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.

Where's Nessie 30"x40" (Sold)

I went hiking with my good friend Mickey. For those of you who don't know Mikey, it's a little John nickname. Mikey is not a small guy. We get along well because he's crazy and he's one of the most honest and upstanding people that I have ever met. Well, enough sunshine for Mikey's butt.
Mikey has an Uncle John who was the main reason this hiking trip originated. John was playing in a Bluegrass festival that just happened to be in an awesome spot for a hike. John had returned from a trip to Scotland not long before where he had snapped this picture. He has some beautiful pictures from that trip and was kind enough to share this one of the Loch Ness lake with me.

The Beautiful People 24"x30" (Sold)

Yes, I know it's out of proportion or as I as my daughter said "Daddy, why is one eye bigger". I don't know if she or my wife dug the explanation but here goes. You know when you meet a beautiful women, you may notice that one eye stands out more than the other (Yes, you men out there, they have eyes). That eye projects and lends itself over the rest of her facade to attept to show that all is good and beautiful. When you look at the rest of her face you see the troubles, the emotions, and the insecurities. I've noticed it time after time. If you ask and really listen they'll share it with you.

That visual led to the introspective that we all show our public facade and split it with the deep maybe even painful side of this life. If you really look at people it shows physically.

Tigress 2 12"x14" (Commissioned)

This is the second of the two images for our friends Sindi and Adrian. I have tentatively called them "Tigress 1& 2" because while I was painting them I kept picturing the photos of Tiger Woods at 3-4 years old. Imagine if we can look back at these images of her when she is setting the world on fire as a professional golfer. For those of you who have not met her, it is very possible. She is a very gifted athlete. I love both of these images for her obvious concentration. Her body language just shows how into it she is.

Tigress 1 12"x14" (Commissioned)

This is image one of two. I was out of town and missing my family when I got a call from our friend Sindi. She asked if I would be interested in painting a couple of pictures of her daughter who is also a friend of our daughter. That picked my spirits up a little. When I told her that I would love to paint these images I also sent a text stating that I was sorry for being blah. She sent a simple text back saying that it was fine and "Blah be gone". That little "spell" was so simple and genuine it made me smile instantly. Thanks Sindi.

Rockin 9"x12"

My friend Adrian had tickets to see Linkin Park. He had intended on taking his wife. However, Sindi was pregnant and didn't feel like throwing punches in the mosh pit so he invited me. After a night of acting like we were teenagers again he sent me this blurry image from his cell phone. The coolest part of it is that my fairly proper friend had jumped the railing and forced his way up to the stage to snap this picture. I really like it for the colors and remembering rockin out.

VW (Ref Col #1) 24"x30"

I was driving down the road in the company car. I was stuck in traffic. I looked over at the Tractor Trailer next to me. I caught a glimpse of my car in the hub cap and snapped a picture of it. I thought is was so cool. But what wasn't cool was that it was a Ford 500 (not that there is anything wrong with Fords). I called my friend Jeff who owns several Bugs. He agreed to try to capture a cool picture for me. I think he did a great job. This image is of his Bug in the hub cap on his wife's Bug. It was so much fun to paint and I still love to look at it because of it's twists and turns. Ref Col #1 refers to my desire to do many more interesting reflection paintings.

Whale's Story 24"x30" (Kerrigan's Private Collection)

This is the a fore mentioned "Whale's Story". After doing "Knock Off" I needed to do an abstract. We were sitting at a soccer camp that we had Kerrigan enrolled in talking with our friend Sindi. I was sketching while we were talking about our last trip to Hawaii. The sketch turned into a whale's tail and then into this painting. I wanted people to think about the whale's journey. I was going to title it "Whale's Tale" but I didn't want people to think that I couldn't spell.

Knock Off 20"x24" (Cheryl's "Private Collection")

This painting is a complete "knock off". Cheryl and I were in Target. She said that she loved a painting there. I told her that I could do it in two hours. She suggested I get busy. When we got home I started it. I spent one hour the first day and one hour the second day and it was completed. At first I did not get any pleasure from this painting as it was not original. As a matter of fact I did not even sign it the way I normally would. But doing a painting with such lack of detail and loading up the paint taught me quite a bit. The lessons learned from this inspired "Whale's Story". Once again, I am grateful to Cheryl.

K's Close Up 12"x16" (Private Collection)

Next painting was done of my favorite subject, my awesome daughter Kerrigan. She is in three of my sculptures but this is the first in oil. She and Cheryl were just goofing off when they snapped this photo. I loved that it was so close up and had such an uninhibited smile. I'm kind of partial to her smile anyways. This painting has it's critics, but I like it. It's always arguable what style to use. As an artist, I think you just have to go with what appeals to your eyes. If you follow other's you will be pulled in too many other directions. Besides I want to show my vision, not what history says is good. That said, I appreciate the honest criticism. From the critic, a compliment is usually honest.

Meghan's Mexico 40"x30" (Commissioned)

I was getting ready to start another painting. Trent and I were going out on another bike ride. He asked me if I would be interested in painting another painting for him. He said that he was considering the image that was to eventually be "Meghan's Mexico". I told him I would love to. I told him that I had wanted to paint "Meghan's Mexico" but I didn't want him to think that I was just making paintings to sell to him. We discussed the size 40" x 30". That was a big painting for me, but I loved that photo, the juxtaposition of the modern car being held up by a mule train, the way the buildings curved, the colors. When it was all about done, I called him and asked about adding something personalized to the license plate. We agreed on her name. As it turns out, when I finished it she was out of town. I brought it to their house and he was able to surprise her when she got home. Again, such a spectacular home displaying one of my paintings.

Five Amigos 24"x 30" (Sold)

For the third session of the previously mentioned class, I needed another subject. Fortunately a good friend of mine Trent had a photo that his his wonderful wife, Meghan had taken while she was in college. At the time she was in Mexico as an exchange student. They were kind enough to let me use it. As it turns out, they liked the final painting so well that they bought it. I have sold quite a few sculptures, but this was the first oil painting that I sold. Knowing that Trent and Meghan liked it enough to show it in their spectacular house was a huge compliment. By the way, Trent and his Father built our house. They are wonderful to deal with and built us a beautiful home.

WH Greenway 24"x30" (Sold)

This is the first oil painting that I completed. At this point I had completed numerous sculptures and a very few acrylic paintings prior to this. I have been drawing since the third grade. At least that's my first memory of acknowledgement of something artistic that I did. I got away from the sculptures due to the fragile nature of the medium that I was using and the enormous cost of bronze. Cheryl (my wife) suggested a class for some kind of art. She found me an oil painting class at Vol State for which I am eternally grateful. I survived about three of the eight classes. I learned a way to set up and clean up my paint (i do it differently now). That was what I really needed and the teacher had a habit of showing what changes she would suggest on your canvass. Even at that stage of oil, I could not stand the idea of someone else working on my work. Besides, art is subjective. How can one person both say to loosen up and paint what you want and then come back and say that it's not right.