Baptiste (oil on luan) 6" x 8"

Wheel, Wheel, Wheel (oil on canvas) 16" x 20"

Well, the name comes from a funny conversation with a friend . It's more a reference to a whale (or 3).  For me it's yet another stretch in my style. I envisioned the wheel and the background in this finished stage. I began with the background and liked the colors so much I almost didn't add the primary feature, the wheel. I had to work out how to add it over top without fear of messing up the blends in the sky.  In regards to the wheel, for someone that comes from a realism background, having an obviously non-functional part gave me pause. I just loved that feature, it added movement and broke rules. I like the last part a lot. Not much of a rue follower you know!

The Deckards (oil on canvas) 8' x 10"

 

Chris wanted to surprise his wife. He said that she had a picture she's hung onto for years and would like it painted for her. He said that he felt she'd like a bit more impressionist. I was glad to accommodate and produced this piece for them. Reportedly she loved it.

Olaf - Painted Pumpkin (Acrylic on Gourd)

 This is my "help" for a school project.

Love (oil on canvas) 14" x 18"

This is a bit of a different one for me. The original sketch is in a book of mine from High school. I went back through them about 2 years ago to show a friend of mine. I found the original and wanted to give it a new life with my current skillset and mentality.

Older Sculptures

This one came from a conversation I had with my friend Kenny about religion. We debated belief in religion without investigation (belief that was inherited). I referred to a belief like that as being dangerous. The comment was made by me that blind faith is dangerous and this sculpture is a result of that. 

While I was working at Nationwide I met a great Tattoo Artist who's friend died while on the Artist motorcycle. He wanted a tribute to his friend and I needed an old Tattoo covered up. I worked out this piece for him. It was a wonderful challenge to work for another artist. He pushed me to create a better piece that what I had originally imagined. 

 This one was created for a family that I had worked for in the past. A dear friend of theirs had died. He was a big part of the community, their lives and had organized an annual toy drive that is still in effect today.

This one was simply done for fun. My brother-in-law Tom liked it and purchased it. Being a bit out of my normal style makes it one of my favorites. 

What's That? Polymer Clay Skull (Commissioned)

The path to this one was a bit incredible. 2013 took be down some crazy roads. I became sick, needed surgery and was fired during my recovery.  I found myself working for Greg, a guy that had worked for me years ago. It was old hat for me and I quickly fell back into place and really enjoying it. I was back in the body shop. It's a job that I trained my butt off for 20 years ago and then walked away from it to be a bigger part of my family. God works in mysterious ways and Greg's mind is one of them. He owns a couple of my really early pieces and had in mind that he wanted another. He came to me one day and asked if I could make him a skull that no one had seen before. He mentioned several different aspects and somehow the pterodactyl idea became what we settled on. He said that he wanted it to look so real that he could tell people he found it in the woods and they would believe it. If any of you know Greg, that's right up his alley. He is way too smart but definitely a bit off his rocker. I guess that's why I have always liked him. He had a few requests. He wanted the jaw to hinge and come apart. He wanted the teeth to mesh and he wanted the side to have damage as if it was attacked and the attack caused it's death or the skull was stepped on and crushed into the soil and that was how it was preserved. This was the most challenging sculpture I have done. I purchased coyote skulls to get the teeth. I had to research how to get the teeth out and how to quiet my germ-a-phobe tendencies to handle them. Heck, little Kerrigan helped me pull the teeth out. Next I had to figure out how to make a brain cavity to work around and then a stand that would support the piece, allow me to work the jaw but would not sacrifice the look from where it was sitting. The end result appears to be a hit. Greg told me that he loves it and that he's fooled a couple people already. I have had compliments from people that I would have never expected. One guy took numerous pictures and another actually came up to me the next day and said that he thought about it all night and just could't understand how I could do something like that. This was a very proud achievement for me.

Time 4' x 8' Triple Panel (Commissioned)

This one was completed a while ago as well. It's the result of the "knock off" I completed for Cheryl. Her friend and co-worker Angie saw the knock off I completed and asked Cheryl if I worked for other people as well. She had been looking for a painting that was large enough to fill the space on a huge wall they have in their Living Room and that complimented a painting which was the first decorating purchase they made as a couple. Through Cheryl we talked about what it needed to be a few times. Not sure about the direction I asked to meet with them to see how the room was decorated and to hear what was really important. I noticed that they enjoyed and antique look. She stated that this one could not over shadow the original painting since it meant so much to her, no bright colors, not a lot of detail and it had to fill the space on the wall. At that point I committed to three aspects that I haven't tried before. I agreed to a 4' x 8' triple panel with muted colors and minimal detail. As you can see from the second picture it dwarfed my easel. I had to force myself to work fast so that I wouldn't incorporate too much detail and I had to force myself to limit the colors I used. As with everything in my life I learned so much from this. The reaction that she gave when we delivered the painting was worth more than the fee. I am forever grateful for the experience that I gained and the warmth I felt at the delivery. I also wanted to mention that several months prior to this in early 2013 her husband Tommy, having only met me once, offered to take care of my yard work when I was laid up from my surgery. The offer appeared to be no more of a burden to him than opening the door for someone. While I didn't take him up on it I am forever grateful.

Another Knock Off 48" x 48" Private Collection

As usual with me, my daily grind takes precedence over completing art. I know its the correct priority and I actually really enjoy my 9-5 which has actually become a 6-6. Given the year I had in 2013...that's OK. All of that said to explain that I actually completed this 6 months ago. My wife and I found one similar in the furniture store. It was much smaller and way over priced for the mass produced piece that it was. As usual I opened my big mouth and said I can reproduce that. A few days latter I had it done and yes, that is our dining room.

Wats Reel 20"x24" (Commisioned)

The very cool thing about this is that it represents a dream that was pursued due to the love of a very caring spouse. Caleb is the guy in the picture. He has always been passionate about movies.Through the untold sacrifice of his wife he was able to quit a miserable job that he hated and go to film school. If you ever get to speak to Caleb you'll know this was the right path for him. His demeanor and passion are so powerful you can feel it and you want to be part of anything he's doing. As many of you know, when I find someone living their dream I celebrate. The story behind this makes it all that much sweeter. This year has been challenging for me. Through this rough year, the one jewel is that I got to work with Whitney and really get to know her. She is unselfish, intelligent, determined and is always trying to improve herself. She will always be a great friend to me and I will always be grateful that she allowed me to be a small part of this wonderful journey that she and Caleb have begun. 

Dark Disney 20"x30" (Private Collection)

This was fun to paint. The original image came from one of our family trips to Disney World. This trip was in October so we were able to attend the "Not So Scary" Halloween party. We sat near Cinderella's Castle and like always we snapped a million pictures. With a ton of fire works behind her the Castle looked beautiful. For a few years I have been wanting to paint this and I truly enjoyed working "dark." It allowed for blends that I would have never dreamed of on a lighter painting. Once this was finished I received a few compliments. One was from my oldest brother Doug. Not many people know this but he took me in when I was 19 and was trying to get my life on track. He never asked for a dime or gave me any grief. I hope the gift of this painting is a decent thank you, so many years later.

Dome Light (Reflection Collection) 11"x14" (Sold)

About two years ago my friend Trent took me to the auto show. I went around snapping pictures of everything with a reflection. I have wanted to paint this since then but as many of you know my 9-5 (really more like 7-7) gets overwhelming and with my priorities being focused on Cheryl and Kerrigan I put this stuff on the back burner. Well, I finally took a few hours and finished this. For the life of me I could not tell you what kind of cars are in the picture. I did think it was interesting that I finally realized it was better to edit the photographer out of the painting. What made me realize this was a friend asking about the very unusual shadow in the original VW reflection painting. I had to agree that could be interpreted as something not desirable and really started to look at what makes the best painting and not what makes it accurate to the photo.

Bumpus Shell (Commissioned )

Wow, it's been forever since I added to this blog. This painting was actually done almost a year ago. It was done for a family I met about 8 years ago. They are about the hardest working people I know. In fact this painting is kind of a result of that ambition. It shows the building that Mr. Bumpus purchased and had his Gulf station at. The family now owns 2 very successful Body shops in Clarksville, TN. This painting was a bit challenging since the location was sold many years ago and has fallen into disrepair. The only images of it were taken in its current state. Josh (the youngest son) and I discussed the colors, stripes and general design at length. This was commissioned for the Patriarch for his Christmas gift last year. I am always inspired by the work ethic of this family and feel truly grateful that they have had me produce several pieces over the years.

Polychromatic Anomaly 24" x 30"

Alright, for those of you that know me, I am not the kind of artist to get, well...artsy fartsy about stuff. The name of this one kind looks like I did but the definition of each of the words fits.

pol·y·chro·mat·ic adj
1. Having or exhibiting many colors.
2. Of or composed of radiation of more than one wavelength: polychromatic light


a·nom·a·ly noun
1. a deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form.
2. someone or something anomalous: With his quiet nature, he was an anomaly in his exuberant family.
3. an odd, peculiar, or strange condition, situation, quality, etc.

I hope you like it!

Various

This is awful, I have been so busy at my 9-5 that I have barely had time to paint, not to mention trying to update my blog. Since October I have complete these three paintings. In my scramble to keep up with my real job I keep putting off posting these.

The two daytime scenes were commissioned by wonderful people I work with. The top one was for David to give to his wife at their anniversary. It is an image of their Grand Children at the beach he snuck away from her so I could paint from it. I was sick as a dog the weeks prior to the deadline on this. I think I got it finished the day before it was needed to surprise her. Thanks to David for being so patient.

The other day at the beach was for Carol. It was for her son in law when he was coming home from a tour of duty oversees. From the best of my knowledge he was supposed to be staying here for a while and this image of him and his daughter was supposed to hang in his new office here in the states. As it turns out Uncle Sam needed him again oversees. God Bless him and his family for all the sacrifices they make for all of us.

Last but not least is a shot Cheryl took from our most recent trip to Florida. It's an image from our rented 6th floor condo down the beach at night. We both just loved the colors that were there. Thanks again to Cheryl for the images she provides.

Fishing Buddy #1 16" x 20" (Commisioned)

This last year my 9-5 has been insane to say the least. As part of that I got to meet and work with Dave. Not that he's insane...well he is a little but I consider that a good trait. He is the salt of the earth, hardworking kind of guy that a lot more of us should be. After getting to know him a little better he asked if I would be interested in completing these paintings for him. Of course I said yes. How cool is it to share times like this with your children not to mention actually being able to snap a picture of him with his first fish. While I was painting these I asked Dave more about Jesse. From what I found out we might have the next President on our hands. Turns out he not just a mean fisherman but extremely intelligent.

Fishing Buddy #2 10" x 10" (Commisioned)

This one was done smaller and in a little bit more of an Impressionist style. The idea was that this one was meant to compliment the first and not detract from it. That was part of the reason for the size and less detail. I really enjoyed painting these. It was very freeing to work in the more relaxed style on this one and use the palette I had developed on it to get right into the other.

The Way 24" x 30"

This is a tough one to explain in the right order. We were in Florida. I woke up from a nap (I love a good nap) and saw the door handle to the closet. For some reason my mind saw it like this. At that point my mind went back to some philosophical stuff about paths and life lessons that I had read years ago. It occurred to me that this gave a nice visual to what we all go through. We wander down and around the paths. We discover these pockets of exciting and wonderful things but they are finite. While we are doing this, what we are really searching for are the answers or The Way. The crazy part is that most of never even know the handle is there.

Tree At Sunset 10" x 10" (Sold)

Every sunset I watch the sky. If Cheryl and Kerrigan are around I always point it out to them. To let you know what a good family I have they have never expressed their boredom with this practice. We recently got a puppy for Kerrigan. As you may know puppies need a lot of "personal time." During one of those events I was outside and noticed a nice blue and pink sunset behind or neighbors tree. This image is how it registered in my mind.

The Gift 9" x 12"

The flowers were part of the Mother's Day gift Kerrigan and I got for Cheryl this past year. To be completely honest, I just really thought they were pretty and wanted to use them. I had a lot of fun painting this as I added and jabbed color were I felt it should be. This was an exercise in the joy of painting.

Old Hickory Lake 9" x 12" (Sold)

Last fall we spent a beautiful day at the lake on Mike and Deanna's boat. Mike enjoyed a very cold swim and we enjoyed the scenery. Shortly before we left I noticed the reflection of the gorgeous colors from the trees in the lake. To me, the impact of the image is in the fall colors and the feeling of the impending sunset. Each of them signaling the end of a cycle, both occurring simultaneously in this image.

Day At The Beach 9" x 12"

Our recent trip to Florida was nice. Cheryl did a great job researching and planning. We spent about a week there which was a much needed rest for the three of us. After spending the morning at the beach we went back to our rented 14th floor condo. I was looking down at the beach and loved the rainbow colored umbrellas strewn across it and snapped some pictures. What I think is really neat is that everyone set up their shade but was having too much fun playing to be in it when I snapped the pictures.

LoL 12" x 12"

This time it stands for Labor of Love. Before I started this version I worked on another one for quite a while. It did not turn out so good. That was a little tough to deal with and definitely affected my momentum. Through some soul searching I found a little more of my voice and affirmed that I truly love this medium.

Knowing that makes all of the effort and the emotion worth it. It truly is a Labor of Love.

Ahh 24" x 36" (Commissioned)

This one produced one of the most confusing and funny commission conversations I have had so far. When I started in the new position I have with my 9-5 I was training with a guy that worked for Ed. One of those weeks Ed was on vacation and sent this to his crew. I loved the shot even though I had Ed's reputation mixed up with another manager that was not so cool. I hung onto the email knowing I wanted to paint it and thought someday I would ask this not so cool person if he would mind me painting it. I figured I would just add it to my collection. I had mentioned this to some of his employees. Months after that I found out Ed was not the person I thought he was and then had the opportunity to work with him for and extended period of time. I found out that he is very cool, very much an out of the box thinker, and a hell of a song writer and musician. I also got to meet his lovely wife Gay. Not to sidetrack this but they have a very long and obviously very good relationship. They are nice to watch together. Anyway, back to the story. I was speaking to Ed and Gay, he said you know the Bahama toe picture, your going to paint that. I thought one of his guys had told him of my intentions. I said, I was going to ask your permission. I figured that I babbled for a while the way my mouth does when I actually free form engage my over thinking everything mind. Then he said "no, I want you to paint it for me". The rest is history. I got to do a cool scene, for very cool people, and get to laugh every time I think about that conversation.

Nashville from Broadway 30" x 40"

Cheryl, Kerrigan, and I were leaving a Disney on Ice show at the Sommet Center when Cheryl just casually snapped this picture. We both knew it right then it was great shot. The composition of the picture was awesome. I love the contrast of how the "Batman Building" towers up, gleaming against the backdrop of the sky and the old brick buildings stand low out in front, sturdy and with so much character. The angle she got was great too . I think she has a natural eye for photography. There were a couple of names considered for this one. NashVegas or Hollywood Without a Tan (from the Shawn Mullins' song) were two that I kicked around but I was not sure if the people who don't live around here would get it.

Knock Off #2 30" x 40" (Cheryl's "Private Collection")

Well it happened again. Cheryl went to Target and found a painting she loved and I opened my big mouth. I said, I can do that. Of course her reply (again) was, get busy! So here you go. To get all philosophical about it I feel like this life will lead you in the direction you need to go if you make your decisions for the right reasons and pay close attention. The fact is, I have been wanting to do some more "loose" or kind of impressionist pieces. This painting that I copied showed me a lot of what goes into this abstract style and I got that lesson because I wanted to do something nice for my wife. She deserves nice stuff for putting up with me over the years. As a matter of fact if you dig on the whole Karma thing she should be Oprah rich for having to survive the way my mind works. This will definitely give me a leg up on my next piece. It's going to be an original in a style between what I normally do and this. If you like this painting it was originally done by Kate Birch. The one at Target is 18 x 24. She has numerous pieces available at http://www.katebirch.com/

Magic for Monkey (Ref Col #4) 12" x 12" (Kerigan's Private Collection)

This past December we went to the "Magic Kingdom". Thanks to a lot of hard work by Cheryl it was truly magical. She spent many hours planning so that we would be able to really enjoy it. I think that you can tell by the smile on Kerrigan's face, we all had a great time.

As you might know I am sort of attracted to good reflections. So this image combines my beautiful daughter having a great time and two cool reflections (one in each lens) If you look closely you'll see Cheryl taking the picture in the left eye lens (your right).

Paradise 12" x 16" (Commisioned)

Jason and Sonya are friends of mine that happen to be co-workers as well. Sonya asked me if I would be interested in painting something for Jason's Birthday. Without hesitation I agreed. A great part of doing this painting is using this fantastic image that Sonya captured during their honeymoon trip while golfing in Hawaii. It's a beautiful scene, taken at the perfect point in his swing, while celebrating their love. It just doesn't get any better than that. Something that makes it more special for me is that I started golfing as a result of Jason's invitation to play in a scramble with Sonya and him. That scramble turned out to be the day I got to know Sonya, got to know Jason better, and started down the road to the poorhouse as a golf addict.

Tahoe (Ref Col #3) 24"x30"

Since the day I finished the first Reflection Collection painting I have been in search of images with cool reflections. Shortly after that Graeme came back from a ski trip. He had captured some fantastic images of his trip. In those images was one he took of himself that had a great reflection from his mask. At that time he was remodeling one house, selling another, working a very stressful job, and expecting the birth of his first child. You can imagine that when I asked him to send me the images it was not a priority. His life finally slowed down and Graeme sent the images that I picked out along with a "bonus image". I initially went through them and kind of settled on the original that I had selected. Then I looked again at this one and was completely sold. Not only does it have two reflections it shows a loving couple in the midst of their adventure.

Balance 12x16 (Sold)

I was at Mike and Deanna's house to take some pictures of their view of the lake and to discuss painting it for them. I was talking to Deanna in the kitchen. As I had done in the past, I was telling her how impressed I was with how she can be so active with her career and enjoy it so much. She explained to me how she gets it from her Father and that is natural for her. You should ask her what she does. I loved hearing all that she does but was truly tired just thinking about it. Then to know her husband Mike, he is as active! They are a great match for each other and a truly impressive couple. Deanna was telling me that since they had their daughters that she has really worked at finding balance in her life. As she was saying that, she was tackled by her girls and was literally trying to keep her balance as well. I was just fortunate enough to have a camera in hand and that she let me use her image to show one of the great lessons in life...Balance.

VW2 (Ref Col 2) 12"x16" (Sold)

I was driving myself insane trying to find another cool reflection to paint. I begged my friend Graeme to let me have one he took of himself while he was skiing but he won't give it up. I even convinced one of my co-workers into letting me take some pictures of him while we were driving of the reflection in his sunglasses showing the road and traffic as it passed (yep, that was really safe). Unfortunately, they didn't turn out. I was scouring through the images that I already had and found this. Well it was not like this at first. It was sideways and had much more of the car. A little cropping and rotating and here you go.