Curating oddities, Long cleverly merges curious creatures, mechanics, and emotion into his oil paintings. “The Outing” depicts an elongated elephant carrying a duck, cat, rabbit, frog and donkey as they travel over a hill, through the clouds and adventure beyond the city left far behind. The artist gives witty names to literal paintings, such as “The Owltlet,” that combines a stoic standing owl with a double electrical outlet. There is a tremendous sense of wonder and thoughtfulness to the layers of detail and meaning built into the designs.

Creating mixed-media paintings, Long begins the artistic process with an inspirational idea often from music, literature or theater. The sketch of the idea is a way of personally interpreting historic or contemporary culture. Read on…