Three New Paintings for the Holiday Miniatures Show

Hello All! Thank you for your patience while I completed these new paintings. I’m very excited to share three brand new pieces with you that I’ve created for the 33rd Annual Holiday Miniatures Show at Abend Gallery! I worked on these paintings for several months and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Two out of the three pieces have already been sold so be sure to use the link below to see my available gallery paintings.

"Among the Stars"  |  8"x10"  Framed  |  Sold

If I am nothing but a tiny ripple in a vast ocean, a speck of light in an infinite sky of stars, how do I matter? And if my time on this pale blue dot is only a microscopic blip on the timeline of its existence, why should I live with purpose?

As she contemplated these thoughts the universe asked her to lay her head down. And as she did this she was shown the people that she loved and how her existence altered them, microscopically shifting their life path just by being herself and loving with her full heart. And then she saw how her influence in that person altered another person. And then her impact on that person influenced another. She was shown the spread of her impact again and again, a light that spread further than she could ever imagine, until it finally stopped and her presence in the world was not longer. Even though her impact was great eventually all memory of her would fade and her mark will eventually disappear.

The universe told her even though her wave would eventually return to the ocean as if it had never existed in the first place, it did exist in perfect beauty in the exact right moment and it will find its resting place back in the collective of the universe.

"Hunter's Gaze"  |  8"x10"  Framed  |  Sold

One of my favorite animals while growing up was the barn owl. I found their look and demeanor to be so unique and thought-provoking and I really loved reading about these creatures and discovering what made them unique. I especially enjoyed drawing them and trying to render their unique faces. And I always found their eyes to be incredibly mesmerizing and attention grabbing. These incredibly dark eyes hold so much expression and intensity which I hope that I captured in this piece. It gave me a lot of joy to capture this graceful creature in a painting.

"Witness to the Unknown"  |  8"x10"  Framed  |  $1500

Gazing up at the night sky in a time long before our own. We begin to see subtle green lights moving across the impossibly dark sky. The longer we look the more the colors seem to intensify and brighten as they form into amazingly long curtains reaching up to the heavens. In this time before scientific explanation this incomprehensible phenomenon ignites a spark of wonder in our hearts. A feeling of genuine humility while witnessing the absolute beauty of the planet that we live on.
And because we are human we choose to create beautiful stories and mythologies to explain this unimaginable wonder. Passing along these tales as a way to connect with one another and to find a semblance of understanding in vast unknown.

"Uncovered Voice" A New Terra Human Painting

"Uncovered Voice"
I have finally finished my newest Terra Human piece! This one is really special to me and here is why. This piece brings an illustration to the concept of personal viewpoint. How every individual has a personal filter through which they interpret the world around them.

 
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This concept has always been a background insecurity of mine, while growing up I was always worried that I did not have a unique way of seeing the world and therefor had no voice. Even when I created art I thought it was soulless and absent of a unique perspective. I remember expressing my insecurity about this to a friend in college when I was exploring the idea of becoming and artist after graduation. I distinctly remember telling her that I felt that every artist must have a voice to express their message to viewers and I genuinely worried that I didn’t have a voice to amplify through my art. I worried that my thoughts and ideas were not worth seeing on canvas and that I had no unique viewpoint. This friend reassured me that I did have a voice and it might take time and effort to find it, but was inside me. I listened to this advice and had faith that if I continued developing my skills and creativity I would eventually start to uncover my voice in my art.

 
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And now I think I am at a point in my career where I am finally starting to discover my voice. I think this will be a lifelong process but I am finally starting to work through this insecurity and discover my window through which I see the world.
Thanks for listening

This original painting is available to purchase in my shop for $1800.

Click here to purchase!

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"As One" A New Terra Human Painting!

I'm proud to bring you my newest Terra Human painting "As One.” Whenever I reflect on my artistic process its always safe to say that I’ve chosen a profession that requires an incredible amount in internal motivation that solely depends on my personal drive and dedication , and while working on this piece I felt constantly driven and inspired to create something that surpassed anything I've ever created. And by creating small attainable steps for myself everyday I was able to accomplish what I set out to do! So here is the final product along with a description. Below these you will find some process photos along with some descriptions of my painting process.

Painting Description

In this piece humans and nature breath as one. The divisions that we have insisted on for generations have evaporated and we finally see ourselves reflected in the natural world that surrounds us. Plants, trees and moss start to grow with her body as her hands reach into the earth with humility and understanding. The curves and angles of her limbs are reflected in the surrounding landscape showing the balance we can achieve when we listen and reflect. As she sleeps her breath soars with the birds in the sky while her heartbeat synchronizes with the core of the earth.

Creation Process

Before approaching this painting I did a few studies first starting with a sketch, then a landscape study and lastly a figure study. When planning large paintings like this these studies become incredibly helpful in order to learn about your proportions, size ratios, values and colors. After the studies I laid out my composition with pencil on the canvas, making sure to measure out proportions early. Now that I had the pencil sketch I started to paint in small (bite sized) sections as to not get overwhelmed. I started with the figure because I knew she would be the most challenging part of the piece and I wanted to achieve a certain glow in her skin by layering paint. I very interesting tip that I recently discovered by painting many figure studies is that the face will always contain more pink color than the skin from other parts of the body. It creates a much more natural look!

Once I painted the figure to about 90% I started painting the surrounding landscape section by section paying special attention to color and value. The colors were very important in this piece, because they showed how the sunlight was hitting the mountain peak and illustrated the shadow below. Another key decisison that added to the realism of this piece was adding cast shadows behind the tress on the figure to show that this figure was indeed a part of this landscape and had her own weight and mass. And finally once I filled in each section of the surrounding landscape I evaluated the painting overall as a whole and make some small adjustments in order to make it feel cohesive and alive!

This lovely original painting is available to purchase for $3000 in my online shop! CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!

Newest Terra Human in the Works!

Hi friends, while I was working on my recent commission I was just so inspired by the large scale of the piece that I decided to painting new newest Terra Human piece in a huge canvas! (24”x48” to be exact) Recently I’ve been in the habit of creating small to medium sized paintings because they can act of faster studies and they will be more affordable but I also think there is something to be said about investing a lot of time in a big project and using it to push your skills forward.

 
 

So here is a progress shot of this awesome project! This piece is almost complete as of now and I’m really excited to share it with you all soon!

New Terra Human Study

Here is a new Terra Human study titled "Impending Storm" this piece explores how our internal world affects our external environment. As the storm develops and creates conflict in his mind so too does the storm gain power above him.

 
 

This piece started just as a figure study but while I was working on it I felt excited to push it further and experiment with it. I really enjoyed creating the environment around this figure and pushing my technique to make sure he seemed incorporated in it.

This piece is available to purchase for $250 in my online shop! CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!

"Between Worlds" A New Terra Human Painting

Hello everyone! Here is my newest Terra Human painting titled “Between Worlds.” I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished in this piece and I would like to share a little bit about the process with you! Overall visually with this piece I wanted to approach it like a classic portrait and then let my imagination have some fun with the surreal and abstract aspects of the painting. This process and visual composition is fairly different from my typical approach to figures because I usually show the whole person and they are typically in a dynamic pose within a large landscape scene. So I thought a change would be nice in order to try something new.

 
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In terms of concept I wanted blur the line between humans and nature. I wanted trees and grass to be seamlessly growing on this figure as if it was a completely normal thing to see and understand. I wanted this very unrealistic dreamlike image to somehow make sense in the viewers mind so that the concept can come across effortlessly. A big theme in this piece is humility and a strong respect for the nature that surrounds us and I wanted this image to be a visual representation of that . You can read the full description of this piece by clicking HERE!

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New Figure Study Available for $100!

✅This 9"x12" figure study is available for purchase for $100.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!
I'm always trying to improve my observational skills as well as my rendering techniques in these studies and this study proved to be trick. The slight tilt in the head and slouched posture were my biggest challenges.

 
 

"Unspoken" A New Terra Human Painting

I’m very happy to have finished my newest Terra Human piece titled “Unspoken.” At the start of this painting I wanted it to be personal to me and to reflect a specific aspect of my childhood. This aspect being my shyness and how it evolved over time. When I was young and in school I never felt like I had much to say because I didn’t see the value of my input. But as I got older my shyness evolved into a willingness to listen and an awareness of the value of words and how just a few can have the most power when used properly.

Now lets jump into the process!

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In the above row of process photos you can see how I started with a golden yellow background color which would serve as our sunlight. After that I started with a line drawing of the figure and his surroundings to make sure everything was in its right place. After that I blocked in large ares of color and value.

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Once I had a sufficient amount of paint on the panel I could start creating more value in shadows and highlights. After these I could get into some finer details with smaller brushes as well as abstractions with the palette knife.

After many hours of persistent work here is our final product!

 
 
 

This piece is currently available to purchase for $900. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!

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"Majestic Rockies" Has Been Sold!

I’m happy to say that “Majestic Rockies” has been sold!
I’m very pleased with how this study turned out and I’m so thrilled that if found a new home! 

 
 

Sometimes when I start small studies for large paintings I can’t help but bring them to completion because of my excitement. This piece was a great practice painting for a great Terra human piece which you can view by clicking HERE!

 
 

"Rise and Fall" New Terra Human Painting!

I’m very happy to have finished my newest Terra Human piece called"Rise and Fall." This is a piece about facing challenges. We all have difficulties in our everyday life that can rob us of positivity and leave us with little hope for improvement. And at the end of each day our personal challenges can leave us exhausted and drained and yet we find the courage to wake up every morning to try again. 
Every person on this planet has seemingly microscopic battles that they fight every day in order to live the life they love. We are all facing hardships in our own ways and knowing this can make us more accepting and understanding of others.

In terms of process this painting had a lot leading up to it. I create a photoshop rendering early on but I wanted to create a study for each aspect of the piece so that I could really do the image justice. I never used to be much of a fan of working on studies because I felt like it was just taking away time from the final product. But I’ve realized more and more how important these studies are to the final painting and how much you learn from them. The two images below are the two studies for this Terra Human painting.

Creating these two studies helped me notice small details in each image that I could apply to the final product. Studies are where you can make mistakes and learn from them in order to improve the final piece.

Below you can see the final product! Some obvious improvements from the studies are the more accurate and warmer colors, the perspective of the figure and better more 3D shapes in the cliff.

This piece is currently available to purchase for $700. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!

Overall I’m incredibly proud of not only the final result but also the process behind this painting. I always want my paintings to portray a certain complexity that cannot be put into words .

"Jemez Springs" Throwback Thursday Sale

This weeks Throwback Thursday Sale features "Jemez Springs”

This 11"x14" piece is framed and ready to hang with a sale price of $130.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!

I frequently reminisce about the creation of this piece because I was able to paint on sight surrounded by the stunning nature of New Mexico.

"Protected" Throwback Thursday Sale!

This weeks Throwback Thursday Sale features "Protected"

This 18"x24" piece is framed and ready to hang with a sale price of $375.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!

I have always loved the concept of this piece. I wanted the figure to be protecting this small tree but who is protecting the figure? This person is physically vulnerable and yet emotionally strong.

"Old Brother" on Sale!

Here is my first throwback Thursday sale!

“Old Brother” is for sale for the reduced price of $200!

This price cut will only last through the weekend!
This piece is 24”x30” and has a coat of varnish.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!

Here is the original high quality image.

Here is a sample image in a living room.

Throwback Thursday Sale!

Hello everyone! I’m very excited about this weekly sale I am launching. Every Thursday I will post a throwback Thursday painting on Facebook and Instagram that will have a LIMITED TIME PRICE CUT!

This weekly sale will feature plenty of unique and affordable original paintings that I’m excited to share with you all again!

So be on the lookout for your favorite paintings at reduced prices!

 
 

Terra Human Study

I am very happy to have just finished this great little Terra Human study. Up until now my typical habit has been to create separate landscape and figure studies in order to better understand each component but I thought it would be fun to approach a Terra Human painting as a study. I wanted to do this because my Terra Human pieces have become much more involved than they used to be in accordance with my ever developing skills and drive to make each piece better than the last. And I have found myself quite intimidated when starting a large Terra Human painting because I know that I will push myself to make each new painting more visually and emotionally compelling. And while I do really enjoy creating these time-intensive projects I also need to find a space to play around with my Terra Human concepts and imagery in a low stress environment.

 
 

So I hope to create more quick studies like this one where I can lay out an image and practice my technique without diving into a larger long-term project.

This original painting is available for $100 CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!

"Sight Unobstructed" Has Been Sold!

I almost can't believe I'm saying this, "Sight Unobstructed" has been sold!
I met this very kind collector a few years ago at one if my first festivals and I'm so happy we have stayed in touch!

 
 

All of my sales are very important to me but it is especially significant when someone invests in a piece that is so personal and showcases my unique style. Every unconventional painting I create is a risk because I am choosing to open my heart up to the world and hope that is received with understanding and appreciation. It can be terrifying to follow your passion but it can be even more frightening to follow it in the exact way that you see fit without too many compromises.

I am so appreciative of the people who see the value in my work and the risk that they take in purchasing a piece of art that can add joy and understanding to their life.