In December of 2020 I completed this paint by number mural for the brand new Kinship Brewery in Waukee Iowa. The commission called for an incomplete paint by number portraying a nature scene from the mountains of northern Georgia. I chose a large waterfall as the focal point, and of course had to include some local wildlife. It was a time intensive process, using smaller brushes, mixing dozens and dozens of colors, and choosing to work alone for simplicity’s sake. It was a lot of fun to see it progress, and thanks to Kinship for providing the opportunity. The brewery features multiple murals, including a gigantic masterpiece in the bar area, a dog park, and great architecture, I recommend a visit in person or online. I hope this mural provides viewers a moment of joy but also a lasting sense of the calm and peace that being out in nature provides.
The bird paintings started when I agreed to paint live with two musicians, forming a band called birdshow of north america. Composed of a guitarist and a bird loving drummer who together created instrumental music sans vocals, we decided to provide visual focus with live painting, deciding ultimately on birds as a suitable vehichle. We performed around seattle for a few years, certainly never taking seattle's music scene by storm, but having our fun. At our shows I would make 8-10 large paintings of birds, each one corresponding to a song of the same name, and sell as many as I could after the sets. The ones left over I worked on more in my studio which resulted in these pieces.
Painting birds will always be a line of work that I enjoy exploring, using either realism and or abstraction to achieve the forms I want. Nature in general and birds in particular represent purity, uncomplicated in their incredible complexity, and occupying a kind of alternate reality.
This series reflects my fascination with the combination of the repellent and the beautiful found in nature. These are a collection of some of my favorite weird creatures.
In these paintings I posited the question of whether it's us losing interest in the gods of different traditions, or is it them losing interest in us and our modern weirdness.
This series is a continuation of exploring the relevance of ancient gods to our modern world. The idea that as much as things have changed, these figures our really just as vital and relevant as ever.
Here’s a sample of my design work.
In this piece I executed the illustration of Roxie, and then the actual design for the beer and it’s packaging was executed by Adam Ferry for a client of Eight Seven Central.
These pieces are one offs, and explorations for future series.
whenever someone needs a bird in their life, I can help.
This is a collection of designs used in posters, album art, and other promotional materials for birdshow of north america.
These are some older pieces, note the lack of birds.
This collection shows some of my looser sketches.