Studio Journal
The Studio Journal documents the evolution of my work as an artist.
Sometimes a painting begins with a simple observation: a flower blooming in winter, fallen fruit glowing against dark grass, fog rolling across the land. These entries follow the ideas that grow from those moments and the paintings that emerge from them.
The Questions Keep Changing
I used to see commissions as obstacles keeping me from my personal work. Somewhere along the way that changed. On Labor Day, with more work than I know what to do with, I'm realizing that the commissions, the experiments and the questions are all part of the same thing.
I Thought I Knew Where My Word Portraits Came From
For weeks I’ve been digging through old memories trying to understand where my word portraits came from. I thought I had finally connected the dots. Then I found a drawing from one of my first college art classes and realized the story was much messier than I remembered.
The Assignment That Changed Everything
Sometimes your life changes and you don't recognize it in the moment. A typography assignment, a mentor's advice, and a portrait of Einstein unexpectedly became the beginning of my word portraits.
Confessionalism | How Writing Changed My Art Forever
After writing a letter over a portrait of my father, words became an essential part of my paintings. At first I used them to confront people. Over time I realized they could do something far more powerful: invite people into the conversation.
Drawing From the Well | How Old Ideas Became New Again
I used to think every series I created was separate. Art is Life is Art. Confessionalism. Abstract Cities. Word Portraits. Lately I've started to realize they were never separate at all. They were all different ways of asking the same questions.
When Paint Wasn't Enough | The Origins of My Word Portraits
People often ask where my word portraits came from. I wish there were one answer. There isn't. They grew out of years of experiments until one watercolor portrait showed me that paint could capture a face, but words could capture a history.
Creating Order from Chaos | The First Question That Led to My Word Portraits
Sometimes the most important discoveries don’t happen because inspiration strikes. They happen because you keep working long enough to ask a better question. This is the story of the sketchbook page that changed everything.