Peony Violence Blossom in Portland

March 9, 2015

Glorious Guardino Gallery is hosting the Peony Violence series this month in an artist pairing with talented ceramic artist Anne Goodrich.

This has been a wonderful process, from the burst of creativity needed to create this body of work, to the meeting of the Alberta Arts community. All of my focused energy was rewarded the night of the February's "Last Thursday" with a big turn out and great support.

If you missed that fun night not to worry. This coming Saturday at 2 pm at Guardino Gallery I, along with my fellow artists, will be giving a talk about this body of work. wish me luck. see you there!

A special thank you to Donna (for bring us all together) Meg (for getting it on the wall), Anne (for being gracious and talented) and Bark & Bless (my first virtual to live artist friend).

“This new series is about the convergence between nature’s graceful softness and nature’s violent destruction.

These peonies are about the romance of a bouquet given while the heart bleeds.

A firework exploding as pedals fall.

Traditionally, I am an oil painter. However, I produced this series in colored pencils and gouache, both light materials in order to emphasize the delicate quality of these flowers.”

VEIW SERIES ONLINE

"King Bird" Mural

February 18, 2014

IT'S KING!!

Going by pure scale this has been my grandest painting to date!

I learned a lot about technique and the physicality of conquering a wall this size (19 feet wide by 16 feet tall). It was wonderful to work with a client, to create something out of my normal artistic comfort zone, to make them happy. It was a collaboration that lead to unexpected results.

This piece is a hybrid of different Italian poster motifs. An industrial art-deco inspired triangle pattern makes up the bulk of the wall, but the crown jewel is the "king bird" motif pulled from vintage Italian fruit wrapper. All fitting visuals for this lively modern suburban Italian restaurant with out being too literal. I signed and dated it yesterday, so it is ready to be visited by all my fans.

Mingo in the Round

12600 SW Crescent Ave, Beaverton, OR 97005

(503) 646-6464

Special thank you to:

Michael Tocchini, Michael Cronan, and Luis Malgar (whom inspired the title)

Then there were Parrots

January 27, 2014

To make these mixed-media drawings, I thought a lot about the day of dead.

A colorful celebration of our ancestors.

I am still experimenting with the process and

deciding what exactly drove me to create this series.

Months Gone By

January 7, 2014

This is how I have spent the last few years building up layers and exploring the nature of all things deer.

The romance of the chandelier becomes much more about line and delicate translucent layers.

"January" 2012 oil, acrylic gel gloss, paper on canvas 23"x 36 ”

Little white flowers are just the right finishing touch.

"April" 2012 oil, acrylic gel gloss, paper on canvas 23"x 36 ”

All things covered, in the thicket. "April" 2011 oil, acrylic gel gloss, paper on canvas 23"x 36 ”

Elk Line in the Old Studio

January 7, 2014

Elk-line and Deer-pattern

Deer and elk are common creatures that penetrate our urbanized world. They are watchful; their gaze demands your attention in hopes that you, the viewer, will then follow them into their natural world. The path is not clear but blocked by layers of filigree and decorative distractions. I have been painting deer for the last four years. This series has evolved to be about the exploration of tension between layers of subject and background, space and pattern, hard and soft. Begging the questions: When does nature become over taken by artifice? When does art become decoration?