Paint pen and ink on paper.  8 1/2″ X 11″

This piece evolved over the course of 3 days. The process was incredibly exciting! It began with the idea of a serene buddha. The dense forest took it to an entirely different level. The idea of being able to find one’s center,  at the center of chaos itself. The space around the buddha is so loud, alive, and unpredictable, and yet there she sits; absorbing the jungle in the sheer brilliance of her own peace. I feel that inertia every time I see it!

Acrylic and gouache on canvas,  18″ X 24″ (each).

Ahh. The joy of painting is sometimes inexplicable. The process of creating this series was quite profound. I stood on the brink of my bare canvas, in total submission to the muse. Then I dimmed the lights after each 2 hour interval. Each time, a whole new palette splashed across my subject. Instead of a simple study of light, it became an exploration of sight. By the end of the month I was left with this series. Each piece is a universe, eternal all to itself.

Acrylic, gouache, ink on linoleum, 12″ X 12″ (each).

This piece was conceived on a cold, rainy day in the magic city within a 3 week period. I witnessed the demise of a relatively small, simple and elusive creature. It got me thinking about the state of things and the irony of our inevitability. I hit on the idea of death as a transformation rather than an end, and beauty existing even in the breakdown of the final procession of this journey. The idea of having a chance at spiritual rebirth; like a phoenix from the ashes. I think Joseph Campbell called it “the awakening of awe.”

Acrylic, gouache, and Krylon on canvas.  48″ X 52″.

When this piece was made, I was traveling through life at lightning speeds. Like an electron, spinning too fast to for any protons to latch on. I felt that slowing down would somehow leave me rooted to one spot. By the time I did take a breath, I came face to face with a terrible force that shook my entire being to the core. “In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost. Oh, how hard it is to tell of that wood; savage and harsh and dense, the thought of which renews my fear.” -Dante Alighieri

Acrylic and gouache on canvas,  24″ X 48″. 

This quadryptic was made in approximately 3 weeks. I was spending a great deal of time in the woods. While I was there I was totally overwhelmed by the paradoxical beauty of all the Strangler Figs around. The idea of the symbiotic relationships that practically all living things seem to share. But rather than reproducing images of the forest itself,  I wanted to recreate what I felt; the sheer joy of liveliness that I found there!

Acrylic, paint pen, and ink on paper, 18″ X 24″.

It took me approximately 2 1/2 weeks to complete this piece. I only had a few hours to work on it each day. It always fascinates me how people’s facial features are as distinctive as their fingerprints. The face reveals a sense of history in any one person.

Acrylic, pen, and ink on paper, 12″ X 18″.

Voltaire was once inclined to think that eyes were the windows to the soul. That becomes more apparent each time I look at this painting. The joy of starting fresh, of being loved, and of feeling brand new all radiating from her eyes! I felt as much glee painting this, as the baby did at that moment! Its the potential inside the painting that really moves me.

Paint pen and ink on paper, 18″ X 24″.

This painting took about ten days. The two subjects share a basic instinct. I like to leave it to the viewer to decide what that really is.

Paint pen and ink on paper, 18″ X 24″.

They say when it rains it pours, but on this particular rainy South Florida day the rain fell silently on our beautiful city. I looked out from a two story building at work to a mysterious place. Silver beads saturated everything in sight and for the first time I was able to see the magic in the well. All the different tints and hues of blue and gray gave reverence to the whole place! The beauty of decay, the wilting of the economy, and a residue of greatness just jumped out of the whole area.

Acrylic on canvas, 24″ X 30″.

Chief Seattle once wrote that man didn’t weave the web of life,  he was merely a strand of it. He pointed out that ,”…whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” That’s what I was grooving on when I painted this. The idea that if we allowed ourselves to be still long enough, then we would be able to look around and, you know, see ourselves in everything.