Gold, silver, and white paint pen on paper. 12″ x 18″.
This was a minimal reference, free-hand exercise in drawing for me. To draw a line on the page without having to think about whether it is straight enough, curved enough, or where it was in space was a little odd at first. As it turned out, the more lines I drew on the page, the more giddy I felt. Like a child at play.
Paint pen and ink on paper. 18” X 24”.
The thing I find most fascinating about little canines is their sense of hyper- bravado. They’ve got attitudes. So beware, their just too tough! Twix projects that with perfection.
Our little spaceman turned two today. Happy Birthday Lee, thanks for being the best grandbaby in the world!
Mixed media on paper. 18″ x 24″.
This piece reminds me of all the fun times I’ve had in my life. Those days when I can’t wait to go outside just to find out what will happen, who I’ll meet, and what I’ll do. Days when everything feels new.
Charcoal and chalk on paper. 18″ x 24″.
This piece was done at Vizcaya in the garden groves. The villa is a constant source of inspiration. It always feels like time doesn’t really exist there.
Paint pen and ink on paper. 14″ x 20″.
This is like one of those days where every cloud in the sky is perfectly formed and the sun is smiling down on everything. A day when everything goes incredibly well.
Here is one of the cards I created for our new game. Ocho the game is super fun and uber competitive! I’m really excited about the possibility of a print run!
Paint pen and ink on paper. 14″ x 20″.
Mia lounges so beautifully. Lost somewhere between doggie dreams and a daze, her eyes emit such a serene vibe. Dogs truly are our best friends. They show us the purest form of unconditional love there is. Sweet.
Pastel and acrylic on paper. 24″ x 54″.
This piece was a nice way to reconnect with my roots. Stills have a way of allowing a kind of liberation. The vibrance of the color makes it both timely and timeless all at once.
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, 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.”
It always fascinates me how people’s facial features are as distinctive as their fingerprints. The human face reveals a sense of history, both past and future.
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.
Colored pencil, Paint pen, and ink on paper, 12″ X 18″.
I think kids are really great to paint because most of the time, they wear their enthusiasm like a second skin. They are tabla rasa; a clean slate, so they are truly incandescently happy. They make really fun subjects!
Acrylic, paint pen, and ink on paper, 18″X24″.
To me, this piece really deals with the awkwardness of adolescence. The idea of being in a state of pre-self discovery and everything you do just feels so off kilter. It’s a time of crafty defense mechs and little bouts of self- deception. Elsie’s expression is pure joy, but by the time I get to the eyes they’re saying something quite different!
Acrylic on canvas, 18″ X 30″.
Comics have always been a major influence in my life. They really inspired me to want to be an artist. Comic Illustrators/ artists tend not to be taken seriously in the Fine Art world, but that doesn’t make them any less relevant to our lives. In this painting Superman’s vulnerability to, what most people consider the most harmless thing, is amplified by the presence of his hostess, whom he would rather evade than fight. So he finds himself in a sticky situation. I’ve seen this little allegory played out many times in the course of my life, but on a much more real scale.
Acrylic on canvas, 24″ X 30″.
Dr. Strange is another fave from the comics. What always intrigued me most about our modern mythos was their habitual references to physics. What I thought about when I painted this was the idea that you can’t create energy, but you can convert it to some other form. In the painting Dr. Strange is having to make the best of the conversion because his powers lost some of their potency in the transfer.
Photoshopped Print from Mural, 11″ X 14″.
The mural this was based on is actually 6′ X 9′. It was done in my last semester of college. Up until that point, I hadn’t painted very many portraits. It was painted on several pages of old newspapers that I glued onto raw canvas. The whole process of painting it was phenomenal! Everyone sees it differently and each time I look at it, I see something new. I think that makes it something else. Entirely.
Acrylic on canvas, 20″ X 30″.
The Avatar painting was really a metaphor for certain forms of inspiration. Whether you’re deciding what to cook for dinner, writing a book, running for President, or just saving the world, the muse has clearly seized you.
Amore Colore: Nina's Color Lab. 