Where the Wild Smiles
An Original Portrait Series by Denise Roussel
You are about to embark on a wild ride — so buckle up.
These are not ordinary creatures. Oh, no. These are extraordinary beings who have shown up with one intention: to give you a magnificent experience.
Each one arrived with a personality already fully formed, a name that chose itself, and absolutely zero interest in being ignored. I just picked up the brush.
Where the Wild Smiles lives in my home gallery in South Austin — a space where art isn't behind glass or behind a rope. It's at eye level, in the light, asking to be seen.
Scroll down and meet them. I think you'll know immediately which one belongs with you.
“Clyde: Unapologetically Alive”
— The Embodied Trickster
22” x 28”
Clyde doesn't walk into a room — he arrives. Equal parts mischief and magnetism, he is the one at the party who says the thing everyone else was thinking and somehow makes it the funniest moment of the night. He is joy with no apology attached.
"Elvis: Born to Be Seen"
THE SACRED PERFORMER
22" x 28"
Elvis has never once questioned whether he belongs in the room. He is the room. Part rock legend, part lizard mystic, all swagger — he holds his hands on his hips like someone who has already won and is just waiting for everyone else to catch up.
"Ember: Love Is the Revolution"
— THE TENDER REBEL
22" x 28"
Ember knows something the rest of the world is still figuring out — that the bravest thing you can do is stay soft. She rides hard, loves harder, and wears her broken heart right on her jacket where everyone can see it. She is not here to be tamed. She is here to remind you that fierceness and tenderness were never opposites.
"Percival Augustus Theodore III: We Might As Well Talk About It"
— THE SOVEREIGN CONVERSATIONALIST
36" x 36"
Percival has seen things. He has thought about those things — deeply, unhurriedly, with a ring on every finger and a peacock feather in his hat. He is the elephant in the room, and he would like you to know that he finds your avoidance of him both amusing and unnecessary. Pull up a chair. He has been expecting you, and he has questions.
"Sir Otis Beauregard von Wigglebottom: Born for Joy"
— THE HOLY FOOL
22" x 28"
Sir Otis has never once in his life wondered whether it was appropriate to feel this good. He arrived in full colonial regalia, adjusted his tiny spectacles, and immediately started the party. He is the reminder you didn't know you needed — that dignity and delight are not opposites, that joy is not frivolous, and that sometimes the most enlightened response to being alive is to just let your tongue hang all the way out.
Come Meet Them in Person
These paintings live in my home gallery in South Austin, where the light is good and the company is better. If one of them has been looking at you a little too long, trust that feeling.
You are welcome to reach out with questions, inquire about pricing, or arrange a visit to the exhibit. This is not a formal gallery — it is a living space where art is meant to be experienced up close, in person, exactly as it was painted.
Pull up a chair. Percival has been expecting you.