"Sanctuary" has Been Sold!

I am  absolutely honored to say that my original painting “Sanctuary” has been  sold BUT even better than that, the collector who bought it will be  donating it along with several prints to a blood cancer research fundraiser. A cause that is very close to my heart for obvious reasons .

 
 

It’s just such a special feeling when your art can help people in  some small way. Financially contributing to cancer research with my art  feels so in alignment with who I am and how I want my art to help the  world. Sometimes making art feels so abstract and intangible so it  really brightens my spirit when it can actually have a positive tangible  impact on other people.

 
 

A Painting about Trauma

Hi friends, I hope you all have been well. I just wanted to share a little update on a painting that ive been working on for the last few months. Once I had finished my chemo treatments in late September of last year I had the strong urge to create a painting in response to my entire cancer experience. I wanted it to be a self-portrait that expressed the expanse of emotions that i felt during the entire process, hopelessness, fear, paint, loneliness, optimism, hope ect.

It honestly felt really good to sort of take back some agency over myself and the experience by painting about it. I took many many photo references in my closed with a light taped to my chest for an intense and dramatic light source. I wanted the light to be right where the cancer started which was the middle of my sternum.

There will be much more symbolism in this painting to explain once it is done. But for now I wanted to give you an update since I havent posted in a bit. Let me know what you think so far :)

Best of the Art World Publication

Hi friends! I’m super excited to share a new publication! I recently answered several interview questions from Arts to Hearts Project as a part of their Best of the Art World series and they just published the full article! They did such an excellent job of asking incredibly thoughtful questions as well as explaining my journey and artistic values. Honestly reading this article makes me feel VERY seen and appreciated, I couldn’t ask for much more.

Read the full article here

A Once in a Lifetime Painting: "Time Remembers Us"

Welcome and thank you for taking the time to read this blog post. Wow how do I start this off? So I began this painting in November of 2024, a time when I was dealing with severe sciatic pain and most likely due to the quickly multiplying cancerous cells in my body that wouldn't be discovered until March of 2025.

 
 

It is no joke to say that making this painting gave me something to hold on to when my life was genuinely falling apart. During chemo, every night I would go through a mental check list of things I had accomplished in this painting and how much I think I could progress the next day as a means to calm my mind. This painting accompanied weight loss, weight gain, muscle twitching, hair loss, fear, anxiety and hope. And the point of this painting is that my wife was there holding my hand through all of it. She was there when the first radioactive drugs hit my bloodstream and she was there at end with flowers in hand and a smile on her face. And as a full circle moment I finished the painting at the end of September of this year around the time of my final chemo treatment. As a small thank you, I gave a print of this painting to every single nurse in the infusion suite as well as all of the doctors who guided me through this intense process.
Please enjoy the images and description of this painting, I took my time with every little detail.

 
 

30"x44" | Oil on panel| $11,000
Payment plans are available
15% of the purchasers payment will be donated to the Cancer foundation of New Mexico which helps fund the needs of financially-challenged cancer patients and their families.

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Painting Description

While traversing some of the most remote mountains he had ever seen he suddenly felt as if he were being watched. There was no one in sight, but he could still feel her presence in the cloud-covered mountain peaks, her eyes watching over his every step. Tilting his head up to the sky, he finally saw her and something about her felt incredibly familiar, as if they had met before. Their proximity felt like an echo that had reverberated longer than either of them could comprehend.

This was in fact, not their first encounter but one of an infinite number of first encounters scattered across space and time. They always seemed to find each other in every lifetime, in every dimension. Across the seas and through the mountains, no matter what separated them, they always met and never wanted to part. In this lifetime, they would meet early in their lives in the mountains but in the next they might find each other in old age on an entirely different continent.

In another life, they might be two birds who happen to land on the same branch and in another, two rocks sitting side by side at the edge of a canyon enjoying each other's company in complete silence. In whatever life they exist, and whatever form they inhabit, they always circle one another, finding peace in each other's presence.

 
 

* This piece accompanied me through one of the most challenging chapters of my life. I began it before my cancer diagnosis and continued working on it throughout six months of chemotherapy. In many ways it holds more than just paint, it carries love, endurance, and the presence of someone who never let go of my hand.

 
 
 
 

Why You Havent Heard from Me

Hello! Now I’m not sure that many people read my blog and most of you probably already know this from social media. But I figured it cant hurt to document this on my website just in case. So I havent updated my website much or posted any new blogs in the last few months and theres a good reason for it, I promise! In April of this year I was unfortunately diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma which is a type of cancer that originates in the lymphatic system. Spooky right. It was especially frightening for this to happen to me at the ripe age of 31. But apparently this is the type of cancer that can happen to young people so I just happened to be a part of that unlucky statistic. But luckily for me this is a very weak and dumb cancer (my wife’s words) so even with this dark news we had a good reason to believe that I would beat it with treatment.

So beginning in late April I started a 6 month long journey of chemotherapy to slowly destroy these annoying cells who think they have the right to put my life in danger! And to make a very long story short, basically the treatment is working amazingly and as I am writing this blog post I only have 4 remaining treatments! So I am writing this from a much better place with so much more optimism in my heart than I had 4-5 months ago.

All this to say that this has been an incredibly challenging process in every way imaginable and I’m so happy to be at the tail end of it. And luckily I have been able to find a pretty good routine in between my chemo treatments so I actually have been able to paint for most of this summer! And it just so happened that before all of this I was working on a rather big and intensive Terra Human painting that I was able to continue creating when I felt able. Working on this painting sort of grounded me in a way, giving me something to work on and progress through while I was dealing with difficult emotions and scary changes in my body. Even when I was feeling terrible after a treatment I could look at the progress photos of my painting and feel proud of something that I was making.

It feels sort of poetic that as I am now in the final stages of my treatment I am also finally finishing this behemoth of a painting. Everyday I have been meticulously adjusting and adding little things because it will honestly be hard to finally call this painting complete after all we have been through together. I’m looking forward to sharing this painting soon and I really hope that the final product will be worth all of the time and effort.

Thanks for being patient with me as I navigate a particularly difficult period of life. And don’t worry! I will be back to a hundred percent soon!

"Wide Open" Has Been Sold!

I am absolutely honored to say that my original painting “Wide Open” has been sold! This is such a special painting to me for a number of reasons namely because this piece features my lovely wife’s eye. Therefore the description that I wrote for it was heavily influenced by her and how she views and interacts with the world. My wife has the incredible bravery to view both the beautiful good and unimaginable bad with an unflinching focus, always pondering how she can be a positive force in this sometimes broken world.

I feel so grateful that some lucky individual loved this painting so much that they wanted it in their home. If you are interested in prints of this piece they are available in my online shop.

Prints of "wide open"

Piece Description: I have had the fortune of looking into these eyes almost everyday for the past 11 years. Every raw and complicated emotion has been felt and expressed through these beautiful and haunting eyes. They hold so much love, sorrow, passion, pain, joy and sadness that the only truth of this painting is that we are looking into pure infinity.

Everyday a beautiful soul uses her eyes to see not just the good in our world but also the evil. As much as she sometimes wants to close them to the terrors of our world, she’s keeps them open feeling the pain and sadness that takes place everyday. With her eyes wide open and vulnerable, she takes in all that our world has to offer refusing the flinch at its horrifying beauty.

Finally Finished "Serenity"! My Newest Terra Human Painting

I am so so excited to introduce you to my newest Terra Human painting titled “Serenity”! This 30"x48" painting required several months of dedicated work (some of which while I had COVID) but it was worth it so create something that I am really proud of. As you will read in my description this painting is about finding "a place to retreat to when it hurts too much to be anywhere else." It's no secrete that I've been dealing with moderate health issues on and off for about a year now and something that has helped he through the pain and uncomfortability has been visualizing imagined places that are calming and safe for me. A place that is sheltered from the hardship of the outside world were I can feel centered and at peace. And this painting ended up being a visual manifestation of this concept.
I hope that "Serenity" can inspire you to find your own mental fortress that can bring you peace and acceptance.

S E R E N I T Y

30"x48" | Oil on canvas| $6000
Payment plans are available

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Painting Description

He knew that he needed to search at night. There was no other time that would give him the complete silence that he needed to walk with purpose. After hours upon hours of trudging through jagged rocks, thick bushes and patches of snow he finally passed through a thick layer of mist and found himself illuminated by the light of the moon above the clouds.

Once he found his footing he finally lifted his head and what he saw pulled the breath from his lungs.  After searching for so many years he had almost given up on the idea of finding this exact place of solace, somewhere he could go to in the darkest of times, a place to retreat to when it hurts too much to be anywhere else. A location so remote and peaceful that it cannot be penetrated by any malice or pain no matter how hard the outside world tries. And sleeping atop these mountains was a piece of him that he never knew existed. A part of him that could truly rest and feel a complete oneness with this environment. From this distance, he could just barely see her chest move in and out with every long breath. Her peace allowed him to finally feel safe and he began to understand himself absent from any other viewpoints. In finding this place he discovered a serenity that had evaded him his entire life.

Note on Payment Plans: Art is expensive, I get it. And I want the people who love a painting the most to have access to that piece even if they cannot pay for it all at once. So if you are interested in a particular painting please reach out to me so that we can create a payment plan that works for both of us. I'm very lucky that my website allows for a variety of payment options and I've already used this system with several clients. I currently charge 0% interest on payment plans.

"Sanctuary" Chosen as a Finalist in the International ARC Salon Competition!

I am super excited to say that my painting Sanctuary” has been chosen as a finalist in the 17th International ARC Salon Competition!
Last year I obsessed over making this painting for more than three months hoping that someone would appreciate every little detail like I did and so it’s really nice seeing this painting get some recognition!

 
 

There were over 5,000 entries in the salon this year from 87 countries and approximately 24%, 1,226 works were selected as finalists.
This is such a big international competition and I’ll be anxiously awaiting the announcement of the winners on January 7th 2025!

This painting is currently available for purchase from The Vendue Hotel, click the button below to view it in their shop.

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My Thoughts on Social Media and Artistic Nudity

I want to say something regarding my recent painting “Same Breath” and how instagram decided to react to my first post of it.

 
 

Even though I was warned by other artists who paint nude figures regularly I can’t help but be disappointed in instagram’s immediate penalization of my content. Luckily my post wasn’t removed but they flagged it and removed several posts on my story in addition to making me ineligible for monetization for several weeks. And since posting this painting several more times each time was met with another slap on the wrist. All of this for a piece of artwork that showcases the dynamic beautify of the human form. Unfortunately I have shied away from making paintings like this for years in fear of these exact consequences. Even though I have loved illustrating the nude figure ever since my first figure drawing classes in college, I have held back in my professional work because I knew that social media can be strict with their community guidlines. I find it most frustrating that meta chose to flag my post for “sexual content” when (I want to be loud and clear about this) there is nothing inherently sexual about the human form, nude or otherwise. Sexualization is something imposed on the nude body by an external viewer who cannot appreciate its innate beauty and strength so they result to objectification. The painting I posted came from the depths of my soul, it was raw, emotional, and sensitive but in no way sexually driven in any way. I you read the description you will know it is about the transition of a soul from one form to another. And I hate to play the blame game but I have seen some unspeakably offensive posts on this platform relating to sex, violence, racism and sexism that were not only allowed to stay up but were actually amplified by the algorithm to be seen by more and more people.

 
 

If I’m being honest this is an issue that is much broader than instagram. Our culture has developed to a point that we are so afraid of the human form that it is specifically hidden from sight and ONLY to be seen in a sexual context. So it’s no wonder that this is how our minds work. Just for some personal context, when I took live model drawing classes in college, me and all of the students learned very quickly that not only does nudity not equate to sex but it also showcases the striking uniqueness and universality of all our bodies. When you as a student sit at your drawing horse for hours upon hours thoughtfully observing and replicating the incredible curves, angles and textures of the human form you gain a deep appreciation for the human body as a work of art and not something to be sexualized in every context. When our instructor found people to model for our classes he made sure to find a variety of people of all shapes, sizes and ages and through this exposure we all learned to find beauty in all of these forms.

Sorry if I am rambling but this feedback from instagram got my mind thinking about these ideas and I wanted to vocalize them. Art is so important to me and I feel like it can benefit so many people if we are ready to engage in it. And I specifically think that artwork involving nudity can have a powerful role in reshaping our societies skewed views of sexuality, hopefully creating a renewed appreciate and respect for the bodies we all inhabit.


I’m sure that meta will most definitely NOT fix their system but I just wanted to vent my thoughts to you all and remind you that we all move about this world in a precious vessel. This body that we inhabit deserves to be respected and appreciated as a work of art.

The Wait is Over! Two Brand New Terra Human Paintings!

Hello, I hope you are doing well! I'm really excited to share two brand new Terra Human Paintings with you today! As some of you may know I was not able to finish these paintings in time for the Contemporary Figuration show at Abend Gallery due to a muscle spasm in my neck. So after many many hours of painting I finally finished these two pieces and am so excited to share them with you. For clarity these paintings are available DIRECTLY from me since they were never exhibited at the gallery.

 
 

If you have the time please read my descriptions for the paintings as well, I dedicate a lot of time and energy into writing thoughtful descriptions for every painting I make and these are certainly no exception.  I really hope that these paintings encourage introspection and a renewed sense of empathy. Please reach out to me if you want to know more about these paintings (ie. additional photos or videos). They can be purchased directly from my website by using the buttons below the photos. Payment plans are available upon request so don't hesitate to contact me if that is something you are interested in.

 
 

"Same Breath"  |  12"x12" Framed  |  *SOLD*

Painting Description
After wandering the harsh and unforgiving mountains for longer than he could remember he realized that he had forgotten what he was searching for. He was desperately in need of something but could never find it and couldn’t even name it. Not knowing what to do or where to go he stoped in his tracks, kneeled down and reached down into the earth that he had been traversing on top of for all of his life. Feeling something soft among the dirt and roots he used all of this strength to pull a human form from the earth that housed it for so long. He held her in this exact spot for years looking at her in awe and feeling at peace, as if he finally understood something better than he understood himself. And the longer he held her the more he wished to see the world as she might see it.
Slowly every breath he exhaled moved a part of his soul into her. Until he no longer had the strength to hold her but as he took his last breath she took her first and she was able to hold him as his warmth departed. Saying goodbye she slowly lowered him to rest in the mountains as the tress and plants lovingly embraced his presence. In a new form but with the same breath she was now free to walk this earth truly at peace, no longer searching.

 
 

"Harvest Moon"  |  12"x16" Framed  |  $2500

Painting Description
In times of true despair we are the most open to changing our ways. When our hearts are finally empty and our minds exhausted we finally look outside of ourselves to do the one thing we swore we would never do, ask for help. Less than halfway up the mountain we collapse, we lay down our pride and stop ignoring the pain that has plagued us for so much of the journey. With tears falling from our eyes we give in to all that has overwhelmed us, finally acknowledging the hurt and letting it envelope us.
After some time of gazing at the moon for comfort we finally look around to see many others who are illuminated by the moonlight as well, all making the same journey up the mountain. But they all look down as they trudge their way up with the same pains and despair weighing them down. All but one who notices us sitting in the cold dirt and offers an open hand but when we are too exhausted to take it so they decide to sit down with us, staring at the moon and enjoying the comfort of another.

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"Choosing Light" Limited Edition Prints are Finally Here!

Thank you for taking the time to read this exciting announcement! I am officially launching limited edition prints of my painting "Choosing Light". I feel so fortunate that this piece had such a loving reception on social media resulting in it being sold to a new collector in Dubai. So I wanted to release some prints of it so that everyone can their own special copy of this unique painting. 

Since these are limited edition I will only be printing a total of 200 copies of this painting and after that the edition will be over. But here is my favorite part! Each copy is a canvas print so it has the beautiful canvas texture and additionally is ready to hang right out of the box! I spent a lot of time ordering and reviewing several different test prints to find just the right look for this piece and when I took the canvas version out of the box I knew this was the right look!
IMPORTANT: This is a limited time drop! These prints will be available to order starting today Wednesday May 8th until Sunday May 12th.
More details below

Each print is priced at $100
Each print is 18"x24" 
Printed on canvas
Comes with a hand signed Certificate of Authenticity
200 Prints will be created in total

Final Note: The First 5 orders will receive certificates with a brief paragraph of my hand written thoughts on the painting.

"Choosing Light" Has Been Sold!

I am just so proud to say that thanks to a recent viral video on my instagram, my painting “Choosing Light” has been sold! I’m so appreciative of everyone who engaged with and comment on this video helping it reach over half a million people! This engagement helped my painting find the right person who was just over the moon with excitement to buy it.

This is such a personal painting for me and I really cannot tell you how much it means to me that so many people connected with it and that one person resonated with it so much that they needed to buy it as soon as possible! This painting is about embracing my intense empathy towards others even when it sometimes hurts and so so many people related to what I said and took my message to heart. I received so many comments and messages from people telling me that seeing this painting and reading my message actually brought them to tears. This was genuinely an out of body experience and I’m really excited for the buyer in Dubai.

I’m a little busy with paintings for a show in April at the moment, but I’m hoping to do a limited edition print release of this paintings to celebrate the sale! I’m thinking of doing a pre-order for these prints so I can know exactly how many to print. So please keep an eye out here on my website as well as on my socials!

Recent Sales from the Abend Holiday Show

Hey there! I’m very happy to say that two out of my three new paintings for the Holiday Miniatures Show at Abend Gallery have been sold! I spent countless hours on all three of these paintings so it is hugely rewarding to see that two of them are going a home where they will be enjoyed by a collector. I’m really happy to see so many paintings being sold through this show and look forward to doing another show with Abend in April.

My final new painting that is available from the show is “Witness to the Unknown”. Use the button below to view it in the gallery shop.

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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.

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.

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