Paintings

' The Adventure Begins'  18" x 36"  Acrylic on Linen

This piece begins a series I refer to as the 'Adventure' series. Adam Goldman commissioned this piece as an album cover for his band  'The Class M Planets' , and he gave me free reign to do as i please.  These characters arose form many conversations and daydreams with Adam over a two month period. The composition was driven by the final intent of the piece and really inspired an entirely new direction for my style and subject matter. Interesting note is the impossibility of the perspectives on the architecture surrounding the tree. I love playing around with perspective and trying to trick the eye.

'He Comes in Peace Yet He Carries a Gun"  12" x 36" Acrylic on Canvas

This is the second in the 'Adventure' series and follows closely behind the completion of the first painting
'The Adventure Begins'. My first attempt at mountains on this scale and was pleasantly surprised to find a solution pretty quickly. The character collection grows with this piece and leads my imagination to many more adventures with these guys.

'The Path to Enlightenment'  25" x  32"  Acrylic on Linen

The third piece in the 'Adventure series' takes us on a long trek through ever changing landscapes. Starting from the interior of a cliff top forest and zooming out to the distant destination, I am trying to enhance movement through the depth of the painting as well as the surface. My first exploration with water and I still am a bit baffled. More water to come for sure as I need to learn how to handle this elusive element. Thank you Sarah and Jarred Carter for commissioning this piece and allowing the continuation of the series.

'The Flood of Knowledge'  20" x 20"  Acrylic on canvas

The fourth piece in the 'Adventure Series',  'The Flood of Knowledge', took an adventure of it's own ending up on the wall of Rachael Weatherford's first apartment. Thank you to Paul Weatherford for for his continuing support and patronage. The two characters started out as frogs but soon changed into furry creatures. We felt that the fuzzy was lacking when the two in the boat were amphibians and decided to add furry creatures instead. The color palette in this one was challenging but rewarding. Ugh, more work is needed on my water.

'The Red Balloon"  24" x 36" Acrylic on canvas

'The Red Balloon' is fifth in the 'Adventure Series'. This background and the Blue Jay are on my favorites list. The Alpine range in the far back was a learning curve to say the least. I was really nervous because I had a really lucky day with the sky and didn't want to ruin it somehow. I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally was off those mountains and down into the valley. However, that train trestle nearly killed me.  Thank you Lynn Barger for making this one happen. I had a great time collaborating with  and getting to know my cousin Lynn. Yay.

'The Deerpath'  26" x  26" Acrylic on canvas

This piece found it's way onto the cover of the 'Deerpath' album by 'Class M Planets'. This marks the sixth painting in the series and takes us farther into the world we created for the album. this Centaur creature is standing at attention as his duty is to protect the music of the forest. The song of the woods is represented by the multitude of birds flying about, disturbed by the presence of something unfamiliar and menacing at the water's edge. The water carries with it the music and delivers it throughout the forest and so must remain unmolested.

'The Rendezvous'  22" x 28"  Acrylic on canvas

The seventh painting in the 'Adventure Series' was a collaboration with owner Brian McKeever. Over several months we pushed and pulled this piece through quite a metamorphosis before we landed on this WW2 genre image. We found it to be somewhat of a challenge to fit the era while still maintaining the 'story book' feel of the characters. Brian has a lot of great ideas and we did manage to pull off a nice espionage scene here. We made a great effort to try and work inside the genre yet way under emphasize the hell that is war.

'Simon Bolivar'  30" x 40" Acrylic on Linen

'Simon Bolivar' was a commission for Javier Salom. Bolivar is a great historical figure in South America and was largely responsible for ridding the continent of the Spaniards. This piece marks the first painting I have done where a political message was deeply embedded and in fact drove the imagery of the piece.   Bolivar rests his foot triumphantly on the helmet of a fallen conquistador as a Spanish galleon escapes away into the sun setting on an era of conquest and oppression. Sword buried in the sand as a sign of finality and ownership, Bolivar wears his famous red coat and the medallion awarded to him by the country of Bolivia. This piece is massive and boasts an amazing hand crafted metal frame from Sarah Northcraft Martin.

The Reluctant Lumberjack  18" x 24"  Acrylic on Linen

This guy is saddened every morning to be put in the horrible position of being a lumberjack. While it goes against every molecule in his moral fiber to cut down trees, he is faced with the dilemma of feeding his family in an area depleted of jobs. He does what he must, but it hurts his soul.

'Uncivil'  9" x 12" Acrylic on canvas board

'Uncivil' is a piece I did for a show in 2011 and is one of three that marks the beginning of the 'Men Outside with Weapons' series. This piece ended up in the home of Courtney Taylor Taylor. Courtney was the one who pointed out that these guys are dressed in civil war gear, opposing sides no less. I originally painted them as though they were pirates, never seeing that I had painted very obvious civil war era blades as well as uniforms. Like I always say, "These things paint themselves."

'Hunter'  9" x 12" Acrylic on canvas board

'Hunter' is owned by Paul Weatherford and is the second in the 'Men Outside with Weapons series'. This one takes a departure from my usual bright color palette and explores a different kind of light source than in previous pieces. This piece marks the beginning of some new methods and decision making about my characters which I have carried into further pieces

'Utit of The Plains People'  9" x 12"  Acrylic on canvas board

'Utit' is the third in the series 'Men Outside with Weapons'. It is another piece in the Reidle collection. This is still one of my favorites. I love the way his face and coat turned out and the fact that the dog looks like a raccoon or something mythical. Utit of the plains people and his raccoon-dog mike

'The Pilot'  9" x 12" Acrylic on Canvas Board

This is the fourth piece in the 'Men Outside with Weapons' Series.  Meant to commemorate our WW2 time war heroes and all they sacrificed for the rest of us. I'm a big fan of WW2 history and the development of the weaponry and aircraft of the time. My Grand father played a huge role in my fascination with WW2 as he was a MacArthur Honor Guard as a Soldier in the Pacific and basically everywhere Gen. Mac Arthur went.

"Highlander?"  9" x 12"  Acrylic on Canvas Board

This piece continues the 'Men Outside With Weapons' series with w confused mishmash of armor and weaponry from around the globe and even time itself. He's not even wearing a proper kilt. The emblem on his chest comes from an image of my family crest 'Porter'. I found many coat or arms for my last name with varying imagery but, this one detail I like so I have kept.