Maternal Instincts: The Nest of Earthly Delights, 2021

As the title might suggest to some, my painting’s strangeness is an homage of sorts to the magnificent triptych, The Garden of Earthly Delights, 1490-1510 by Hieronymus Bosch (about 1450-1516).  Each year I reread Ernest Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream at least once and there is a fun passage where Bosch is mentioned. That passage always triggers my fondness for Bosch. I only know this painting by illustration and have not seen it in person. Seeing the actual painting is on my bucket list.

In nature, cats hunt and kill birds. My painting depicts a hungry kitten sitting in a nest with its mouth wide open while a robin holds a worm in her beak. The robin’s motherly instincts have taken over as she prepares to feed the adoptive kitten.

Another fun situation that the painting offers is the fact that the robin is Michigan’s state bird, which is my home state. I was very aware of this while formulating the composition.

Tiger Barb, 2016

Tiger Barb, 2016 was painted at the Scarab Club.  The idea was minted shortly after I started painting kuhli loaches.  If memory serves me correctly, the primary sketch came to me quickly and there was no need to tinker with the composition. My wife and I currently have five green tiger barbs that buzz around our 30-gallon tank in our basement. They are essentially schooling fish, so it probably would have made more sense to have painted multiple tiger barbs on a single canvas. Maybe next time!

Death on a Pale Rat, 2020

Death on a Pale Rat, 2020 is a play on the DIA’s great painting, “Death on the Pale Horse” by Benjamin West (1738—1820).  I believe my mentor at the DIA, Nancy Rivard Shaw was very involved in the painting being purchased by the museum.  At any rate, this West painting has always had a special place in my heart.

I painted an earlier version (8 x 10” on panel) that appeared in my Scarab Club exhibition, “Cats Rule: The Art of Michael Crane in 2019.” 

I have been toying with the idea of painting a large canvas with artist friend Mike McMath where we have a full-on battle with sword wielding Snuggie Cats, some of which are mounted on rats…could be epic!

Nietzsche Cats: Beyond Good and Evil

I may have started this painting in Detroit and finished it in San Francisco, but I am not certain. At any rate, the panel is subdivided into four equal parts, each containing a lone cat. Moving from the lower left we have a red devil cat holding a pitchfork. The backdrop is engulfed in flames. Moving to the right, we have a Kiss Cat with a long serpentine tongue. This frame’s flames give way to an evening sky. Writing about it now, I should have included a distant moon in the sky—too late. Above is a gray Byzantium Teaching/Blessing Cat against a gold ground background. To the left is an enlightened Glow Cat that holds a martini.

I used a pour on resin varnish for this painting. Artist friend, James Gregg helped me with the varnish.

Upon my return to Detroit, I reestablished myself in Studio #5 at the Scarab Club. Nietzsche Cats: Beyond Good and Evil being one of my favorite paintings, I naturally hung the painting in the space. When my studio mate moved to Nashville, he took the painting with him.

Space Cat (2014)

Space Cat, 2014, was painted when I was living in San Francisco.  I used a canvas from one of the two value packs (18 x 24”) I inherited because the factory gesso was too thinly sprayed on.  Essentially, all I needed to do was apply a good layer of gesso on myself—no issues on my end.  Because the canvases were free, I was a little looser with them and more experimental than typical.  These four free canvases eventually became, Underwater Cat, Parachute Cat (study), Clarinet Cat, and Space Cat. 

Space Cat features an elated astronaut cat waving to its viewers on the moon.  Flying overhead is a space shuttle that I believe turned out really well.   Space Cat is included in the catalogue, “The Art of Michael Crane: Cats Rule.”  The painting is currently unframed, so I will likely remedy that situation soon.    

Pearl Gourami, 2021

I am really having a great time painting tropical fish lately and I am thrilled with the way this painting turned out. I typically find gouramis body shapes extremely fun to paint—their appearance is on the quirky side. There are of course considerable variances within the species, which keeps things fresh and motivating. Their thin long ray-like fins stemming from the pectoral area are a really interesting characteristic. For this painting, I really enjoyed working up ideas on how to best capture the spotting found on pearl gouramis. I think the blue circles I painted playfully did the trick. Using a bright yellow for the gourami really stands out against the blue field color.