Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is delicious!

One of the things I love most are anthropomorphic cartoon animals kowtowing to those higher up on the food chain by serving as a representative of their own species, extolling the mind-blowing flavor of their brethren's flesh and promoting their wholesale slaughter and consumption. All while sporting a smile to mask the guilt and tears that hide just beneath the surface.





I did these back on my vacation to Atlanta in December/January. My pal and fellow artist, Emer, let me paint these in his garage. These were commissions for a great little resturant in Atlanta called "Home Grown". If you're in the area, check it out. They've got some kick ass potroast.

Also, it's the home of the Corn Bred Gallery, which is run by Emer. These are all 32"x48". Acrylic on wood. Here's a pic for size reference

I love the fact that these are hanging right above the dining booths, just staring at the customers while they chow down serving as a reminder that flesh is delicious and the animals know it! It started with the pig painting which is actually a reworking of an earlier painting from a few years ago. This was a major improvement, but I plan on posting about that later. From the pig, it just expanded to include the cow and chicken. There was one more space between a booth in the restaurant, so a 4th painting was commissioned to fill all the space. I was batting around a few ideas before settling on the fish. At one point I was thinking maybe a dolphin or something.
The whole idea behind the series comes from my love of cannibalism endorsing food mascots. You know the kind, we've all seen 'em. One such mascot that stuck with me from my youth was from Ted's Hot Dogs, a great local hot dog chain from Western New York where I grew up. This was their mascot/logo


Not only is he sporting an apron and chef's hat implying that he's cooking other hot dogs, but he's also standing on hot coals being cooked himself!! I remember being a kid and thinking this was just hilarious. Unless my superior memory is failing me, I'm pretty sure they used to have him in front of a little grill using tongs to poke at other little hot dogs that aren't quite as sophisticated (they weren't wearing clothes).

Local food always come up with the best cannibal-endorsing mascots. To see some other great ones, check out http://www.flickr.com/groups/autophagy/pool/

Here's a great one I found in a newspaper ad at my parent's house.