In the Kelp

The next small painting in my series of mermaids will be posted for sale on Every Day Orginal at 10:00 am EST this morning! 

Oil, 6 x 8 inches

Vernal Equinox : Spring Planting

Happy Equinox! My next small painting goes live for sale on Every Day Original tomorrow morning (3/21) at 10am EST. If you're interested, be ready, the last four have sold within the first hour. http://www.everydayoriginal.com/

For me, the spring equinox is a time to reflect on human history and life before science brought us the relatively luxurious lives we lead today. It's also a time to celebrate the human ingenuity that developed science and our current relative abundance!

Before clocks were common and printed calendars were purchased every December at Barnes & Noble, the sun, moon and stars were the time keepers we lived our lives by. Today we only associate the zodiac with the mysticism and magical thinking that it was undoubtedly part of, but we forget that for thousands of years the sun and his twelve zodiacal constellations also served a very practical purpose as the annual twelve month calendar. From the neolithic agricultural revolution about 12,000 years ago until the industrial revolution of the 1800s, when almost everyone's occupation was farming, these celestial bodies were vital indicators of the seasons and when to plant the crops that sustained our lives. Poor timing in planting could have dire consequence, so the skies were watched with great care and imbued with great meaning. Our ancestors may have taken the equinox as a time to reflect on the sacrifice made by the sun as it gave it's light to grow their sustenance.

The subtle ornamental design in the sky of this painting is intended to symbolize the daily and annual path of the sun.

Oil Color Study, 6 x 8 inches

Bioluminescence

This new still life will be part of a group show titled, Modern (Still) Life, at Abend Gallery in Denver, CO. The show opens Friday, March 20, 6-9 pm. I'm a little behind in posting news, but I should also say that I am now officially a regular featured artist at Abend Gallery!

Bioluminescence, Oil, 18 x 24 inches

Detail

Gazing Into the Deep

The next small painting in my series of contemplative mermaids will be posted for sale on Every Day Orginal at 10:00 am EST tomorrow morning (Feb 21st)! This one ponders the dark of a deep ocean trench. If you want it, be ready, my last three paintings posted to EDO have sold in under 20 minutes.

Gazing Into the Deep, 7 x 7 inches, Oil on Board

Shadowy Deep III Color Study

My next small painting goes live for sale on Every Day Original today. Move fast, my last two paintings each sold in less than ten minutes! I'm continuing the mermaid series here. This one lounging in the shade of a reef, awoken by the meanderings of a star fish. This may become a larger painting at some point, so I'm calling this a color study.

Shadowy Deep III (color study), Oil, 6 x 8 inches

The Sun is Born (Winter Solstice)

My next small painting goes up for sale on Every Day Original today. This one is a celebration in observance of the Winter Solstice. This is the day that the sun reaches it's farthest point in the southern sky, signaling the beginning of winter. Some would say that the sun is metaphorically reborn as it begins to move back north to begin a new year. The Romans celebrated this celestial event on December 25th and Emperor Aurelian called it the birthday of the "Invincible Sun."
Merry Solstice everyone!

6x6 inches, Oil on Board

“Mythology may, in a real sense, be defined as other people's religion. And religion may, in a sense, be understood as popular misunderstanding of mythology.”
― Joseph Campbell

Holiday Miniatures Show

I have five small works showing at Abend Gallery in Denver for their 24th Annual Holiday Miniatures Show opening tonight, December 5th. These finished color studies are all 8 x 10 inches, but they may become larger paintings some time soon.

Reaching Europa Color Study, Oil, 8 x 10 inches

Setting Up Color Study, Oil, 8 x 10 inches

Admiring Forms Color Study, Oil, 8 x 10 inches

Embrace Color Study, Oil, 8 x 10 inches

Observation II Color Study, Oil, 8 x 10 inches

Every Day Original

I'm participating in a new website called Every Day Original. As the name indicates, a new original work of art is posted everyday for sale. The site just launched on December 2nd and my first contribution sold immediately. If you missed out on this piece, don't worry I will have more work on the site on the 21st of every month. So stay tuned for that later this month and another small works announcement tomorrow!

Shadowy Deep II, Oil 6x8 inches

The Edge of Realism

I'll be participating in a group show during the month of November at Abend Gallery in Denver, Colorado. The show is called "The Edge of Realism" and you can see many of the included works, as well as show information, on the gallery's event page. I'll have three paintings in the show including this new piece.

Observation, Oil, 20 x 24 inches

Below left, is an animated GIF detail image of Observation taken in raking light to show the texture of the paint surface. Click to zoom on the image and you should see the image flip between even light and raking light.

 I'm realizing now that I haven't posted here that my painting, Fallen Seeds (below right), received an Award of Excellence in last month's Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional Exhibiton! I'm very honored to receive the award in the company of so many great paintings.

Fallen Seeds, Oil, 12 x 16 inches

Observation, Detail in Raking Light

Illuxcon and and Darth Vader

Illuxcon was a wonderful and overwhelming display of imaginative realism last weekend as it always is! Below is a picture of my wall in the main show of the event. It was great to reconnect with people and meet many more.

While at the event I became aware that there are a few paintings I haven't posted here yet, such as the following illustration for the Star Wars Card Game titled Force Choke. It could have used a little more light at the top of my Illuxcon wall, but it found a new home none the less.

Force Choke, Oil, 12 x 16 inches - © 2013 Fantasy Flight Games

We Are Made of Stars

“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”

This quote from Carl Sagan represents one of the most poetic truths of our scientific reality. That heavy elements weren't created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of earlier generations of stars that have since exploded and spread their material across the universe. We are literally made of stardust. This allows us a new and profound feeling of connection to the stars we see in the sky, to the universe, and to everyone in it. I created this new painting to remind us of this, an idea which Neil deGrasse Tyson calls "the most astounding fact" in the video below. I highly recommend watching it and others such as the Sagan Series.

Oil, 24 x 30 inches

Mermaid

Bored, lost in thought, this mermaid is having a restful moment, but she's going to have to snap out of it, and not only because she's coming with me to Illuxcon next week! Come see her at the Allentown Art Museum September 20-21st.

Oil, 18 x 24 inches

D&D Player's Handbook, Part 2

Also appearing in the new 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook are these three illustrations. The first depicts a dwarf coming to the aid of an injured comrade, casting a "Sacred Flame" spell on reptilian monster as the sun sets through the trees, signaling that darkness will soon fall upon the swamp.

Sacred Flame, Oil, 12 x16 inches

Oil, 11 x 14 inches

These next two are character class illustrations depicting a human witch (below left) and a forest gnome ranger (right.) And below to the right is a page from the book showing how these vignette images are printed.

Oil, 11 x 14 inches

D&D Player's Handbook

Now that the new edition of the Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook has been released I can begin to show the illustrations that I created for it. This tavern scene features a halfling bard (or for those who aren't familiar with the game, a hobbit-like minstrel) dancing and playing lute for a host of other mythical peoples. It was great fun to paint and I'm honored to be included in such an iconic publication that I hope will bring enchantment and wonder to many people, young and not so young.

If you happen to follow my work here, you may remember my announcement back in March of this year that I was lucky enough to have four paintings included in Spectrum 21: The Annual Best of Fantastic Art. At the time I was unable to display one of those four images because it was under a non-disclosure agreement until it was published. Well, I'm happy to say this is the fourth image that will be appearing in this year's edition of Spectrum!

Oil, 12 x 16 inches

Prachie

Oil, 9 x 12 inches

Original available on Daily Paintworks