In this painting I was after an impression of otherworldly beauty - an impression of a glowing atmospheric phenomenon evoking wonder and awe. To help capture this effect, I used a minimalist approach to detail, allowing the interplay of vivid color and silhouettes to convey a powerful sense of place and feeling.

Here I pushed the sky into an alternate reality striving to capture the mode of a day in its first transition towards evening. Oil on gallery wrapped linen.

Oil on museum wrapped linen.  

The dramatic sweep of the foam leading us into the scene and to the breaker on the rocks is what drew me to this scene.  Oil on mounted linen.

With this painting I seek to capture one of those transcendent moments we experience in nature—fleeting instances of wonder that often prove elusive to photograph or to even recall in their full emotional impact. This is part of a series I call 'moodscapes': semi-abstract landscapes born from imagination and accumulated experience rather than direct observation.

My work stems from a simple truth: sometimes nature shows us something that takes us completely out of our ordinary world. Using broken, semi-abstracted brushwork and vivid colors, I work to recreate not just how these moments look, but how they feel—the way they lift our spirits and remind us that we're part of something bigger.

My process is largely intuitive, drawing from countless hours painting both the dramatic and subtle aspects of the natural world. I strive to create paintings that might spark viewers' own memories of meaningful encounters with nature. The larger scale of these canvases helps create an engaging experience, while the broken brushwork and semi-abstraction help to capture nature's energy and movement.

These 'moodcapes' are meant to bring some of nature’s vitality into our homes and daily lives. In a world where we spend so much time looking at screens, these paintings offer a different kind of window—one that might remind us of those moments when nature shows us its power to refresh our perspective and lift our spirits.

Oil on mounted linen - avaiable unframed.

Oil on linen board - available unframed.

Oil on linen board - available unframed.

Oil on linen board - available unframed.

Painted plein air at the Redwood City Harbor.  Oil on linen mounted on board.  Unframed.

Painted on linen mounted on board. Part of a recent series exploring harbors and sailboats.

I painting this on a group outing with the California Art Club.  There are times that I need to push through inertia even when I'm not feeling inspired to get started on a painting, and was one of those times.  The great thing about painting with friends is that it pushes me to paint subjects that I might no pick on my own - and I was happy with the result.