CicloSDias Minis
Chances are, you laughed out loud at the adorable Batman twins on CityBeat’s cover this week. If you did, that’s exactly what artist Mickey Ford was going for when he took a Sharpie to a photograph he found at Downtown’s Salvation Army for the work he’s titled “My Two New Babies.”
“It’s just a fun photo,” Ford says, adding that as soon as he saw the portrait of the three children, he knew what it needed. Ford’s known in the local scene for his odd sense of humor, wacky notebook illustrations and street art. His work was first featured on CityBeat’s cover in 2009.
Ford says he hasn’t had time lately to paint or produce more permanent works of art; these days, his time is spent on street art and his No. 1 outlet, writing books.
“It’s making a mark during my life,” Ford says of his three self-published titles. The stories in each book read like journal entries, he says, and include funny accounts of the randomness in everyday life.
“I’ve spent hours on paintings, but something that took the least amount of effort has gotten the most attention,” Ford says of the found photograph that he defaced with the Batman masks, an ongoing, recent theme on his blog, hawtmelk.com. The blog includes a collection of visually pleasing finds Ford comes across, including “gnarly shit, fashion, shoes, drawings, street art, anything gardening,” plus a long list of weirder items that he’s written down the side of his home page.
“The urge to paint, for me, is all about reaction and being funny,” Ford says. Hopefully he’ll get back to it soon, but until then, at least he’s giving us plenty of material to laugh at.
Amy blogs at saysgranite.com and you can follow her on Twitter @saysgranite.
