Barbecue and the Burden of Being painting of a weary bbq chef weighed down by the tug of war between the aversion to killing and the need to eat. The spirits of the animals he cooks occupy his subconscious as he tries to cook his dinner.

Barbecue and the burden of being

WOODCOCK on September 4, 2026

05/2026 — 27.5″ x 30″

Acrylic on used fence pickets

$950

Barbecue is a celebration. Smoke in the air, friends in the backyard, cold drinks, and something delicious on the grill.

It occurred to me one day that every barbecue is also a small memorial service. The pig, the chicken, and the cow are all invited, just not in the way they’d hoped.

We didn’t design this system, but we participate in it every day. Life survives by consuming life. Somewhere between gratitude and appetite sits the strange emotional burden of being an omnivore.

Existential Malaise and Pizza Buffets, a contemporary painting of an exhausted mother and two unhappy children posed like a devotional icon behind three pizzas, with angel and devil cherubs.

Existential Malaise and Pizza Buffets

WOODCOCK on July 28, 2026

05/2026 — 30″ x 33″

Acrylic on used fence pickets

$950

Gold rays. A halo. Cherubs. Symmetry. Instead of saints, we get an exhausted mother and her awful children. Not even pizza can cure their doldrums. One has to wonder what the evolutionary benefit there is in how we keep inventing small rituals—pizza, birthday candles, buffets, paper hats—to convince ourselves that today is different from every other Tuesday.

The painting eventually became the title piece for a collaborative exhibition with Anthony the Poet, where we paired existential dread with celebratory foods. Naturally, the opening featured an actual pizza buffet.

Pucheros y Huevos Rancheros painting of a pouty pin up girl who is a bit indignant about the impending battle heralded by the salt and pepper shakers over choosing red or green salsa.

Pucheros y Huevos Rancheros (Pouty faces and Ranchers Eggs)

WOODCOCK on July 28, 2026

05/2026 — 37″ x 30″

Acrylic on used fence pickets

$950

Eventually, somebody will ask you to pick a side. Even at breakfast.

Pucheros y Huevos Rancheros—“Pouty Faces and Rancher’s Eggs”—was named with the help of my collaborator Anthony the Poet of San Antonio.

In a city serious about its breakfast tacos, even salsa can inspire debate: red or green? Our unhappy diner would apparently prefer not to participate. She just wants a little heat on her huevos rancheros without turning breakfast into a declaration of allegiance.

Sometimes red sounds good. Sometimes green sounds better. This shouldn’t have to be a thing.

Miedo Desnudo (naked fear and menudo) painting of two screaming skeletons representing primal fear caused by the foot of a pig reaching out of a bowl of mexican menudo soup.

Miedo Desnudo y Menudo (Naked Fear and Menudo)

WOODCOCK on July 21, 2026

05/2026 — 32″ x 30″

Acrylic on used fence pickets

$950

Fear is easier to face with something good to eat.

Miedo Desnudo y Menudo—“Naked Fear and Menudo”—grew out of conversations with Anthony the Poet, my Mexican American collaborator from San Antonio, who helped develop many of the English and Spanish titles in this series. And yes, it rhymes!…in Spanish.

The series pairs existential anxieties with the foods, rituals, and celebrations we use to make being alive a little more tolerable. Here, naked primordial fear meets a comforting bowl of menudo.

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