about me
i am a PhD scientist and have worked in research labs at several high profile universities, bridging chemistry, biology, and engineering to create new tools for health care and medicine
all the while i have painted, giving my right brain freedom to process emotions, explore creatively, and gain influence in my day-to-day perceptions
i am intensely physical and foray into yoga, lifting, martial arts, body surfing, and sports—physiology and action painting are recurrent art subjects
i also provide behavioral rehab and training for high-risk dogs in my community—my clients call me a "dog whisperer," but i like to say i speak dog.
artistic vision
just begin
see what emerges
refine the image
understand why later
rarely do i begin with an image in mind.
instead, i try to keep my mind blank.
i focus on my body—my gut,
because there's something churning,
an emotion that needs to come out...
so i let it.
only later do i come to understand why
i began the piece in the first place.
uncertainty is a fear—conquer it.
techniques
lines
& color
featured:
"caveman"
action
painting
featured:
"a wavefront,
as seen
from above"
texture
featured:
"change is from
a to b,
and god is the
space between"
lines & color
i often experiment with new geometries & line work.
the first pieces in a series will be monochrome.
the next will have a limited color palette, often primary.
final pieces are "rainbow" & feature the entire spectrum, which can be incredibly difficult to balance.
action painting
Jackson Pollock has been a lifelong inspiration for me, and seeing his works in person has been invaluable.
when i create action paintings, i swing my entire body & dance around the canvas, hence these are large works.
my recent action painting techniques deposit pigments inside acrylics, built layer-by-layer with disrupted drying times to controllably crack paint & create fine textures.
texture
oils dry slowly—excruciatingly so for some pigments—drying agents expedite the process but dull pigments.
texturing oil paints requires immense patience and care to dry between layers, otherwise they may never dry.
my oil paintings take months to years to produce.
in the studio: Blick oils, linseed oil, sun-thickened linseed oil, pale drying oil
media
pigments give color and radiance.
media bind the pigments and
dry into films of paint.
phones & computer screens digitize light with red, green, & blue LEDs—these screens barely scratch the surface of color and struggle to capture how texture changes the painting's color as you move around the canvas.
please visit art in person.
open yourself to take time,
and let it impact you.
featured: "charger" with an asphalt top-coat
1 / sketching
feasible in hours/days versus months/years for painting, i sketch to emote, experiment, & practice for scaling up. don't underestimate the technique & skill required—use calligraphy brushes to improve shoulder & wrist dexterity
in the studio: 80+ lb paper, graphite, charcoal, oil pastels, Kuretake No 22 brush pens, Platinum carbon ink, and Lamy crystal inks
2 / acrylics
fast-drying acrylics are ideal for building heavy textures, and mixing their water base with oils and alcohols can tinker with surface tension to create intriguing effects.
in the studio: Golden Heavy Body paints and Golden mediums dosed with pigments or raw materials (e.g., sand, glass)
3 / oils
oils dry slowly—excruciatingly so for some pigments—drying agents expedite the process but dull pigments.
texturing oil paints requires immense patience and care to dry between layers, otherwise they may never dry.
my oil paintings take months to years to produce.
in the studio: Blick oils, linseed oil, sun-thickened linseed oil, pale drying oil
4 / oil sticks
oil paints dosed with wax to form a handheld stick.
oil sticks have a lipstick consistency that can be "rolled" onto the canvas and with enough care, layered heavily.
in the studio: R&F pigment sticks & Sennelier sticks with additives
5 / encaustics
used by the ancient Greeks to paint & seal their ships, encaustics are beeswax dosed with dammar tree resin to raise the melting point and harden the paint films. encaustics are applied hot and cool on the canvas.
in the studio: all my encaustics are handmade
6 / nontraditional materials
the roughness of asphalt yields an ultra-black surface. latex primer can absorb pigments from other paints.
i often muse that Home Depot is my favorite art store: scrapers, wire brushes, paint sticks, solvents, tarps, rope, chains, welding wire, wood, mis-tinted "oops" paints...
in the studio: asphalt, latex primer, concrete stain, welding wire, etc