Solarium, pictured to the left, is owned by an attorney who hired me to commission a painting.  He was looking for an abstract artist who could paint something to brighten his neutral bedroom.  He wanted something simple and abstract that allowed for a significant amount of white space.  I directed him toward the paintings in my art gallery, and he showed me some of the paintings that he liked from an online search.  From what I saw, I could tell that bold colors and thick lines that formed geometrical shapes were appealing to him.  He also decided that he wanted two pieces that came together to make a single painting.  
Solarium is a set of two 30"x30" canvases. On a wall, it comfortably spans 65".  It is an abstract of a woman's figure laying under the sun.  The sun, the colorful ball on the left piece, shoots abstract rays that curve above and toward the female's torso which is located on the right piece.  From right to left is her hair, her shoulder, the profile of a breast, and her legs which extend underneath the sun.  Follow the link to see a larger picture of Solarium.

Do you recognize the abstract art on the cover of this book of plays? 

Well, you should!  The Persistence of Memory is a book of plays by Mark David Major now available on Amazon, and guess what?  The cover art is mine; it's the painting Who Am I.  

I met Mark a few years ago at an art show, and he really liked my work, but we lost touch.  Well, he must have really loved my work because he put his detective skills to use and found me this past Fall to engage me for some collaboration.  During the time we had lost touch, he had completed a draft of his novel Mars Rising (which took me only two days to read because I couldn't put it down), had written a child's book (a really cute short story) and was working on completing his first compilation of plays.  He's a busy writer, but he's not an artist.  So, we began collaborating, and voila!  

You should check out his website.  There are whispers that Mars Rising will give "rise" to a graphic novel and a movie.  Make sure to bookmark his website so you can stay up-to-date with what's happening.  Oh, and while you are at it, bookmark my website too.  And visit often!

Palm, pictured to the left, is owned by an art enthusiast who wanted to commission a painting that would compliment a painting that she had already purchased from me, Bluejay.  

When she found out that I was an artist, she visited my art gallery online, and she immediately liked my work.  On several occasions, she complimented me and told me that she was going to purchase something from me one day.  I invited her to my art studio one afternoon after we had done some volunteer work together, and she fell in love with Bluejay right away for its color and 3-D texture.  Ironically, I had just completed Bluejay before her visit.  She asked if I could paint a similar painting that would compliment Bluejay's style and dimensions.  Naturally, I accepted the commission.  She gave me complete artistic range on the subject matter.  I decided to make Palm a green and blue compliment to the already very blue painting, Bluejay.   Side by side, it is apparent that they are a great pair.  One is a bird; the other a plant.  Follow the link to see larger pictures of Bluejay and Palm.  

The painting Little Crow was inspired by a poem I wrote (with the same title) a couple of weeks before I began the painting.  The genus Crow includes the species of various Ravens, and they are among the world's most intelligent animals.  They are known for their black luminescence. 

My poem Little Crow is embedded within the painting and tells the story of a crow flying over and observing the black heart of a human man.  It has a discussion with God and laments the nature of the dark man. The crow acknowledges that its color is being influenced by the blackness of the human, but it pronounces its determination not to succomb to the evil influence.  It will do this by using its God-given talents.

Therefore, this painting is simultaneously dark and hopeful in both color and meaning.  

Stylistically, the painting is abstract and impressionistic.  The crow embodies the impressionistic portion of the painting while the rest is abstract.

Click to view the painting's page and pictures.  Continue below to read the poem.

Little Crow, reads as follows (the italicized words are spoken by God):  

Little black bird, where have you been?
I’ve been above the treetops, mankind observing
Little black bird, what did you see?
A creature with a black heart that needs awakening
Little black crow, you are a mystery
I’m not a portent of death, but I am not snow white
It was no god that colored me black
But a man projecting his emptiness inside
He’s a man unaware of his dying
He has blinded himself; himself he is justifying
He has no heart; he seeks his own selfish longing
He tried to clip my wings
Little black bird, what else have you seen?
The trees are bleeding, and upon them the birds are feeding
The trees are leaking, and upon them the flowers are feeding
My spirit of vengeance is grounded in amending
No spirit of evil will prolong to squelch the spirit of the good
Little black bird, what are you saying?
I am a beautiful, little bird; my maker is godly
He allows me to see what I have seen
He allows me to fly and to be free
He hears my disquieting thoughts
He knows what I have felt, how I bleed
He will soon rectify; he will soon remedy
I am a little, black bird; a creature gifted
It is for nothing that the net is spread before me
I am a bird; I have wings    (December 2010) 

The Soloist, pictured to the left, is owned by a musician who hired me to commission a painting in 2009 after I had photographed one of his band's performances.  He visited my online art gallery after I sent him a copy of the digital photographs from the performance.  He viewed and liked not only the paintings in my art gallery but also the videos that showed how I created some of my paintings.  In a later phone conversation, I learned that he wanted a custom made painting by an abstract artist to hang on his wall near his baby grand piano.  He wanted to painting to be abstract, modern and contain a piano.  My client did not know how to commission a painting; it was his first time.  We had a secondary phone conversation where we simultaneously viewed images online.  Row by row, we discussed the results of our Internet searches, and he would tell me which paintings he liked and why.  That search allowed him to decide that he wanted his commissioned painting to have some reds and blues along with some neutral colors.  

I wrote a proposal that met his requirements with a sketch of what the painting would look like.  He approved the proposal, and once he delivered his deposit, I purchased the materials to begin his commission.  He asked if I would video the painting's creation just like the videos that he had seen on my site.   I agreed to do so.  Once I completed the painting, I sent him a digital picture of it.  He obviously liked it because he said that it was even better than the sketch.

Since he lived three hours away, I encouraged him to have his painting mailed to him, but he decided that he would prefer to come and pick it up.  I could tell by his facial expression that he was happy to have his painting once it passed from my care to his.

To view a larger image of The Soloist or to view a video of its creation, please click here.