Exploring the World in Brushstrokes

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"Winter's Gino" (30 X 24" oil on canvas) captures the moment a dear neighboring friend had paused for a chat in my studio on a cold snowy day. The rich mix of textures and earthy colors begged for a portrait. The results show the glow of friendship with life.

"Autumn's Gino" (30 X 24" oil on canvas) was the first of 4 seasonal portraits of my neighbor, truly a friend for all seasons. As we sat conversing in his back yard, his posture and demeanor inspired the first of the series. In the process of painting it, I was compelled to create more portraits of people to convey the essence of our commonality as we engaged life in each of our ways.

"Baby Ryleigh, First Look" (20 X 16 oil on panel) is a commissioned work that I was excited to paint due to the reference photo's depiction of the infant's fresh direct gaze and flexible posture within the embrace of a closely wrapped blanket. The muted tones of the taupe against a blue-tinted background, folds against folds, had a soft gentle and organic appeal, a kind welcoming to a new world.

"Melissa, Quiltmaker of Many Hats." 20X18" oil on canvas was inspired by the rich color and textures in which the sitter surrounded herself in dress and in creations. The portrait's fabulous mix of color, detail and movement along with Melissa's priceless side-eye glance invite humor and imagination. One of my favorites, I smiled whenever I approached the easel to work on it.

"Connie and Sam's Moment; Portrait of Lifelong Companionship" (12 X 12" oil on panel with textured gold leaf) is one of my favorite combinations of texture, color and concepts. The gold leaf highlights the celebration of dedicated partnership in sacred trust, as the couple fondly lean into each other in observation of what their attire tells is a formal event. They are separated by a wavy veil fro

"The Heavens Are Shaking" (48 X 60" acrylic on panel) describes a fantastical etherial drama in the skies over earth's receding curved horizon. A symphony of celestial blues, pierced by the sharp rays of brilliant stars, provides backdrop to the theater of soft swirling tumbling clouds, some with anthropomorphic characteristics that suggest Titanic personalities. Beauty and texture transcend chaos

"Gorgeous One" (48 X 60" acrylic on panel) is a commissioned work depicting a popular view of The Rio Grande Gorge on the south side of Taos, New Mexico. An expansive blue sky in all its majesty gives way to the highly detailed rendering of the snaking chasm beneath, as the mountains rest on the sidelines, spectators to the main event. In 1981, this view inspired my move to New Mexico the next yea

"Prelude For Butterflies" (48 X 94" acrylic and  latex on panel) is another imagined landscape, specifically painted for Samaritan House shelter in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Its expansive vista with infinite horizon suggests countless possibilities lie ahead, transcending the notion of a static reality. Rolling pastel curves impress a gentle journey forward even as the land is foreign, raw and varied

"Where The Butterflies Are" (48 X 60" acrylic and latex on panel) was painted for Samaritan House after "Prelude For Butterflies."  An oasis amid a family of character rocks is pregnant with abundance in flowing water, flowering vegetation and, of course, butterflies. Its elevation above a plane below suggests a similar path may bring  prosperity when setting higher sights. Because the viewer is a

"Poise" (48 X 36" acrylic on panel) is an elegant yet energetic depiction of how holding steady in the face of utter chaos and potential devastation can look. A blue heron, ever a stately presence if not the essence of prehistoric survival, stands in detached observance on a beach as the heavens above break loose in reckless abandon and cosmic debris washes ashore with the ocean's waves. The firew

"The Wright Place, Displaced But Not Misplaced" (36 X 48" acrylic and mixed media on canvas) was commissioned by a dentist for her waiting room to calm the potentially anxious with a tranquil waterfall scene. Born from imagination with the client's reference to a large scale 11 X 22 foot imagined mural I had painted for a waiting room elsewhere, this more intimate piece highlights a forefront lone