Art Instruction Blog
ARTFIELDS Winning Portrait
Made my Daddy Proud The big news is that I won the ARTFIELDS portrait competition on May 3, 2014, from a field of 23 very talented and creative artists. It was pretty exciting. But whatever the outcome, it was an awesome opportunity to turn people on to the art of...
Passion, Vision and Goals
Being an Artist It's absurd to expect yourself to be passionate about your art without knowing why you're doing it. It's the vision, not the idea of passion that inspires us. I write (paint, sing, act, dance, etc.) not to be a writer; I write because I have...
Charleston Living – A Softer Touch
A Softer Touch Here is a readable .pdf of the recent article in Charleston Living, beautifully written by fellow art spirit, Jason Zwiker. Or if you prefer, just scroll down. I hope you will read and share the message of the article, which I think describes our...
Cate Portrait is Finished
Cate and Friends This portrait of my darling Cate depicts a world where all is well and all is one. Aside from completely repainting the face from the previous version, I have added 14 creatures to the painting, not including the Holy Spirit, seen in the upper right....
Our Culture of Exceptionalism
I often wonder why I speak out, why I paint, why I write, sometimes, why I even bother waking up in the morning. It seems at times that nobody cares. I realize my blogs often disappear into the ether, sometimes completely unread, that what I'm burning to say means...
Fear and Bravery for the artist
Many people believe the following statement: "Real freedom is the absence of fear." I respectfully disagree. I tell my kids that fear is only step one. Step two is bravery. An absence of fear is probably not practical or even possible. Denial is rarely effective....
What is the Fair Market Value of Art?
How Do You Put a Value on Art? "Don't blame the marketing department. The buck stops with the chief executive." John D. Rockefeller I recently blogged about the valuation of art. Many find the commodification of one's creative output problematic. How can you put a...
Perception is Everything
Low-balling Art Is a Flop I've been running a little marketing experiment lately. I've been offering recent demo paintings for a much lower price than one might expect to pay at an art fair or even a framed print in a frame shop. Very often, these demo paintings...
Babies, Charcoal and Conte
Baby Portraits in Charcoal and Conte My dear friend Jason Zwiker asked me to create a couple charcoals sketches from photographs he had. I decided to go with the toned paper, with conte. I love the look of these drawings and am hoping to have the opportunity to more...
Right vs Left Brain Are One Brain
Who really knows their Right from their Left? The traditional Right vs Left brain conversation is not giving us the complete picture. New findings suggest that people are not necessarily more functional on one hemisphere of their brain over the other. I have done...
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“The Handoff” captures the exact moment when one generation places the fragile world into the hands of the next. Suspended in a cosmic cloud of light and stardust, the small Earth glows between older, protective hands and younger, open palms.
“The Handoff” will be featured in my exhibition at Park Circle Gallery, opening Good Friday 5-7 pm. Thru April.
Two sets of #hands reach toward a small, luminous Earth, held tenderly against a swirling #cosmos. The older hands cradle the #planet with care; the younger hands open to receive it. Between them hangs a silent question: What are we really passing on?
“The Handoff” is a #meditation on stewardship across generations—the moment when responsibility for our fragile world shifts from those who have carried it to those who will shape what comes next. It’s a piece for anyone who feels both the weight and the hope of that exchange: parents, teachers, mentors, spiritual leaders, and quiet guardians of the future.
Hung in a living room, office, or gathering space, this painting becomes a daily reminder to live—and lead—with the next generation in mind.
It’s a painting about trust, responsibility, and the quiet courage it takes to let go—and to receive. It asks: What are we really giving to those who follow us? A burden? A blessing? A chance to do better? In this suspended second, everything is still possible.
"The Handoff" is for people who feel they’re standing between generations—parents, teachers, mentors, spiritual leaders, even environmental advocates—anyone who feels the weight of what we’re handing to those coming after us. It’s a visual reminder that the Earth, and the future, are something we pass on, not just something we use. ... See MoreSee Less
The figures in "A Walk in the Park" are the inner cast you carry everywhere—the fool who leaps, the doubter who drags his feet, the dreamer who stares past the horizon, the judge with crossed arms, the child who still believes. They bicker, whisper, revolt and reconcile, but together they make the one you call “I.” We are all onstage at once, caught in the thin light between meaning and emptiness—a reminder that your chaos is not a flaw, but the chorus through which your true voice finally emerges. ... See MoreSee Less
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted."Identity and Self"
Opening Reception and Exhibition at
Park Circle Art Gallery
4820 Jenkins Ave.
North Charleston, SC 29405
The Exhibition runs through April 26
Gallery Hours: W-F 10:30-5:30, Sat 12-4
The collection will center on how identity interferes with our true self, our true freedom, which is a central value for an artist, as well as any self-actualized individual. For instance, when I draw my idea of a thing, rather than opening myself up to the full potential contained in the thing itself, I am limiting my creative potential.
So, who are we at our core, after we strip away the names we call ourselves, the parties with whom we affiliate, the causes for which we are fighting? After all, these are all inventions of the ego, which separate us from God and the infinite. Existence consists of light on form. Light is my medium as an artist. I am a painter of the self. I am looking always for something deeper than the surface representations in my subjects. It is the true self I am looking for when I paint, whether it is an orange, a sky or a judge. ... See MoreSee Less
“The Fantasy” oil on canvas 36" x 48", invites you into that lucid dream space where imagination feels more vivid than reality. In this oil painting, a solitary figure drifts through a dreamlike landscape of softened edges and impossible light. But the story is not fixed—you’re handed a doorway.
This piece lives in the uncertainty between escape and awakening. At first glance, it feels like a beautiful dream: rich color, fluid forms, and a sense of effortless drift. But stay with it, and you begin to notice the undercurrent—a quiet question about what we run toward, and what we’re trying to leave behind.
For the thoughtful collector, “The Fantasy” becomes a mirror for their own inner world. It speaks to anyone who has ever built a private refuge in their mind: the daydreamer, the creative, the survivor, the seeker who knows that fantasies can be both sanctuary and trap. The painting doesn’t judge that impulse; it honors it, and gently asks what new possibilities might emerge when we begin to bring those inner visions into the light of our real lives.
Hung in a living room, bedroom, or reading space, “The Fantasy” doesn’t just decorate a wall—it opens a conversation. With its layered symbolism and emotional depth, it’s the kind of work people return to, again and again, discovering new details and meanings as their own story evolves. ... See MoreSee Less
"Three Little Buds" is a framed #oilpainting looking for a new home. “Three Little Buds” captures a tender moment of becoming: three rosebuds held in that brief, luminous stage before they open. The dew on their petals hints at fresh beginnings and quiet resilience after the rain. This piece speaks to anyone who feels on the edge of a new chapter—honoring both the vulnerability and the promise of what is about to bloom.
“Three Little Buds" is about beginnings and the quiet power of what hasn’t fully unfolded yet. I painted them at that in-between moment—still closed, but clearly full of life and color, with the dew clinging to them after a fresh start.
For me, the three buds might suggest three children / three important relationships / three versions of ourselves at different times, held together in the same space of light and nurtured by potential energy. The droplets are a reminder that renewal often comes right after the storm; there’s a softness and resilience there.
It’s a painting for someone who connects with the idea of growth, protection, and the beauty of what’s just about to bloom or has bloomed in their own life. ... See MoreSee Less