Origin
We all gotta start somewhere.
As a wee artist I often used my vivid imagination to construct pieces that felt like raw expressions of creativity, without the leash of rules or techniques. The bottom images are originals that were made in my distant past and on top are the same pieces re-imagined utilizing the skill and practice that I have accumulated over the years. Looking back at my own beginnings reminds me to sometimes let go of the constraints we gain as we grow.
Phoenix Tears
This piece represents one of my most vivid dreams. To this day I can only remember elements… a bird of fire, a blazing sun, petals, blood and water. Many years passed and I had almost completely lost this memory. Then in 2015 I went to Portland to experience my first eclipse in the zone of totality. It lasted 8 mins and during that time the memory of this dream flooded back to me and was infused into that experience.
I again saw the eclipse in Montreal in 2024 and really finished the piece.
Phoenix Tears - Digital - 2015
Phoenix Tears - Oil Pastel - 2006
The Sun Panda
When I was a kid my best friend was a winged panda bear that would fly me to school every day; he ate marshmallows and bullies.
The Sun Panda - Digital - 2013
The Sun Panda - Chalk Pastel - 2005
Of Life and Death
At a young age I was obsessed with the concept of dualities: fire and ice, joy and sorrow, peace and violence, life and death. The idea was to depict a being capable of trespassing across the veil of mortality.
Of Life and Death - Chalk Pastel - 2003