"Summer" 9x12 Oil on Masonite

With each new painting I strive to achieve a higher level of craft and evolve my subject matter. "Summer" is a painting that allowed me to expand from mostly painting floral subject matter and the progression to another organic object seemed like a good fit.

Many summer mornings are spent on my front porch enjoying the beautiful homes we live near and soft light of early day. I wanted to create a painting that captured those feelings with color, light, smell, and a feeling of freshness. To me, tomatoes always make me think of August when they are at their best and most flavorful. I greatly enjoyed making this piece and look forward to expanding upon the concept and subject matter. Fell free to leave a comment!

"Lean on Me"

My latest pastel piece "Lean On Me" 12x6 was a bit of a departure from my usual composition style. With this piece I wanted to render a very traditional subject matter in a way that was a bit more sleek and modern and have the fruit appear as though it is suspended in space. In reality the subject is sitting on black drapery fabric but I choose to eliminate any folds to delineate surface and allow to viewer to decide how this piece reads. I used Terry Ludwig's wonderful 'sunset ' colors for the pear's in conjunction with Conte' of Paris and Derwent for the remainder of the piece. Hope that you enjoy!

"Ready-Set-Go"

My latest and certainly most complex endeavor as an artist is one that required me to not only compile subject matter in an intriguing way with an abundance of textures, colors,  and dynamic form interaction but also tell a story with the composition. The study that I have been involved in for the past three years with artist Anthony Waichulis, director of The Ani Art Academy Waichulis has been and continues to be one of the most transformative experiences of my life, creatively and personally.

"Ready-Set-Go" is my big piece prior to entering the painting phase of my study with Anthony and pulls together all that I have learned with the many, many, many, many, many..did I say many!!! ??? repetitive form exercises. This is a piece that tells a story of global travel and expansion through ones talent, dedication, faith, and hard work. All the objects related to methods of travel are symbols for my own dreams of allowing my gift to take me anywhere I desire. The vintage travel case and hotel labels tell of the experiences in life we go through to gain wisdom and knowledge so when we encounter something beautiful and good we recognize it as such and embrace it. The other objects such as the cards, magnifying glass, match books tell of the trinkets we pick in life as mementos of good times along the way. The silver dollar that sits on the Botanica book was found in my garden this spring while I was planting flower bulbs. It is a 1904 silver dollar, the same year our home was built,  I had to include this in my work because I knew instantly this is how The Universe communicates to us all. I paint flowers, I was digging in the dirt planting flowers when I found this treasure, flowers=treasure=keep going, you're on the right path. This is what this piece is about, to be ready at a moments notice to receive the gift of inspiration, to recognize it and to use it to my full advantage.

Thanks for taking them time to visit and feel free to leave a comment if you wish! :-)

On The Wings Of Angels 12x18 Pastel on Paper

My latest pastel painting is titled "On The Wings Of Angels" for many reasons but mostly for the feeling I get from this image of ascendance. The compositions that get me the most excited as an artist and I find that I am drawn to tend to be the ones that create a "back story" for the two dimensional image. This story is one that exists in my mind as well as a belief in the best way to live my life, however, if I have done my job well I hope that anyone who looks at the painting or drawing can read the story as well and hopefully I have left enough ambiguity to allow you to create your own story within the painting. Much of my work is fueled by a strong spiritual life that connects me to my true self/true purpose in this life and the best art that I can make because there is not difference between what I do and who I am, it all starts and ends in the same place for me. The Roses travel along a horizontal pathway from shadow into the brilliant sun light and the lead Rose is the only one that touches that light as the others follow behind as the title suggests, on the wings of angels to greater enlightenment, self discovery, purpose, happiness, joy......whatever you think they are traveling towards is exactly where they are going! I hope that this piece makes you smile, I know it gave me great joy to create it! Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you enjoy my latest creation.

Safe On Arrival

Hello friends!!! I wanted to talk a bit about my latest pastel painting "Safe on Arrival" 18x18 inches Pastel on paper. The inspiration behind this piece is one that asks me as an artist to not only create from the heart but to trust my intuition and follow that "nudge" when I get it. As 2010 came to a close I made some difficult but very positive changes in my professional life. With those changes came fear, uncertainty, excitement, and a deeper trust that I was doing exactly the right thing.

I was developing a concept for a trompe l'oeil piece and it just wasn't working. After many photo sessions and drawings the "magic" just wasn't there so I trusted that it wasn't there simply because there was something better waiting, there always is! If there is one thing I have learned in life is that there is no such thing as "No" in the Universe. There is yes, not at this time and I have something better waiting for you! With this in mind I let it go knowing the moment I made myself ready to receive the gift, it would be given. On New Years Day 2011 I walked into my studio thinking about my career, life, etc., when I happen to look over at the area I use for packing and shipping. There was crumpled piece of packing paper that was catching the morning light perfectly! It's all I needed, there it was...my next piece. I had a small group of roses I was going paint at the time and combined the two to create this piece.

The significance of the paper being packing paper used for safe travel of my art is very important. It sends the message very clearly, "my goals, dreams, craft, joys and desires are on the global move...and they are safe" much the same way the delicate flowers in the piece have arrived as the title suggests "Safe on Arrival"

The Pastel Journal Magazine Top 100

I just picked up a copy of The Pastel Journal April 2011 issue showcasing The Top 100 Competition Winners and it is such a thrill to have my painting "September" 16x12 featured as a second place winner in the still life/floral category!! There is a very nice interview written by Michael Chelsey Johnson about my award and piece along with a quote from Juror Claudia Seymour "The artist did a perfect job of painting them in an unusual setting and arrangement that works for interest but also shows off why everyone loves these gorgeous flowers"

I love this painting and it is such an honor to have my work recognized and published in this way!

Blossom 2 - Art of Flowers Award Winners 2011 featuring my pastel painting and Jurors Choice Award winner, "Casting Call"

Inspiration, Intuition, and Creation

Welcome to my Blog!

I am very, very fortunate to be apprenticing with one of the worlds foremost Trompe L'Oeil, Realist painters, Mr. Anthony Waichulis, Director of The Ani Art Academy Waichulis in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA www.aniwaichulis.com. The rigorous program developed by Anthony has been a God send to me and it was like sprinkling Miracle Grow on my creative and artistic aspirations! I have begun this blog to document my journey through The Ani Art Academy Waichulis's intensive program and I will be talking about a range of topics from how my career has changed since beginning this formal study to the challenges that the curriculum has presented me with and how I addressed them and used them for opportunities of growth as well as the unexpected treasures I have unearthed so far!!

For my first blog post I would like to talk about the importance of honoring ones intuition and being open to inspiration. To showcase this, I will focus on my Pastel Trompe L'Oeil painting titled, "Casting Call" 20x16 Pastel on Paper. I have also included a very quick sketch I did of the inspiration I received to create it as well as the completed piece. I do this to give you a sense that all my ideas for my art begin like assembling a magical jigsaw puzzle and the pieces fit exactly where they are supposed to and even though it's not a highly rendered sketch the bones of the piece are there from which I was able to build, refine, develop! I cannot force the images or they will not compliment the piece they are meant to connect with to create the completed painting. I honor my intuition by relying on my gut feelings. If it doesn't feel right, it's not right and no amount of forcing it will make the piece fit.  Also, and probably most important: I do not edit my feelings or thoughts! It all works and it all makes for better art and makes me a more intuitive artist. Even if an idea or concept does not result in a "masterpiece," so what..I will have learned something I can use at another time and that is often the case.

The inspiration for "Casting Call" came to me very simply by being open. I was walking through a fabric store admiring the colors, textures and patterns of all the fabrics when I saw a wall of spools of ribbons. Hundreds of colors and sizes jumped out at me as the light transformed the sheen of the silk in the most meaningful way. It's all I needed. I knew right away I was just given a gift because I felt it in my heart and I could feel a child like enthusiasm building like it was Christmas Eve. I selected my favorite colors and it all fell into place in the next few months  because I did not force it. I allowed the images to come to me and when I felt like the foundation was there to build on, I began my very fast drawing just to "get it out" and move the puzzle pieces around. I dont really make judgments of "good" or "bad" but what choices more effectively communicate the story that I am attempting to describe to the viewer.

The story of "Casting Call" is one that documents the process I have just described. We see a still life set up where an artist has taped up images of flowers that he will place into the brilliant Teal vase to create his painting from, however,  the process is already the completed piece and both the Rose and Orchid hang in center stage both deserving of equal attention. "Casting Call" has just received a Jurors Choice Award in the prestigious Blossom 2: Art of Flowers Competition and is currently being exhibited at The Naples Museum of Art in Naples Florida until April 10th 2011.