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Fun paintings have always lived inside me. Through this path of understanding art, like observation...things tend to get serious. In 2021 when headed to Mexico perhaps forever I decided it was time to take a break from what had become my relationship with art making; money, market, make, make, make. I needed to return to making art for fun again, like when I did prior to pursuing it for a living. So I decided to paint fun paintings. 

While in Mexico I made fun paintings on student grade canvas bought in bulk before crossing the border. I used cheap craft paint and my professional paint to paint with. It was refreshing to hang out in the play of making fun paintings. I did sell these fun paintings while in Mexico. I became the town artist in a way. Six months into the future I would return to the States and continue making fun paintings, along with my "serious" work. Landing in Truth or Consequences I continued making fun paintings, selling them at a local diner. For travelers and family's that were lucky enough to engage with me I provided art sessions. It was a pleasure to see what fun paintings others would create, regardless of painting experience. 

Eventually I would do a couple art fairs with booths predominantly focused on fun paintings. The fun painting art fair booths were geared towards children. Colorful, alive paintings on student grade canvas with affordable framing served as entry level art collecting for kids wanting to have art of their own. Be it if they bought it with their own money or their parents showed up with the purchase, the pieces were priced right just for them.

If the kid decided to destroy the piece, it wouldn't be a significant loss. If the kid decided to treasure the artwork through life, it would be a time capsule into their memory and imagination.

Granted the fun paintings did serve their purpose, yet not at the level I desired. The introduction of them at the art fairs I participated, an observation was made that general visitors saw everything as materialism or stuff. Judged through the parental guidance lens of essential or nonessential. I actually heard that.  So many kids got to look at the paintings, and find the one they wanted so bad, while looking at me like I was the king of big kids, but ultimately the parent would say "let's go, we don't need that". And then make up some bullshit about eating lunch. What a strategy. Feed the kid fucking garbage ass food, not the imagination. Fucking sad.

I thought to myself, wow, times must be tough when parents fret of 20, 40, 60 bucks on the California Coast. Talk about some mental child abuse and severe scarcity programming. But mom probably got those diet pills paid til next year though.