Hello my friends! I’m really excited to finally share with you my newest Terra Human painting titled “Wishing for Eternity”
Read moreTerra Human | Six New Paintings!
Hi all! In case you missed it, I’ve compiled all of my new paintings from my solo show with Abend Gallery right here in this blog post! I worked INCREDIBLY hard on this show and it would mean the world to me if you checked out all of these paintings either here or on the Abend website. These six paintings took over six months to produce and each one has a special place in my heart. If you click on the full image of each painting you can view that piece on the Abend website and purchase it if you wish. Also prints of all of these paintings are available directly from me. All you have to do is click the button below to view them in my shop!
One Hundred Years
This painting explores a single moment expanded over a century . This woman has searched far and wide to find the perfect natural setting for her to sit and search for answers to her deepest questions. In her first few years sitting in this exact spot, she learns about herself, thinking about her uniqueness as an individual and coping with and later resolving past traumas that she let define her for so many years.
While sitting a little longer, she is able to open her mind beyond herself, recognizing the people that she has hurt and the people she has loved, forgiving herself for past mistakes and accepting who she is at her core. After this step she begins to feel every rock and every blade of grass that surrounds her as they begin to grow up her form and embrace her stillness. After several more years of sitting she begins to feel the presences of every single life form around her. Every insect, bird, mouse and rabbit emits a pulse of life that gives her energy and a sense of belonging. After many more years, the concept of time begins to lose its meaning and the straight line from beginning to end starts to connect end to end forming a circle. After sitting for 100 years her past and future fade away and she finds the moment.
herself.Original Piece Size: 10”x15”
Medium: Oil on Panel (Framed)
Citadel
As she looks towards the setting sun, she thinks of the many people who tried to remove her from this exact spot. Their words trying to convince her that she was undeserving of love and too vulnerable to achieve her ambitions. She thinks of the many sacrifices that she made in order to forge her own path in a world trying to push her into mediocrity. No matter how much doubt manifested in her head and no matter how much negativity she received from others, she chose to hold her ground believing in her abilities. Poised and willing to grow, she learned from the cliffs around her to be confident and decisive while learning from the wild grass to flexible and move with the wind. As the ocean breeze blows through her hair and the waves embrace her feet, she reflects on the end of another day and she takes pride in trusting
herself.Original Piece Size: 14”x20”
Medium: Oil on Panel (Framed)
Coherence
This painting provides a visualization of the dichotomy between how we see ourselves and how others see us. When we do the intense work of learning about ourselves and consciously choose to grow we can feel lost and fragmented. Just like plants, as we grow our branches might split in order to reach in new facets of ourselves but they are still rooted to the same source. In our eyes this growing and splitting can make us feel fractured and undefined, lost because we are looking for purpose. But in the eyes of those who love us, they can step back and see us as a beautiful collage of intertwining and complex branches, growing towards the light of self-knowledge. When they look into our eyes they see all of our new and old facets defining us and guiding us to our true identity.
Original Piece Size: 12”x16”
Medium: Oil on Panel (Framed)
Light After Dark
This piece illustrates the morning after a prolonged darkness of pain and helplessness. When we hurt for the world we feel an unrelenting sadness to our core and it can be unbelievably difficult to see how the sun will rise again. There are so many aspects of this world that can make us feel powerless, to the point when we may even feel that have lost autonomy over our own bodies and minds. But on this particular morning, the sun rose with incredible power, casting warmth and light on all those people who try to do good in this world. The sunbeams illuminate these individuals showing their love and empathy and as you open your eyes you can see their drive to change our world for the better. Even knowing that the darkness will inevitably take over again, the intense light gives us a renewed sense of agency to fight for others and to fight for a better world.
Original Piece Size: 10”x15”
Medium: Oil on Panel (Framed)
Sower of Seeds
This painting shows a man in complete harmony with the nature that surrounds him. But this harmony hasn’t always existed, in the distant past this being thought himself superior to the natural world and chose to exploit it for personal gain. He completely lost his identity and his relationship with nature in the pursuit for power. Eventually this conflict reached a breaking point and the man was forced to confront his misdoings and reshape his relationship with the fading life that sounded him. This man spent years working to reverse his mistreatments to our world while closely studying how the smallest lifeforms live in cooperative harmony. Across these many years he has also done the work of self-reflection and personal growth to find a balance in his soul that gave him a renewed respect for nature. And once he found this balance and drastically changed his actions, the grass and trees around him began to feel safe to embrace him once again even while knowing his dark and selfish past. Even after all of the wrong he did, the most vulnerable life forms in our world embraced him with forgiveness and acceptance. This being who used to be a destroyer and conqueror has now became a true nurturer of life, serving as a protector of the planet that gave him everything he knows.
Original Piece Size: 10”x14”
Medium: Oil on Panel (Framed)
Protected Spirit
As we grow from children to adults our harsh and structured world does its best to conform us, placing us in categorized boxes of adulthood to keep our world organized. The first thing to be lost in this process is our childlike creativity that brings joy, wonder and excitement into our lives. The hands in this painting are protecting this pure and creative spirit even while the outside world attempts to extinguish it. This energetic spirit longs to dance, create with colors, sing songs and construct stories as a way to bring life into a sometimes colorless world. These hands are choosing to foster this spirit in order to encourage love and empathy in a world that needs it now more than ever.
Original Piece Size: 9”x12”
Medium: Oil on Panel (Framed)
Two New Paintings in the Animalia III Show | Abend Gallery Denver
Hello! I’m honored to be included in the Abend Gallery show Animalia III an animal themed show! Below you will find two brand new paintings that I created specifically for this show. I worked incredibly hard on each of these pieces so I really hope that you enjoy them. As of the writing of this blog post “Mutuality” has been sold but “Reflected Soul” is still available for purchase. Click the button below to view the whole show on the Abend Gallery website!
"Reflected Soul" | 16" Framed | $2000
This piece illustrates the very special relationship that humans can have with animals. The animal kingdom is diverse and powerful and we aren’t as separate from it as much as we often think. This is made apparent when we have brief yet significant moments of connection with an animals out in their element.
When a person stumbles on the right animal it can reflect our souls back at us, revealing a new understanding of ourselves on how we relate to the world around us. These unique life forms can often bring out our best traits such as gratitude, understanding and empathy. Animals such as this starling can remind us of the strength and fragility of the natural world and the intricate patterns on its feathers serve as a reminder that all life on this earth is complex and valuable.
"Mutuality" | 11"x14" Framed | SOLD
This piece depicts the fleeting moments of connection that we can experience with the animal kingdom. When we come across an animal such as this buck there is often an initial moment of fear that often grows into a form of mutual respect and admiration. There is no need for conflict or fear, both are simply existing in each other’s space for a brief moment while time passes slower than usual. Stumbling across such a strong and beautiful animal can be incredibly humbling in a way that makes one think of the vast world that surrounds us and how we are but one life form amongst billions.
This beautiful moment of eye contact can allow us to step outside of ourselves and appreciate the amazing and diverse life forms that surround us.
New Limited Edition Prints Available Now!
I’m really happy to say that limited edition prints of “Our Gentle Hands” are now available for purchase! This painting was hugely popular on my social media pages so I wanted everyone to have the option to purchase their very own print!
Each print is the exact size of the original painting (16”x20”) and each comes with a certificate of authenticity! There are 50 prints in this limited edition.
New Show Announcement!
Hello everyone, I'm really excited to announce that my two paintings "Walking Giants and "Between Light and Shadow" will be in the Influences Art Show put on by the Loveland Artists Collective!
This show will be open the whole month of September with an in-person opening reception on September 11th. 😷
If you are in the area come check out my paintings as well as the other awesome artwork in this show!
"Walking Giants" Full Process Video!
I really hope you all enjoy this extensive process video showing how I created "Walking Giants." It not only takes a long time to complete a painting but it also takes plenty of additional time to create and edit a video showing how I made it. So I hope you enjoy watching this painting process and hopefully learn some things about my how I work and why I make certain decisions.
Personally it's almost therapeutic for me to look back on how I created a piece and record my thoughts in a video. I feel like I get to fully process the experience and share my insights with you!
This original piece is available for purchase directly from me! CLICK HERE TO VIEW IT IN MY SHOP!
"Walking Giants" New Newest Terra Human Painting!
I'm incredibly proud to bring you my newest Terra Human painting "Walking Giants." This piece is the result of approximately 185 hours of focused and diligent work and I'm really happy with how it turned out.
Now usually I like to tell you that "I really enjoyed working on this piece!" But that wouldn't be entirely true with this one. Honestly this painting process had a lot of ups and downs with plenty doubt looming around in my head. I had some days when I felt really optimistic about the piece and was convinced it would be my best painting yet. But I also had other days when I thought this piece was too much to handle and it would be a waste of time. I just kept telling myself that if I continued to persevere and allowed my identity to come through the brushstrokes, then the piece would turn into something special.
In the end I think it's okay that this piece wasn't 100% awesome to work on everyday. I think the struggle makes it that much more meaningful to me and I now feel really accomplished to have conquered this project. I really hope that this piece brightens your day and prompts you look inward.
I will be posting this full piece with it's description soon so be on the look out for that!
“Walking Giants” Currently available for purchase in my online store. CLICK HERE TO VIEW IN MY STORE!
✍🏻 This painting addresses the concept of humility. There is so much that we can obtain and achieve in our lives that it’s easy to forget the vastness of space and time as well as our small part in this infinite world. We are seen in this painting traversing this world with true humility and a willingness to learn. As we walk we take care not to crush even the smallest plants and animals because we understand that all life plays an important role on this planet. As the luminous sunrise bathes the surrounding cliff edges with color and warmth we are reminded of the seemingly infinite amount of time this planet has been alive and changing. And we start to understand that our time here is short yet meaningful and there is much good that we can do if we walk tall and care for those who are both bigger and smaller than us.
Hand Study Has Been Sold!
I just wanted to share that my recent hand study original painting has been sold!
I'm really appreciative of those who truly see the value in art even in stressful and uncertain times. Since we are in our homes more than ever right now, I think it's important to have something on your wall that can bring you peace.
Here is what the buyer sent me once they decided to purchase the piece. I loved their thoughts 🤗
✍️"One of the things I was randomly contemplating before I actually saw the hand piece was how our hands are essentially our second pairs of eyes. When we walk through a dark room it’s with our hands that we use to see and even to feel. So much of human experience is governed by our “sight” and our “feeling” so to have such a “simple” body part represent so much of our inner humanity really blew my mind."
"EVE" My Newest Terra Human Painting!
I'm incredibly excited to finally share my newest Terra Human painting with you all! This piece is titled “EVE” and has been by far the most complex painting I've made to date with very specific lighting, tricky color transitions semi translucent clothing and not to mention a full reflection of the intricate mountains in the water! 😯
It's safe to say that I'm really proud of myself for persevering through this process from start to finish even though there were times when I thought I bit off more than I could chew. Fun fact, I composed this piece on photoshop months ago but knew that I needed to develop my skills even more so that I could have a good shot at creating this. I think that the making of this piece really speaks to a character trait that I developed in my athletic career which is always expecting more of myself. I'm constantly raising my standards of what I can create and never settling for comfortability. I feel really fortunate to have learned that ones artistic abilities are not a fixed talent rather a skill that can be developed with the right discipline and patience.
Anyways, I hope you really enjoy this piece and please give it a like or comment if you do, it really helps me out.
Here is a full description of the piece. This painting is about our childhood. In our youth we had visceral and raw experiences with our natural world that gave us an appreciation for our surroundings and a humility for their potential. The oceans we swam in, the forests we gazed at and the mountains we climbed all gifted us with an emotional imprint that we will be stored in our hearts for the rest of our lives. And it is because we were young that we experienced these environments with such intensity. Our responsibilities were minimal, our thoughts were naive and our imaginations ran wild. We were small and new to the world so we moved though it with a curious spirit that encouraged us to explore and live in the moment. This childlike spirit is not lost though, it visits us whenever we go into nature and lose ourselves in its impossible beauty and power. When we allow ourselves to be vulnerable in this world and fully experience the environment that surrounds us we rekindle this playful spirit and allow it to walk along side us through a world that needs understanding and compassion more than ever.
UPDATE: This original painting has been sold but prints are available for purchase!
My Newest Figure Painting!
My newest figure piece is officially available! I'm really proud of how this one turned out and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
✅This 8"x10" original piece is available for $350 in my online shop. CLIKC HERE TO PURCHASE!
" A Fleeting Moment" This piece visualizes the significance of a moment and how important it is for us to pay attention. There are so many moments in our lives when the stars seem to align into something beautiful that can change the way you look at the world if you let it. There may be times in your life when, for whatever reason the light it just right, the sounds are soothing, the environment is stunning and the people you are with are perfect as they are and all of these things collide into a blissful fleeting instant that can bring you inexplicable joy and humility.
Please take the time to recognize these moments because they will bring you a deeper understanding of yourself and the people and places that surround you.
"Uncovered Voice" A New Terra Human Painting
"Uncovered Voice"
I have finally finished my newest Terra Human piece! This one is really special to me and here is why. This piece brings an illustration to the concept of personal viewpoint. How every individual has a personal filter through which they interpret the world around them.
This concept has always been a background insecurity of mine, while growing up I was always worried that I did not have a unique way of seeing the world and therefor had no voice. Even when I created art I thought it was soulless and absent of a unique perspective. I remember expressing my insecurity about this to a friend in college when I was exploring the idea of becoming and artist after graduation. I distinctly remember telling her that I felt that every artist must have a voice to express their message to viewers and I genuinely worried that I didn’t have a voice to amplify through my art. I worried that my thoughts and ideas were not worth seeing on canvas and that I had no unique viewpoint. This friend reassured me that I did have a voice and it might take time and effort to find it, but was inside me. I listened to this advice and had faith that if I continued developing my skills and creativity I would eventually start to uncover my voice in my art.
And now I think I am at a point in my career where I am finally starting to discover my voice. I think this will be a lifelong process but I am finally starting to work through this insecurity and discover my window through which I see the world.
Thanks for listening
This original painting is available to purchase in my shop for $1800.
Click here to purchase!
"As One" A New Terra Human Painting!
I'm proud to bring you my newest Terra Human painting "As One.” Whenever I reflect on my artistic process its always safe to say that I’ve chosen a profession that requires an incredible amount in internal motivation that solely depends on my personal drive and dedication , and while working on this piece I felt constantly driven and inspired to create something that surpassed anything I've ever created. And by creating small attainable steps for myself everyday I was able to accomplish what I set out to do! So here is the final product along with a description. Below these you will find some process photos along with some descriptions of my painting process.
Painting Description
In this piece humans and nature breath as one. The divisions that we have insisted on for generations have evaporated and we finally see ourselves reflected in the natural world that surrounds us. Plants, trees and moss start to grow with her body as her hands reach into the earth with humility and understanding. The curves and angles of her limbs are reflected in the surrounding landscape showing the balance we can achieve when we listen and reflect. As she sleeps her breath soars with the birds in the sky while her heartbeat synchronizes with the core of the earth.
Creation Process
Before approaching this painting I did a few studies first starting with a sketch, then a landscape study and lastly a figure study. When planning large paintings like this these studies become incredibly helpful in order to learn about your proportions, size ratios, values and colors. After the studies I laid out my composition with pencil on the canvas, making sure to measure out proportions early. Now that I had the pencil sketch I started to paint in small (bite sized) sections as to not get overwhelmed. I started with the figure because I knew she would be the most challenging part of the piece and I wanted to achieve a certain glow in her skin by layering paint. I very interesting tip that I recently discovered by painting many figure studies is that the face will always contain more pink color than the skin from other parts of the body. It creates a much more natural look!
Once I painted the figure to about 90% I started painting the surrounding landscape section by section paying special attention to color and value. The colors were very important in this piece, because they showed how the sunlight was hitting the mountain peak and illustrated the shadow below. Another key decisison that added to the realism of this piece was adding cast shadows behind the tress on the figure to show that this figure was indeed a part of this landscape and had her own weight and mass. And finally once I filled in each section of the surrounding landscape I evaluated the painting overall as a whole and make some small adjustments in order to make it feel cohesive and alive!
This lovely original painting is available to purchase for $3000 in my online shop! CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!
"Interior" A New Terra Human Painting!
I’m so happy to have just finished painting “Interior” a piece that explores the concept of our internal self, what is inside us and how we present it to the world. Creating this painting was very much a journey of overcoming self doubt and finding confidence. Once I finished creating the landscape background for this piece I was tempted to just leave the landscape as the final product and hope it would sell faster. After all, the progress shot I put on social media got a lot of attention and great feedback. But when I was debating this in my head I realized that while I love creating all sorts of paintings, my Terra Human pieces mean the most to me. These dream like figure/landscape paintings are the best outward expression of my internal thoughts and emotions and they need to be seen.
But even when I started blocking in the figure I still had doubts about how the final product would look and if it would stand up to my other pieces. I even considered painting over the figure and pretending this piece was only intended to be a landscape from the beginning. But I decided to take small manageable steps towards my goal which was to make this an amazing Terra Human piece. And while taking these steps I was able to change my mindset from a place of doubt to a place of confidence and exploration.
I decided to approach this painting knowing that it is okay if I fail even though I can be very afraid of failure at times. Overall I’m really proud of this piece and I’m glad that every new painting brings a new journey of self-discovery.
This original painting is available for $500 CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!