New Painting, "Wings to Fly"

30" x 40"
Oil and Mixed Media on Canvas
Original is Avaialble
Fine Art Giclee Prints Available Here

The Pegasus, or winged horse, is a symbol of aspiring to the greatest heights of accomplishment. They embody the concept of harnessing spiritual energy. Grounded by the stability of its body, yet in flight by the ephemeral power of its wings, Pegasus stands for clarity of mind, and how clean mental focus combined with stable footing can transform our lives in magical ways.

Why Buy Art?

I Was Made to Love You
Fine Art Giclee Prints available here

Why buy art?

If you're asking, you're missing the point. 
Art's power and usefulness isn't solely on a conscious level.
Art is like gravity; it works on you whether you understand it or not
and your belief isn't required either. Art can be practical and useful; art helps you. 
Art is meant to be interactive; it is meant to be USED
and is not just something mindlessly decorative.
Art doesn't have to match the couch.


A useful fact is that looking at art forces your mind to be SOMEWHERE ELSE.
Even if you only look at art for 10 SECONDS,  this is often enough to completely
change your present orientation. 
Looking away from anything for a full 10 seconds, no peeking,
can rest your mind sufficiently so that when you look back, you immediately see 
what you missed before.
Changing your orientation , even for 10 seconds,  helps you see what you missed, 
can head off depression, help break bad habits, 
calm your temper, help you feel better and help you see and think more clearly.
Because art affects us primarily in a subliminal way, through symbols,
we can use art to help us make constructive changes.
For example, how many of your New Year's resolutions did you keep?
Art can help. For example, think symbolically and buy a pink piggy bank. 
Chubby pig symbols help you conserve, on money and calories. 
The piggy helps because it is already chubby;
it is symbolic of the RESULTS of having enough. As a symbol, it reminds us of bounty,
and subconsciously,  when we are around it, 
we have less need to indulge, either by spending too much or eating too much.
Remember, belief is not required.

That's one example of how artistic symbols can work as reminders.
Art can be also used in OPPOSITION to any situation that is blocking you,
in a COMPLEMENTARY way, and thus it can help you solve problems.  
Artistic symbols have been known under many names, some of which are totems, guards, and spells.
By consciously buying art that reminds you of your goal's reward,
and keeping that picture hanging in front of you, 
in your face, where you can see it all the time, 
helps you stay focused on your goals and on your rewards
every time you look at it. 

Buy art that makes you feel a little uncomfortable.
Pieces that "stretch" your comfort level won't bore you in a couple of years 
because they symbolize future progress.
By comparing where you are now to where you're headed, 
you may feel a little uncomfortable around the art,  at first.

Likewise, you may be tired of a  painting after only a couple of years.
But it's a good idea to wait before selling it. Why?
Think: are you the same person now as when you bought it?  Changes
in you, and in your life, likewise change your need for symbols.  
Pieces need rest, just like us.  If you're tired of a piece, put it away
for a couple of years, and give it time to rest.  
Surprisingly, the piece can often appear fresh again, after a time.
It's not that the piece grew boring;  it's more likely that you grew,  into a new perspective. 

Choose art images that inspire, calm, captivate and intrigue you, 
confuse, offer escape, and above all, choose images and symbols that ARE NOT BORING.  
Keep them around you and use as needed.
In seconds, art can change your attitude for the better , flood you with energy,  and free 
up your psyche to find new solutions to old dilemmas.
A picture is worth a thousand words; it doesn't require a prescription, 
and nourishes your soul.

Let Me Come and Be Still in Your Silence
Fine Art Giclee Prints Available Here

 

Why I Don't Do Manicures

We have a black tie event to attend tonight, and the thought crossed my mind that I might want to consider a manicure. But logic won over, as I realized once again that manicures are pretty much a waste of money for me.  


I have to keep my nails super short so they don't interfere with the creative process, and with the amount of paint I get on my nails just from working, it's difficult entertain the thought of purposely adding another layer of color on top of that.  Besides, nail technicians scold me for how awful my hands look. I usually have oil paint wedged under my nails, cuts from the tools I carve with or crimson-stained fingers from the pomegranate juice I sometimes use as a natural dye.


That said, my hands are my best feature. They enable me to create whimsical, fantastical pieces, like a 3 x 4 feet pegasus soaring over an abstract sky or a delicate birch forest exploding with springtime blossoms.  

In this Uncharted Journey; I Somehow Knew Our Paths Would Cross
11 x 14"
Oil and mixed Media on Canvas
Available here

My hands are my livelihood, the way I communicate, 

my life force.

I've been showing my work in art galleries for nearly 5 years now, and I get such a rush looking around and seeing all that my hands have brought to life. My energy flows thorugh them, whether they're tingly and numb from overuse or the veins are popping out, fresh from standing on them during my yoga practice.  My hands may look kind of worn and older than my 32 years, but they are my tools, and to me, they're beautiful.


But, I will gladly go get a pedicure with you any time. :)

Newly Commissioned Painting, "Life Calmly Gives Out Its Own Secret"

Life Calmly Gives Out Its Own Secret
48" x 60"
Oil and Mixed Media on Canvas
Harvey Collection
Dallas, TX

You see, I want a lot.

Perhaps I want everything

the darkness that comes with the infinite fall 

and the shivering blaze of every step up.

So many live on and want nothing

and are raised to the rank of prince

by the slippery ease of their light judgments.

But what you love to see are faces

that do work and feel thirst.

You love most of all those who need you

as they need a crowbar or hoe.

You have not grown old, and it is not too late

to dive into your increasing depths

where life clamly gives out its own secret.

-Rainer Maria Rilke

Das Stundenbuch

Work in Progress

“I learned...that inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic, energetic striving, but it comes into us slowly and quietly and all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness.” 

~Brenda Ueland

Here's the progression of a recent commission I'm working on...

Working on it quietly, little by little, dipping into that well of creativity.  Almost done.

Origin Magazine-National Coverage

Honored to have been nationally published 

for the fifth time: 

My artwork currently featured in this month's Origin Magazine. You can to pick up this national arts+culture publication at Whole foods across the country. Woody Harrelson is on the cover. Grateful to be part of a publication that is breaking down barriers and shifting the way arts + conscious living ideas are transmitted.

Would You even Know Me If You Eyes Were Closed?

Scatter Your Thoughts Into the Wild Air

New Painting: If I Find My Way, How Much Will I Find?

New Painting

If I Find My Way, How Much Will I Find?

24" x 28"

Oil and Mixed Media on Canvas

Available

This painting will hang in the Dallas Public Library System's "It's All Just a Story" art exhibition this month, a group show where participating artists interpret a selected childhood story. This painting was inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden.

Detail

“One of the strange things about living in the world is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever and ever. One knows it sometimes when one gets up at the tender solemn dawn-time and goes out and stands out and throws one's head far back and looks up and up and watches the pale sky slowly changing and flushing and marvelous unknown things happening until the East almost makes one cry out and one's heart stands still at the strange unchanging majesty of the rising of the sun--which has been happening every morning for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. One knows it then for a moment or so. And one knows it sometimes when one stands by oneself in a wood at sunset and the mysterious deep gold stillness slanting through and under the branches seems to be saying slowly again and again something one cannot quite hear, however much one tries. Then sometimes the immense quiet of the dark blue at night with the millions of stars waiting and watching makes one sure; and sometimes a sound of far-off music makes it true; and sometimes a look in someone's eyes.” 
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden