copyright 1998 dave petko

Monday, February 15, 2010

Bunnyzilla vs. China




    Bunnyzilla vs. China is a collaboration piece between Randoid and myself on a piece of found art which Randoid found at a second hand store.  The original painting was of junks floating in water with a dark jungle type of background.  Originally Randoid had sketched some funky futuristic buildings/cityscape in the background and the giant bunny stomping through it.  He tried painting the background some weird metallic yelowish-green colour but couldn't match the colours at all .  One night I was at his studio watching him paint, just hanging out and in front of me was the bunny painting.  I asked him if he would mind if I took a go at finishing it,   or in this case re-doing the whole thing.   He said I could and a couple hours later most of what you see in the finished painting was roughed in.   I managed to take the piece home and proceeded to finish the work, logging approximately six more hours before completion.
    The original piece has some wear and tear , some cracks in the paint, etc.   They still show but a clear acrylic resin has sealed them nicely, protecting it from more cracking.
   The finished painting has phosphorescent pigment in the lazer beams as well as in the lights on the buildings and the fire/explosions.  It is a very exciting piece with the lights on or off.
    An open edition print series is available at a cost of $20.00 cdn. each.  Available through HOUSE OF RTS in Squamish, Cleveland Ave,   or email me directly  liquidsunshinedesigns@gmail.com
    The original painting is priced at $800.00.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Life of Cows

"Life of Cows" is a tribute to Bovines.   It is a mixed media sculpture made of cow bones,  bolts,  barbed wire,  butcher knives,  wooden frame,  enamel paint and epoxy resin.  

The bones represent the cows,
The wooden frame represents the posts which hold the barbed wire,
The barbed wire represents the fence of the feed lot,
The bolts represent the bolt which end their lives,
The butcher knives represents the knives used to cut the meat from the bones,
The enamel paint is the blood,
and the epoxy is the glue made from their hooves and bones.


  Cows are factory farmed these days on feed lots, behind wooden and barbed wire fencing.  Millions of acres have been cleared on this planet to grow corn to feed cows, to fatten them up for the slaughter.   Once the cows are fat enough they are brought to the slaughter house where bolts are shot through their skulls and into their brains,  supposedly killing them humanely.  Of course not every cow is killed right away, some actually have their throats cut while still alive and bleed out.   Once the cows have been bled hooks are put through their lower legs and they are hoisted up upside down and their skin is ripped off their bodies ,  the cows are then "rendered" into burgers, steaks, ground beef, hot dogs, etc.    Whatever is left is usually ground up and used in cat and dog food and treats, used to make wood glue,  or thrown in the trash.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Custom Pigment Paintings

I have been mixing custom colours for screenprinting for a long time now, about 15 years or so, now I am starting to do the same thing with my paintings.
I was thinking recently that there are not a lot of different pigments out there. There has always been a fascination with me and black lights and ultraviolet inks, and I have seen some artists using florescent pigments in pretty basic ways. I have not seen much of intermixing florescent (dayglo) pigments, nor have I seen really any paintings done strictly using dayglo pigments.
As well , I have thought about the use of glow in the dark (GID) powder. I'm not sure if any of you know this but quite a few of my paintings have GID somewhere in them. I have been adding it to my paintings for years now, just not informing many people about it. I figured I would let the new owners find out on their own.
So in the end I came to the conclusion that maybe I could intermix raw florescent pigment with GID powder and mix that with an acrylic vehicle to suspend the particles in. Now what would happen if you changed the amounts of each ... you would get some tints which would glow in the dark at different brightnesses , you might also get different tints of florescent colours as well. And so I thought what would happen if you displayed the paintings under a black light? Well what you get are some seriously vibrant colours and when you shut the lights off, the whole painting is still visible but in the eerie muted greenish glow of the GID, it also fades the longer the lights are off, creating something truly remarkable.
Imagine if you will viewing a painting with the lights on AND with the lights off! One painting, or two?
I have finished four paintings in this new style/pigment.
One was hanging at House of Rts in Squamish B.C. which sold to an exciting collector.
Another two are hanging in Whistler at Chili Thom Gallery and Fitz Pub.
In Vancouver you can view two of them at Juju Salon on Davie street, tell Steve that Pepe sent you.

Evil the Devil

This little guy is "Evil the Devil" he's about 4x5 inches large, acrylic on canvas board.
I originally drew the sketch for him in Revelstoke , B.C. in the back room of PINZ Boardshop while doing a guest tattoo artist spot in the summer. I did a lot of drawing and sketching on that trip, as well as a shit load of tattoos. When in Salmon Arm or Revelstoke check them out , they will have all your sk8boards, longboards and snowboard needs (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8300319330)

Last winter I painted Evil the Devil (EtD) at the "Cero World Wide Friends" party in Whistler but wasn't 100% happy with the turn out. So I figured I would repaint him. Hope you like him.
Oh, and he's for sale and looking for a home. $100.00 (unframed)