In 2012 (almost ten years ago), I painted this painting: It has been sitting in my stash of paintings for almost a decade. Not good enough to sell. But kind of nostalgic for me because it represents the time period where I figured out how to go from painting faces like this... ...to something that actually looked like a real human. Nonetheless, I felt like it was time to revisit the work and do a bit of analysis. So I grabbed my sketchbook. What worked? What didn't? I decided that one of the major issues was that the composition was... Read more →

I had some ugly papers -- experiments that didn't go well. So I decided to throw them up on my painting wall and see what happened. Watch this short video for a time lapse peek at the process: I love the painting wall in my studio (it's just insulation board nailed to the wall) but it can be difficult to really "see" the work. This is what it looked like at the end of my painting session: And then once they were dry and I pulled them off the wall: It's amazing what a difference it makes seeing them away... Read more →

As of late, I've got rocks on the brain! I keep making these kind of rock formations in my work. I don't know where it's coming from, but I've decided to embrace it. And so I give you: my Big Stone Collage: It's a mixture of painted paper collage, acrylic paint, pencil, oil pastel, crayon, and more! You can watch this quick video to see the piece come together in about 45 seconds: Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

I recently completed a painting that I love and I wanted to share it with you! I was interested in creating a face with lots and lots of texture. I wanted to see if I could push the face so that it's "off" but still reads as a face. For example, the lips are in the wrong place. On purpose. The eyes don't match. On purpose. And so on. I used some iridescent paint in this piece. Thus, the photos above and below are very different (because of the light). You can see the texture on this piece in these... Read more →

You guys, I have been a busy little bee. I have tons of new work to share with you! Some of it is faces, some of it is quilting, some of it is painting, some of it is stenciling...just lots and lots of art! Today, I want to kick off the sharing with some new work that I think is representative of where my work is heading. I really like it and I hope that you do too! It still feels like me -- lots of color, lots of pattern, lots of layers, lots of gestural mark making -- but... Read more →

As prolific as I am, I find it shocking that I'm only up to canvas #43 in this 100 canvas project of mine. I guess I do a lot of work in my art journal and on other surfaces? In any case, I really like this new piece: This painting has a kind of simplicity that I really love. It doesn't feel overworked or poked at. I don't often name my pieces, but after I finished this one, the name just hit me in the face: I Still Believe in America. I think it's the red and white-ish stripes in... Read more →

I have discovered a new material that I looooove working on: Tar Paper -- often called roofing felt. Artist, Ardith Goodwin, is a guest on the upcoming season of Make It Artsy and she demonstrated what a fantastic painting surface it is. I came home from the filming and ordered a roll. I immediately lopped off a big piece and created this painting: I'm hooked! It's a substrate that takes a serious beating and keeps on ticking. It's inexpensive. It comes in HUGE rolls. I am a happy camper! Here are some details from the painting I created: And here... Read more →

I wanted to share a very simple piece I did recently using acrylic paint, spray paint, a stencil, and some oil pastels: It's kind of a commission -- a piece that was made specifically for this room. It needed to be large and simple and black and white and inoffensive because it was installed as a "staging" piece -- i.e. a piece of art to help sell the home. I can't decide whether it's a finished painting or not. At the time, I felt that it was done. But, looking at these photos, I'm wondering: Is it a finished painting... Read more →

This is a painting with one piece of collage. So, technically it's a mixed media collage. But mostly, it's a mixed media painting (acrylic, charcoal, and marker). I love how the background is enveloping her. She is both separate and a part of it. Here is the one piece of collage: And some of the other details: I used slightly more realistic "skin tone" colors than I usually do. Though, I still allowed bits of the colorful underpainting to show through. It's also a slightly more realistic eye than I normally go for. I usually paint the edges of my... Read more →

This is a painting that I finished at the end of 2016, but didn't manage to take photos of until recently. It's another big one -- about 3 feet by 3 feet. It's so difficult to convey scale through photos on the internet, so I hope these photos with me and my hand help you "get" the size of it. It's also a painting with a ton of texture! As you might be able to infer from yesterday's painting. I'm a little bit in love with shine these days. Can you see the glitter in the detail photo above? Well,... Read more →