IT’S-IT is a San Francisco stalwart brand, so coined when the founders discovered the perfect combination of ice cream, oatmeal cookies and delicious dark chocolate. This was 1928. Fast forward nearly a century and these decadent delights are as popular now as they were then. In these large and small format Pop Art paintings I have celebrated both this beloved brand, and key moments in my California adventure where I’ve thought, “IT’S-IT”.

With their Warhol-esque construct, these paintings look great alone with the sandwich floating in its own gravity, or as part of a larger set. Arranged in a quad, this display is nine by nine feet and dominates the gallery wall. The lighting beautifully picks out the multiple layers and drips of these paintings which look good enough to devour.

Charles & Ray Eames believed that fun and play were not opposites to work, but essential components of the design process. Today, taking your pleasure seriously is about incorporating moments of delight and joy as the antidote to the daily grind, and by nurturing your passions you lighten the load of daily life. For me, it’s kicking off my shoes, slumping into my Eames chair and chowing into a delicious ice cream sandwich.

“IT’S-IT HOMAGE TO THE EAMES CHAIR”.
48x48” oil and acrylic on Masterpiece canvas.

"IT'S-IT, Naughty Negroni". 48x48 oil on canvas. Your friends have gone home and it's just you and a loved one enjoying a final drink as the clock is about to chime midnight. Sumptuous, rich tones layered against the deep indigo of night. It's midnight under moonlight.

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'IT'S-IT, WANDERLUST AND DESERT DUST". 48x48 oil on canvas. It's a cheeky weekend down in Palm Springs where anything goes. The desert palette melting like an ice cream on the canvas.

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"Elegance is when the inside is as beautiful as the outside".

Coco Chanel.

Here's a painting full of rich, chocolatey colors with a pistachio creaminess in the middle that's good enough to eat.

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Dean Martin always does it for me. That warm, velvety, easy, baritone like drinking an old fashioned. Just the opening few notes of one of his songs is enough to make you want to reach for a cocktail shaker. This is a tribute to that Mid Century sound, with colors that evoke the 50s and 60s, and of course more than a nod to the art of this era. Maroon, cream, biscuity orange and indigo combine to warm the senses, like sipping a Manhattan. And one of my favourite quotes from the legend, too. A man after my own heart. “IT’S-IT Dean Martin”. 48x48 oil on canvas.

“IT’S-IT, Summer in San Francisco” 48x48 oil on canvas.

Climbing onto a Caltrain in a sweltering August San Jose, you feel smug that you wore those baggy shorts, flip flops and T shirt as the air conditioning in the carriage wafts up your undercarriage. Climbing off the train at 4th and King street in San Francisco you suddenly are hit with a WTAF, as someone has turned the temperature down by about 40 degrees in the space of just 60 odd miles. The saying is spot on, “the coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco”. And I’ve grown to love it. I love the escape from the oppressive Bay Area heat almost as much as I love picking out the tourists in the city who are wearing freshly purchased fleeces.

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"IT'S-IT, Hackney Diamonds + Salad Days" 48x48 mixed media on canvas. That week when you see The Rolling Stones in San Jose and Mac DeMarco at The Greek. A mix of collage, oil paint, spray paint and oil sticks - as eclectic as the contrasting tastes in music.

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"IT'S-IT, Skinny Dip". 48x48 oil on canvas. Nothing beats whipping your clothes off, letting it all hang out and launching yourself into water. Cool-pool colors of turquoise, cobalt blue and white take the edge off the summer heat. It's back to nature and pure unadulterated fun. Unless of course someone uninvited is watching. I love knowing where my work ends up. In this case, in a room full of wonderful antique furniture. The contrast between the modern and the relics works wonders.

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I love black. It’s slimming. Even with a delicious It’s-It ice cream sandwich. This painting is made with gloopy rich layers of house paints and oils, creating depth and texture throughout this 40×40” piece. The background black is glossy and offset by the deep darkest black acrylic in the type and body of the sandwich. It’s rather dark, but as Morticia Adam’s beautifully put it, “black is my happy color”.

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“Morticia is such a mysterious lady. One time I came into the room and the "It's-It" totally was receded into the background and I thought "wow, you can barely see that wording at all." Later in the day I came into the room and BAM, the It's-It had advanced to the forefront and demanded to be noticed. I love getting to know her moods throughout the day!”

Oodles of layers of rich textures packed together like ingredients. A contrast between the structure of composition, looseness of marks and precise typography. The chocolate sauce on top being the pun that would make most advertising copywriters flinch. I like to think of these as art that’s good enough to eat.

“IT’S-IT When it’s mint to be”
30x30” oil on canvas.

Layers upon layers of rich textures packed together like ingredients. A contrast between the structure of composition, looseness of marks and precise typography. A delicious deconstruction of an IT’S-IT ice cream sandwich.

“IT’S-IT Today is Sundae”
30x30” oil on canvas.

SOMA, South of Market to you and me, is one of San Francisco’s most vibrant communities teaming with world class art, diverse culture and cuisine. It’s also the one time home for the wickedly delicious IT’S-IT ice cream sandwich. And I loved making this painting equally as much as I love devouring a chocolate-smothered IT’S-IT.

Lathered in chock thick oil, layer upon layer, the composition is balanced with colors that relate to each IT’S-IT ice cream from chocolate, to vanilla, to mint and pumpkin. I don’t know whether to look at it, or eat it. It’s a painting that’s homage to one of my favourite enclaves in San Francisco and to the naughty and nice ice cream sandwich.

“IT’S-IT, SOMA so good” 40 x 30” oil on canvas.

“Once you have tasted the sky you will forever look up”. I wish I wrote that. Leonardo da Vinci apparently penned it. And he’s spot on. Sometimes the sky looks good enough to eat. In this abstract IT’S-IT painting I’ve arranged sections of sky as though an ice cream vendor arranges flavours. Colours drip from one panel to another and ooze around the edges of the canvas. This 48×36” painting is designed to hang landscape and portrait depending on one’s mood…

“IT’S-IT MINI, SO GOOD, YOU’RE SHAKING” 16×16” oil on wood panel. Read into this what you will.

“IT’S-IT CIGARETTES AFTER SEX” 16×16” oil on wood panel. A cultural reference to the El Paso dream-pop band, rather than the act. But each to their own.

“IT’S-IT MINI, ZIGGY STARDUST” 16×16” oil on wood panel.

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“Carmel” 16×16 oil on wood. Carmel by-the-Sea is probably my happiest place on the planet. Soft sand, sea breeze, undefinable energy - the very essence of It very much being it.

“IT’S-IT BEST MOMENTS ” 16×16” oil on wood panel. Sometimes it’s the naughtiest times that are the best. If you can’t be good, be careful.

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“Rothko & triple espresso” 16×16 oil on wood. What could be a more intense pleasure than sitting in front of your favourite Rothko while savouring a triple espresso?

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“IT’S-IT MINI, VINYL NOSTALGIA” 16×16” oil on wood panel. Because there’s nothing quite like the crackle of needle on the vinyl of your favourite LP.