Back in high-school, I loved U2. Today I have an appreciation. However, my friend Michelle loves them in a fanatical way – to the point of meeting the band several times and playing a big role in the formation of the official fan club website.

But back in high-school, I would doodle out little Gerald Scarfe/Pink Floyd inspired drawings, watercolors and whatnots. In the process I would tag them with some words from the U2 song Bullet The Blue Sky – never quite finishing a phrase or two. This made the drawings into a series and Michelle sought to collect them all.

Next to my mother, she’s my biggest fan.

Michelle’s 40th birthday is coming up, so I blocked out an evening, and came up with this as a gift to her – to finally complete the series as started in high-school.

Bullet The Blue Sky. January 26th 2011. Acrylic, ink, wire and tape on canvas board. 20"x24".

I was working pretty fast and loose (something I rarely do) with a less than stellar reference photo. The proportions are out of whack, but I think it works for this piece. The song Bullet The Blue Sky is awash in distortion, so why not a distorted painting that is meant to convey some of that mood?

I painted this a few months ago, but it’s worth sharing here. I’ve been a fan of pulp art for a while but only recently have I discovered a subject that I could insert into the style: roller derby. This is the first.

This is also my first attempt at painting in about 15 years.