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BIKINI REEF

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This piece was inspired by my kids. 

I was working on a painting that I could manipulate, to try and baffle the audience and the result was this reef. It was detailed and pretty, colorful and vivacious but it was still missing something. It wasn't long after COVID that I started painting again and began entertaining the ideas that have circulated around my brain for a while, including UV Paint.

My youngest, Maggie, started taking and talking about all of these sea creatures I had never heard of and some that I never knew the name of and after A LOT of chatter, she started educating me about BIOLUMINESCENCE and that's when the trippy lights and moving reef began. Thanks Maggie!

The first time I displayed this painting I did it this way:

Hung sideways it is the profile of a person. Originally the piece was intended to be hung this way but as I laid it down horizontally I started adding more to it and then it became more like a sleeping giant, like the picture below.

               
Pictured here laying horizontally, you will find a lot more. There are several faces hidden throughout the reef, including:

Far Right, Green portion of reef, there is a skull formation in the corner bordered by pink anemones. Also on that green portion are the stars of this painting as hinted in the title of this piece "Bikini Reef", home to Spongebob Squarepants and his best friend Patrick the Starfish. Under UV light these 2 characters are highlighted making them more visible but still small enough that it just hints to their likeness without overtly adding the characters to the reef.

Center middle, in orange you will find a subtle homage to my favorite baseball team and the team that I spent most of my early years watching, despite the fact that the 49ers and Warriors are my current passions, the Giants have held a spot in my heart the longest, thus you will see an Orange "SF", visible by UV light as well.

Lower Center middle, highlighted in red, painted in tan, "SMURKS22" appears in the anemone pattern, part signature and the year 2022, also near the Giants logo, 22 was the player number for Will "The Thrill" Clark, my favorite player of all time. 

The phrase "MESH LOVE" is hidden at the base of the reef as a tribute to MESHcollective, my Art crew that I started in 2009, there is talk of a reunion, it would be great to see all of those great creators again.

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