michelle renée bernard

Photobombed by the Devil at Our Helloween Party

12”x12” • mixed media
2019

While I paint, I keep what I refer to as “throwaway boards” nearby. These are extra wood panels that I use to get rid of my excess paint at the end of each session. Their purpose is not only to build up layers, but to experiment on because they’re not precious. Sometimes they start to become something that inspires me and they become a painting, like this one here. 

I was eventually drawn to the character faces I had created and they evolved into a devil holding people-head balloons. That made it feel like a party. The orange and green background that had evolved made me think Halloween, and so I kept moving forward with that theme. When I needed to fill the space at the bottom I thought… oh, a giant devil head. After I painted him there, it totally looked like he was photobombing the scene, and that’s how the title was born.

$450 (framed)