Anthony Ausgang, a pioneer of the lowbrow art movement, has featured his work in galleries, magazines, album covers (MGMT’s Congratulations) and even on Green Day’s Revolution Radio tour plane and merch.
![Anthony Ausgang is an artist based in Los Angeles, California.](https://kanhatreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/DSC_2815-1024x684.jpg)
When the English author Coleridge used opium as an inspiration for his famous poem “Kubla Khan“, he joined a long tradition of artists, writers and musicians searching for substances to augment their creativity. As a Lowbrow painter who’s no stranger to such a pursuit, I’ve depended on smokable cannabis for decades to help an image make it from my mind to the canvas.
So, when KANHA asked if I would like to sample their sativa gummies and report back on their art-making efficacy, I was more than agreeable. In fact, maybe I was a bit demanding.
The box I received included sativa in flavors like Cherry (which I found good for making music, kinda weird since cherries look like musical notes), Cran-Pomegranate, Pink Guava and Luscious Lemon, all delicious as 10mg and 5mg round chewy pastilles. But the last package was the killer: Sour Cherry Limeade Belts in two 50mg strips, each one a good recreational dose.
Fortunately for KANHA, I had two upcoming shows so I essentially ripped open the pack of Cran-Pomegranate gummies and got to work in my studio. There was no time to waste, which brings up perhaps the best attribute of KANHA gummies: the resultant effects come on fast, but with an agreeable ease. Comfortably fortified, I started sketching with bravado and flourish, pushing into places I normally wouldn’t. Indeed, why not give a cat two heads or more? It was a good start that got better throughout the night as the rough sketch became the final drawing.
The next day, after a good breakfast of gummies as the main course and granola for dessert, I started painting. In the past, these first brushstrokes have quickly led to weeping and destroyed canvases, but KANHA’s Luscious Lemon kept my spirits up. If a color was wrong, I just fixed it with no self-recrimination. But best of all, I was able to shed my deadline panic and concentrate on making sure that painting was truly the best I could do. Which I guess it was since the painting sold.
Wait, you say, what about the Sour Cherry Limeade 50mg strips? Well, Coleridge was disturbed during his high by a visitor and never finished the poem. So, I haven’t tried them yet, but when I do, I’ll make sure the studio is locked.
![Anthony Ausgang created a painting using inspiration from KANHA sativa gummies.](https://kanhatreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/The-Aquarium-1024x1021.jpg)
Anthony Ausgang, Los Angeles