Origin Series Showing at Studio IX

Come see Origin live beginning October 4th at the Studio IX Gallery in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Origin. Go within yourself and be one with the world. The deeper we go within ourselves, the closer we are to everything else. But are all things truly connected? The Origin collection explores patterns of similarity in nature, love, and conflict. The show invites you to find patterns and connections among the different paintings, and then to gently explore what your findings mean to you.

Has Gender Fluidity Finally Come to My Art?

Update on the painting after Rubens’ “Carrying the Cross.” Finally bringing more of myself into the piece. Rubens’ elements and aspects of his subject remain, but the work is now from my whole being. What I love: Undulation and fluid energy in a solid, rugged environment.

“Transcendence.” 30 x 40 inches. Acrylic on canvas. (After Rubens’ “Carrying the Cross.“)

The Great Iteration

Experimentation, iteration, and refinement. Here we are in the awkward iterative stage. I’m not sure if this piece will ever resolve itself—or if it really needs to.

Various iterations of the aM all piece, The Call.

The Call. Current version. Work in progress. Five feet square. Acrylic on canvas.

Painting Energy

Update on the aM all banner, The Call. Work in progress.

After months of exploration, I’m coming nearer to the aliveness the aM all figures demand.

For me, painting isn’t just about what I see… It’s about capturing the energy that flows beneath the surface. Every subject carries a unique vibe—a pulse, a rhythm. My goal when I'm painting is to turn that invisible force into something you can feel.

It’s more than just a painting… it’s energy on canvas.

The Call. Five feet square. Acrylic on canvas.

Abstractesque

Over the next few weeks, I’m exploring ways to abstract early masters. Here’s a series of sketches after Peter Paul Rubens’ “Carrying the Cross.”

Come Again?

In the myth of Galatea, a sea spirit and a shepherd named Acis fall in love, but a jealous cyclops named Polyphemus kills Acis when he finds them together.

In 1512, the Italian artist Raphael painted “The Triumph of Galatea,” a fresco depicting Galatea’s glorification.

Inspired by Raphael’s composition, palette, and rendering, I studied, copied, and reimagined “The Triumph of Galatea.”

The result is a gathering of ambiguous figures at play and in isolation.

Triangulation. Twelve inches square. Acrylic on canvas.

Raphael’s rendering is glorious. Rather than comparing these two paintings, look at each as it’s own object. What do you see? What is really there? What delights you? What repels?

The Triumph of Galatea. Raphael. 1512. Fresco. Villa Farnesina, Rome.

Energy Portraits

We are all individuals with perpetually changing energies. Most of us sense energy rather than see it. Years ago, when I walked into my late mother’s room, I knew she had gone. Her physical appearance was the same, but her energy had left her body.

Apollo. Eight inches square. Acrylic on canvas.

It got me thinking about this energy we all carry through life. Energy Portraits is my imagined sense of that force, a tribute celebrating the mysterious essence that brings us alive and connects us all.

Dionysus. Eight inches square. Acrylic on canvas.

Rather than representing figures, these portraits depict the energy that their subjects hold for me. I'm fascinated by inner conflict, so I've painted the clash between Apollo and Dionysus, which we all feel from time to time.

Awareness. Eight inches square. Acrylic on canvas.

The third portrait is of Awareness, the timeless essence that brings us alive and transcends physical life. I imagine Awareness as an amorphous, ever-changing energy whose gift to us all is unconditional love.