sign language. It may not even be accurate. For all we non-signing people know, the lady could be telling the dude that she could really go for a cheeseburger after work. Long story short, if I remember correctly, Dorothy tells Jerry what they said, which is why it is so impactful later in the movie. Aww, what a cute tie in. It’s impossible to believe that Jerry actually feels that way about Dorothy, but that’s a whole other blog post I will never write. Seriously, watch the movie again. Their love story is so weak I’m shocked anybody fell for it when the movie first came out. Personally, I find the line way more fitting coming from The Joker in The Dark Knight.

“The Kushman”
6″ diameter (not including the routered edge) – mixed media on wood, signed on the back.
$80, plus shipping. Order here.
Frank Cushman is Jerry O’Connell’s character and he’s some hotshot football player that every sleazy sports agent is trying to get in bed with. Jerry gets close, but loses out to his nemesis, Bob Sugar. I spelled it with a “K” because who doesn’t love a good marijuana reference? Also, a lot of people say my characters look stoned or I get asked, “What were you smoking when you painted this?” What was I smoking…c’mon, it’s like these people don’t even know me. Before I paint I snort crushed up Tylenol PM tablets, DUH!

“Call Me Sugar”
4″ x 6.25″ oval (not including the routered edge) – mixed media on wood, signed on the back.
$65, plus shipping. Order here.
This was named after Jerry’s back stabbing protege, Bob Sugar. But check this out. The other night I watched Reservoir dogs for the first time in I don’t know how long and there is a car scene where Chris Penn references an old TV show called Get Christie Love and they joke about how she would say, “You’re under arrest, Sugar,” so now I think of that when I see the title for this painting. It took some digging, but I found this for your enjoyment. You might want to skip ahead to the 50 second mark. Or just watch the full clip because TV intros from the 70’s are fantastic.

“You Had Me At Hoot”
4″ x 6.25″ oval (not including the routered edge) – mixed media on wood, signed on the back.
$65, plus shipping. Order here.
Of course, this is really the most quoted and remembered line from Jerry Maguire. I don’t know what I was thinking earlier when I said “you complete me” was the most popular line from the movie. Dorothy says “you had me at hello” after Jerry gives his big emotional “come back to me, you complete me, wah wah wah, I’m a big baby” speech. This is an owl and we all know owls say “hoot” instead of “hello”. So, for this painting, we had her at hoot. If somehow you’ve forgotten this scene (you haven’t) here is a reminder for you.

Thanks for looking and reading. Remember, these are all one of kind original paintings. Once they are gone, they are gone forever. Or at least until Sotheby’s has them up for auction. Before that happens you can purchase any of them directly from me through my online shop.

Thanks for all of your support!
– Jeff

I just keep painting owls. They’re fun to paint and as it turns out I’m not the only one obsessed with them. Here’s the latest of the owl paintings I’ve made over the last couple of months.

“Read Me Poetry”
6″ x 6″ – mixed media on wood.
$100, plus shipping. To add this to your collection, purchase online.
I’m pretty sure owls like to have poetry read to them and I think it’s safe to say that Shel Silverstein is probably their favorite poet.

“I Play Piano”
8″ x 8″ – mixed media on wood
$145, plus shipping. To add this to your collection, purchase online.
In addition to loving poetry owls are also very musically inclined. They are known to play violin, harp, and piano. On rare occasion you can find an old school owl busting out eerie love ballads on a harmonium. Owls are huge fans of Penguin Cafe Orchestra.

“Don’t Mess”
6″ x 6″ – mixed media on wood
$100, plus shipping. To add this to your collection, purchase online.
This owl is not one to mess around with. If you cross him he’s sure to strike back.

These next two owls have found loving homes. They have essentially flown the coop and are living very happy lives in their new homes.

Those last two were 4″ squares, which has been a super popular size. I’ve had quite a few commissions for that size and am always accepting more. If there is a particular color scheme you’d like that I don’t have available let me know. The 4″ square owls are $50. If you’d like to commission one send me a message.

Hoot! Hoot!
– Jeff

It’s been a long time coming, but I FINALLY made a couple of new button packs. The first one is dedicated to the lovely owl, which I’ve enjoyed painting so much the last couple of years.

(click the above photos if you’d like to order The Owl Pack)

For those of you that like INFORMATION, here’s a little for you. I will break down a little history on each of the designs featured in this pack. We’ll use the next photo for reference.

Starting like you read a book. Ha, remember books?! Anyway…

The first owl is from a painting that is barely a week old. It’s so new, in fact, that I actually haven’t resin coated it yet.

The painting is called “I Play Piano”. Why? For one, owls are incredibly gifted with instruments, which is a fun fact most people don’t know. Actually, nobody knows that because I just made it up. As of this typing the original painting is available to purchase. Ok, I’ll tell you…When I finished painting this I was in the studio on a Friday night and there just happened to be a dude playing the piano in there. I figured if he could play the piano then my little owl could too. Lacking fingers, however, I don’t think my owl will ever be as good as the dude.

The second owl in the pack is a little snippet of the painting I did for Batch Ice Cream Shop in downtown SLO.

The third is another little snippet of a bigger painting, which was titled “The Misadventures Of Mr. Montana”. It was painted in March of this year and I’m happy to say that the original sold about a month ago.

Fourth up is “The Mind Reader”. I know it looks a little out of place based on the color scheme, but I wanted it in the pack anyway. This one has a more layered story. Hold on a sec…can you believe there is this much to say about a pack of 5 buttons? Yeah, me neither, but it’s 3:08am, I’m sleep deprived, let’s just keep going. Ok, so this owl came from an original painting too and I eventually used the owl for a sticker design. For this button I went with the sticker version. The circle format of the button did not allow for using the original because too much of the painting got cropped. The original is long gone…I mean, let’s face it, there are serious owl collectors out there. However, the sticker is still available. Click the photo for order info.

Last, but not least, is one of the first owls I ever painted, titled “Cahoots With Me”. Quite possibly, the very first one I painted and it was for my “Lovesick” solo show at the now defunct Alpha Cult in Long Beach, CA back in 2009. Again, it’s kind of a snippet, but not much. The original sold years ago, but the image lives on in the form of limited edition prints, which are actually very close to selling out. If you’d like to order one that would be super sweet and you can do so by clicking the picture.

The print is cool enough, but it really doesn’t compare to being immortalized on skin. Check it!

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this little walk down owl memory lane. I’m still in shock that this much info exists just to explain a button pack. If you’ve read all of this, thank you very much. I’ve sacrificed eating, sleeping and laying in bed next to a beautiful woman to write it, so I’m glad you stuck it out. I’ve got to have at least one reader out there that finds this somewhat interesting or entertaining, right?

Oh, and please don’t expect a similar post when I start promoting the “Things With Wings” button pack. I don’t know if I have it in me.

As Elliott would say, Nigh nigh!

– Jeff

Yes, still addicted to owls over here. These three are the latest. All of them are available to purchase from my etsy shop.

“Mr. Rager”
4″ x 4″ – mixed media on wood
$30, plus shipping
To purchase, please order online.

“Sing Me A Sonnet”
4″ x 4″ – mixed media on wood
$30, plus shipping
To purchase, please order online.

“I Eat Mice”
4″ x 4″ – mixed media on wood
$30, plus shipping
To purchase, please order online.

Thanks for looking!
– Jeff