About Me



I am a native of Arkansas, but currently living in Texas. This blog exhibits some of my paintings over the last several years. Since I was young, colors have captivated me, lines and contours drew me in, and light bewitched my senses. My high school art teacher introduced me to oil painting, a medium I cannot get away from because of its simultaneous intensity and serenity in the colors it creates. As my love for painting grows, so does my love and appreciation of the Original Artist, who creates every shape, line, light, color, and contrast new each day. God has given us creative abilities, and I love using them to express his beautiful creation. I hope you enjoy viewing my paintings as much as I enjoyed producing them.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

While in India

I wanted to post the paintings and drawings I have done since coming to India a year and a half ago. For a while, I didn't know where to get painting supplies, so all I had were the pencils and charcoal I brought from home. Thankfully I found a few good stores with everything I need–minus the course-haired brushes I like.

sketch from John Fernandes
But anyway, a couple years ago I saw some of Nikolai Blokhin's work in a gallery in Aspen, Colorado, with my family. I visit his website all the time for inspiration and at times copy his work to try to learn some of his technique. Many of these drawings are from his work; the rest are from other photographs I had or took here. Enjoy!


Gateway of India during monsoon

We needed some Christmas decorations in our flat.

study of Monet's Lily Pads

Indian Woman 8x10
Gateway of India 24x30
study of chiaroscuro technique
conte crayon







This is a drawing I will be teaching to a group of fellow art lovers in Mumbai. We are studying Caravaggio's The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, particularly focusing on the artists use of gestures as expressions and the technique of chiaroscuro or tenebrism (the use of strong light and dark shadows). I took several pictures of my hand in different poses in a dark room with a flashlight shining from one angle. Although the method doesn't follow Caravaggio's steps of creating paintings, we will still learn a way to contrast light and dark.




My good friend Julie misses the beaches of her home state in this big, populated, polluted city, so she asked me to create a window back home for her. True Florida girl.

tryptic of Fernandina Beach 24x36


study of John Fernandes' drawing
Charcoal
I have found an incredible Indian artist from Goa. The late John Fernandes is famous for his watercolor landscapes of the beach town of Goa and his portraits of women. I love his palette and the way he can so naturally paint the human figure. I have yet to copy one of his paintings, but so far I have learned a lot from his drawings.

Lemon and Flower Still Life 16x20
study of John Fernandes' drawing
derwent drawing pencils
drawing of photo in Anthropologie catalogue

My mom mailed me an Anthropologie catalogue...not to rub all the cute clothes in my face, but because that month was featuring Thailand. I took a vacation to Krabi, Thailand during that month so she wanted me to see the pictures. Unfortunately she didn't send the catalogue with any of the clothes modeled in it! This model on the left is leaning on a tuk-tuk, Thailand's version of rickshaw, which is basically a three-wheeled buggy with a tiny motor used to haul people across the city.

study of Blokhin's drawing
charcoal pencil
Women at the Well 24x30
conte crayon
Brasilian Hillside 12x16
Latino Boy 8x10
Horses in the Woods 24x36
Fruit and Flowers Still Life 14x18
Into the Sunset 18x36
Sunlight on the Gateway of India 24x36
This Gateway painting was commissioned by my friend Courtney, who also lives in the city. The Gateway is at an old port of Mumbai, built to welcome the king and queen of England back in the 19th century. Every day the plaza fills with Indian and foreign tourists alike. The sun sets over the Arabian Sea right behind it, making for a beautiful backdrop to one of Mumbai's most well-known landmarks.

Málaga from Trevor Huxham's photograph