Works and Information

This is my first complete collection of paintings showcasing the Metroparks of the Toledo area, and my first ever collection of landscape paintings.

I like to visit the parks regularly with my family, so it’s only natural to be inspired by something. But as I always have my family in tote, I can’t just find a nice little nook and paint there on site, so I usually bring my camera and take lots of pictures to remind me of what has caught my attention.

The combination of painting from photographs and from memory provides me the balance between the reality and the ideal that I’m always trying to achieve as a painter: the photos depict what was there at the time they were taken, and the memories cover the more important elements such as the light and the atmosphere. This is what impressionism is all about to me, and why I would call myself an impressionist.

Overall, I’m happy with the way these paintings turned out, enough that I plan to go on and paint the rest of the Metroparks. If you happen to see me there and recognize me, please say hello!

The Maumee from River Bluff Trail, Providence

The Canal from River Bluff Trail, Providence

The Bridge from River Bluff Trail, Providence

I spent a lot of time at Yellowstone National Park in 2019 and 2020. This was when I was first starting to get into painting, so I didn’t know much about plein air painting (or painting in general) at the time. Still, I thought I should try my hand at it since I’ve been inspired by Thomas Moran’s Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone since I saw it at the Smithsonian in 2003.

Looking back on it now, I regard this adventure as the beginning of my venture into landscape painting. The scale of the Grand Canyon and the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone dwarfs whatever intimate scenes I’m more attracted to, but no one who witnesses the place firsthand can deny its breathtaking majesty.

There are many less-frequented places in Yellowstone that I’d like to paint someday, but the learning curve for plein air is really steep–I’ve heard it described as one of the hardest things a person can do. So I’ll need to practice a bit more before I go back there to paint.

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone from the Lower Lookout

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone from Red Rock Point

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone from Brink of the Lower Falls

A glimpse into the collective unconscious in search for the common existential and psychological factors which drive us to struggle and to achieve:

Exigency – Necessity is the mother of invention.

Secret Ambitions – Behaviorists taught that people are essentially automatons, but the reality of why we make the decisions we do is far more complex and nuanced than preprogrammed reactions to stimuli.

Opportunity – Carpe diem, before the window closes.

Fortuna – Fortune favors the bold.

A series of snapshots depicting the infinite chaos of uncharted space and the slow pace of evolutionary change in the universe:

Supernova – The cycle of creation at once starts and ends with the most destructive event in the universe.

Heart Nebula – The force of the supernova pushes stardust unfathomably long distances into space where it begins to reform into celestial bodies.

Discovery – Intelligent creatures in pursuit of habitable worlds are in a race against time as calamity draws nearer.

Colonization – The infinite improbability of space is overcome; the cycle of creation is complete with the continuity of life.

A sober view of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the political, economic and social upheaval of 2020:

Reverberation – While confusion and oppression reign in the social sphere, art remains an expression of individual liberty.

Discord – We all agree that we are in it together and that we can overcome whatever we are faced with so long as we stick together, but instead, division increases.

Encroachment – Crony capitalism: In times of plenty, the rich get richer; in times of want, the poor get poorer.

Annexation – To struggle against nature is futility; this too shall pass.

Inspired by the end times prophetic cycle of Norse mythology:

Sword of Surtr – The fire giant Surtr leads the forces of Muspelheim into battle against the Aesir of Asgard, heralding the destruction of Yggdrasil, the Tree of Worlds.

Gjallarhorn – Heimdallr, guardian of the rainbow bridge Bifrost, blows Gjallarhorn to alert the denizens of Asgard and call them to battle.

Vígríðr – The Aesir and the heroes of men cross the rainbow bridge to do battle with the fire giants led by Surtr and the dead led by Loki, on the field of Vígríðr.

Fate of the Gods – The gods of Asgard are slain; a new world arises out of the darkness following the destruction of the Nine.