CSA Advocacy Blog
Empathy for a Survivor
For 1 in 16 US women, first sexual intercourse experience was rape, study says. As a survivor, I find this is extremely troubling, to be sure. But I also wish they had gathered statistics on male CSA. My first sexual experience was being raped by a trusted family...
Are We Dead?
Ever notice it’s always the other people who are dead inside? They are always the sheep, blithely following. Never us. The thought occurred to me that maybe we are them. It's a theme I've been exploring, mostly because of the ever growing political divides, plaguing...
VJD Production Paintings
Wrapping up our 2019 PS production of #VincentJohnDoe. Thanks to Brooke Mogy Watkins, Brad Tarr, Susie Hallatt, Cate Maniscalco, Lorilyn K Harper, Fred Hutter, Kevin Cooper Ray, Anthony Parenti, David Hallett, Mary Maniscalco James Maniscalco, Danny Maniscalco,...
Life is a Story
Lifting the Veil I had an epiphany last night. I’ve been thinking about our stories, how they bind us and free us at the same time. Honestly, if we are not in the midst of a chapter or chapters of our own story, then we are asleep. All stories require conflict,...
When Will it End?
This morning, I found out about an incident of CSA, which took place at a church just down the street from us. We had even attended as a family a few times. Everyone was warm and welcoming. She was a nurse, taking my blood pressure and checking my temperature. She...
My Proof of God
Warning: trigger alert-explicit content. Faith is a deeply personal experience. People come to it in many ways. Although proof of God exists all around us, my personal proof for the existence of a loving God came to me in the most unlikely of circumstances. I had an...
Preaching to the Choir
Congratulations! If you're reading this, that means you're a member of the choir. We are the choir But are we just going to stand there and sing pretty? We are not sheep! What are we willing to DO to bring about real change in the world we are sharing? Sure, art makes...
Beauty and the Beast
Our family rented the movie, Beauty and the Beast, last night. Cate and I find it very moving, in all its incarnations. I've never fully understood why this particular story has such power for me. Here's one attempt at an answer. The beauty represents our longing for...
The Forgotten
I find it appalling that we have forgotten Haiti. It is astounding how quickly the child sexual abuse epidemic has fallen off our radar. It's horrendous that the Flint water crisis has already been brushed under the rug and forgotten. And there is a continuous flow of...
Art with A Social Conscience
If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him. JFK Some believe art's sole purpose is to decorate. Others believe art is a conversation with one's self that is really a...
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“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
Here's the entire portrait. I love judicial portraits. What do you think of this portrait? Know anyone who wants a portrait legacy created? A portrait is how people know us when we're gone. ... See MoreSee Less
"Reflections on Nothingness" #existentialism This #painting is not a design choice; it’s a commitment to keep looking into the #mystery rather than numbing out. “Reflections on Nothingness” is a #meditation on the space between presence and absence—the quiet, unsettling recognition that everything we cling to is, in the end, temporary. This piece is for collectors who are not afraid to sit with the bigger questions: mortality, consciousness, and the strange beauty of existing at all. Hung in a study, retreat space, or #contemplative corner, it becomes less a decoration and more a companion for the long, honest conversations you have with yourself. Let me know if you'd like to the whole painting ... See MoreSee Less
A lot goes into making a #oilportrait. Hands, drapery, leather chairs. I am going beyond #likeness; I make every element as true and deep as possible, without them taking away from the main event, which is soul of the sitter. That's the #art of #portraiture. Let me know if you want to see the entire #portrait are interested in creating your legacy ... See MoreSee Less
“Light” is a #painting about the moment before everything changes—the quiet split-second when intention becomes action. Set against a swirling, cosmic backdrop, the hands of God (or man?) hold earth or another planet to the flame of destruction (or enlightenment?). The painting invites you to consider both the beauty and the weight of what we choose to ignite in our lives. It holds the tension between our power to create and our responsibility to care. #Light is for those who think deeply about #purpose, #stewardship, and the mystery of #existence, “Light” becomes more than an artwork. It’s a daily reminder that even the smallest spark—an idea, a conversation, a decision—can shape entire worlds. There’s a moment—right before we act—when everything is still possible.
“Light” was painted for the people who feel that weight: the therapists, teachers, spiritual guides, scientists, and quiet leaders who know their choices ripple out farther than they can see. If you’ve ever looked at our fragile little planet and felt both awe and responsibility, this piece is meant to live in your space. A reminder that what you choose to ignite today matters. Where in your life are you ready to strike the match? ... See MoreSee Less