My current show has a lot of Sketchy Canvas pieces, a few that have never been shown before. Alameda is a great place to spend an afternoon. Check it out!
I’m currently in Alaska for about a month, and I’ve found a bunch of work to post on the site. So stay tuned.
Not your typical Hawaii landscape painting.
I just got married, we had our ceremony here on the island, at Pololu Valley. Hec and I have been staying in the Puna District, at Kalani, which is just a mile down the road from where this was painted. Again, under the tutelage of Arthur Johnsen, I learned about painting with oils.
The technique of using the oils is called ‘take away;’ laying down paint and then using thinner to take it off the canvas, for some surprising effects. I used this and more, adding in my own elements of sketching with paint pens.
Arthur told me early on that red is not traditionally used as a background color, so of course I had to. It encapsulated some of the heat of the jungle, and the mystery of the island. This is, after all, the Red Road.
Asking price: $300
24″x 24″
Layers again, layers of mind and body and past and desires for the future…
I’ve begun playing with a new style here, one I’ve been drawn (punny) to lately; inspired by the faces of Francesco Clemente…
The painting began ruminating on the possibilities possessed by this guy I was dating at the time. This is five years ago when that first layer came into form.
I think that partly why we fall for someone else is the future we see with them, the possibility: it’s a way of loving ourselves. And then someone goes and breaks up the deal…
So I began painting over it. A friend along the way was going through a similiar circumstance: a sad break-up, and a mourning for not only losing her friend, but her future. It got stuck though, the piece; living in that dynamic can become stuck too: staying in that sad place.
I recently came back to the work, and she changed, it changed. Looking to the present moment, accepting the sensuality and fluidity of that moment. Becoming alive again. Really, the ghost of past futures can be so enticing and enthralling, but do you really want to hang out there?
Asking Price: $400
4′x3.5′
Another piece that has seen it’s share of incarnations…
Finally resting on the image of my grandmother, Lorene. An amazing woman, full of strength and kindness. She found her way to Alaska back in 1954, with the flip of a coin (literally). She is an accomplished guide and outdoorswoman, at one time holding the world record moose. She is beautiful, too. Veronica Lake had nuthin’ on her.
11 x 16
Asking Price: $200
It’s sharp, those colors. A jagged contrast, seemingly. Out of the stress and discomfort life can bring sometimes, there is peace to be found. Out of our struggles, comes the bliss of letting go and moving through.
It’s about keeping on with the work…
Pink and black and white, strong energies playing with each other, finding balance…
Asking Price: $200
I’m getting married tomorrow. Woot!
This painting has gone through so many transformations through the years. I’ve had the canvas for seven years. Working and re-working ideas, taking them to their stopping point and then going on to create something new.
I love walking outside in Alaska. I love her birch trees.
I’m getting married in a week, lots to do. So right now, forgive me if a lengthy diatribe is forgone. Cheers.
We’re humans, we want safety and support, right? We develop safety mechanisms along the way…
A friend of mine uses her face as a wall to the outside world; she looks out in anticipation of attack. Sadly, the same thing that serves to protect becomes a self-defeating mechanism; keeps her from really seeing what’s behind her. You can lead a horse to water…
This piece came out of my desire for clarity on a situation with a very loved one; it helped me develop compassion and not take it personally.
The thrill here is taking two seemingly unrelated images, placing one over the other and letting them work. This piece below originated out of experiments with color and form, excess paint from other pieces. Life experience added the inspiration to layer the girl’s image over it. Like a Lichtenstein with a sense of Pollock.
Painted over the span of 7 months, this piece traveled with me around the East Bay to a lot of my different living situations. From ‘The Spaceship” in Fruitvale to house sitting near Lake Merrit to my fiance’s grandmother’s, it summarizes some of my powerful experiences.
I spent almost six months as a ‘manny’ (a male nanny), taking care of this precious, precocious 3 year old girl. We’d go to Dimond Park a few times a week, where she got the opportunity to experience nature, throwing rocks in a stream was one of her favourite things to do. These experiences settled her, she became calm with the fresh air and exercise. These will be some of my fondest memories of life in the East Bay.
The title is a phrase from a Joseph Campbell essay. I got articulate with this piece; detailed. It blends elements of Anime, the work of the illustrator Alastair, contemporary fashions, and the big oak trees of Dimond Park. I used reflective paints a lot, and to see it in person is a different experience than here, as it catches and plays with the light, just like the the outdoors do. I’d hope that in it the viewer would find inspiration to connect with nature at every turn, surrendering to the peace of those elements.
Asking price: $500
16″ x 56″
