Below are collections that demonstrate inspiration and/or process of that led to the finished work.
I created this acrylic and sharpie painting based on a photo I took of Mexican Folk Art outside CocoBar on the Chicago Riverwalk.
Inspirational images for my new Monarch Butterfly acrylic painting.
Carmel Valley, CA, in the winter. The acrylic painting was inspired by the photo.
Ruby, Carole & Sally’s dog, photographed from a window with a fern in front is what I used as inspiration for the acrylic painting. I brought out more of the true colors of Ruby that were muted through the window.
The oil painting portrait of my son and daughter-in-law, Mike & Steph, was inspired from a selfie they took in Jacksonville, Florida, over the St. Johns River.
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The octopus from My Octopus Teacher and the cover of my wife’s journal inspired this acrylic painting. I used iridescent colors for this painting. I combined my interpretation of the underwater picture with the landscape image, which I transformed to seaweed. My Octopus Teacher documents a year spent by filmmaker Craig Foster forging a relationship with a wild common octopus in a South African kelp forest.
The photo that inspired my Two Butterflies painting.
The mirrored vase of dried flowers, reflected in a mirror, that was my muse.
Photo inspiration for acrylic painting of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. I hiked this area with my son and our friends back in the ’80s.
This oil painting portrait is of my wife Susan. I based the painting from a photo taken while boating on Lake Allatoona.
This acrylic abstract, Jen’s Jazzie, is inspired by the Poodles Underwater painting above. I then used photos of my daughter’s dog, Jazzie, as models for my painting. I chose a background of purple as this is Jen’s favorite color. First I traced the models on the background and completed a first cut. The painting was finished by detailing out the first cut.
We had a Full Pink Moon on April 12-13, 2025. The image on the left and the story behind the Pink Moon inspired this acrylic pour of the Pink Moon on the right. I then painted the foreground and background to complete the painting.
My painting on the right was based off a recent photo I took at the Monterey Boat Works, which reminded me of my Dad’s salmon boat, Zobie, which we used to clean on this dry dock.
This painting started with the photo at top left I took back in 1965 of my best friend’s truck parked in front of his house in Pacific Grove, CA. I started with a line drawing on the canvas, followed by coloring in the truck and then the background. This was all done in oil. The 3 photos at top were taken in churches during my trip to Sicily. I printed and glued those photos to the canvas and detailed around them in acrylic paint. Strips of music were also cutout and glued on above. On the left is The Statue Of The Madonna In The Cathedral Of Monreale, Sicily, portraying the Virgin Mary holding the Baby Jesus. In the center is Jesus after his death sentence from Pontius Pilate. The right photo is a Statue of Saint George on horseback inside the Baroque style Duomo di San Giorgio church in Modica, Ragusa, Sicily.The model corvette on my desk was the original inspiration on the top left. The colored pencil drawing was done before I ever took a drawing class, while the charcoal drawing on the right was completed during my first drawing class.This painting is from a photo I took of the apple trees alongside my church in Woodstock. I started with a pencil drawing this progression shows the different stages I went through to complete the painting.This charcoal drawing on the right was from a photo of my daughter Jennifer checking out a motorcycle display at a show.Eruption, by Michael Crichton and James Patterson, was the inspiration for my Eruption painting. The dragon spawned from the eruption. I saw the stone wall shown in the photo during a 2024 trip to Sicily with my son. I added the same type of stone wall to the bottom of the painting.The Lily House Plant in our home on the left was the inspiration for the acrylic painting on the right.This Hydrangea was in full bloom on the side of our house when I painted them on the right.I drew the fox pencil cup on the left with colored pencils to show my first instructor my current skill level.The Green Man’s Wife painting at right was inspired by the image at left I found online.The Green Man was also inspired by this image on left I found online.At left you can see the background acrylic painting is nearly completed as I start to paint the bright watercolors of the hummingbird wings.This photo of the tree in my daughter Jen’s front yard became the colored pencil drawing at right.A pour that was transformed in multimedia artwork for my grandson Jamie.A pour that was transformed into multimedia artwork for my grandson Nathan.I painted the cave on the left and then rotated it 90 degrees to reveal the man in the blue cave.Painting a photo of my fireplace revealed a man in the fireplace.I came across this photo on the left during a morning meditation reading from Michael Fox. It reminds me so much of my Person In the Pour painting. What a cool coincidence!
