MGPAINTS 

A series of paintings from late 2022- early 2023 inspired by a road trip up the Pacific Coast Highway from SoCal to Oregon.

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This series is named after a wonderful little creature found in Northern California (at least that's where we found them). I'd never heard of banana slugs before, but at certain gas stations/gift shops/motel lobbies along the upper PCH I began to see stickers, stuffed animals, magnets and more bearing their banana-y likeness. I thought, "Well that's certainly not an animal that actually exists." I figured it was a regional myth, like the Jackalope. When I had enough mobile data for a web search I found that these things were quite real, and from then on my purpose was to find them. 

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My fiancé and I hiked through redwood forests, explored beaches, drove through giant trees, but no sight of them. I'd almost given up, but after a fun night in Trinidad and Emerald Forest, I woke up to tens of them scattered around the mulch outside our cabin's front door. Instant obsession. Love at first sight. What a funny little magnificent quirk of nature, these guys. I credit them with jumpstarting my desire to paint again and I am so grateful.