In the springtime of this year, 2025, I met Caitlin Michener who owns the Naked Lady Gallery in Chadds Ford. She quickly picked me up as an artist and now lets me set up and paint in the shop.

So I comes in, right? I spy this dresser with a fantastical array of plants, fabric, shiny objects. I'll paint this! I had no idea what I was in for! This painting took a whopping twenty-two hours to complete! Hands-down the most arduous painting I've ever done!

Here we have the beginning, just blocking in colors and forms. General shapes. You can see the succulents coming together, the pottery, the fabrics in the drawer. I sketched everything in burnt sienna - I like burnt sienna.

Now we have a little more detail - reflections on the metal box are now showing. A little more definition on the brass peacock.

Definition's coming in further. This particular day Caitlin had to leave the shop to attend her son's summer animation camp presentation. Can you believe she trusted me with her store?! Sucker...

Here's the final product. I like how this says something about human psychology: we have these bright, shiny aspects of ourselves that we keep on display, and here in the drawer, in the attic or basement of our mind, here we keep things that are darker, more private. There's a skull. There's a naked woman. That darkness of the drawer has mystery.