My large-format oil paintings are intended to convey a sense of color, light, contrast, and beauty as I strive to capture an ordinary scene or object in a fresh way. My existing body of work can be loosely divided into three general categories which I call “landscape,” “abstract” and “personality” paintings.

Regardless of subject matter, I paint the things I see and experience that make me smile — you’ll notice that there are only sunny blue skies, abundant fields, and tranquil bodies of warm water in my landscapes. My abstracts are filled with movement, yet still manage to convey the sense of peace I’ve found through my faith. My personality paintings are simply intended to capture an expression or brief snapshot in time that I find worth remembering.

With the exception of some of the abstracts I do, all my paintings are based on photos I take myself. I frequently carry my camera along with me hoping to find new reference material for future paintings. I’ve been inspired by all manner of things including a stalk of corn waving to a big blue sky, the glistening shores of Lake Michigan, or views from the car during a quiet drive on rural midwestern backroads. Regardless of the geographic location, I photograph the simple things found in nature or every day life that I find calming or intriguing.

Once I’ve decided to turn one of my photos into a painting, I do several rough compositional sketches on tracing paper before transferring the final design onto a canvas. Then with brush in hand, my mission is to fill that empty stark-white space with color. Overall, I am more concerned with creating a feeling of warmth and sunshine than with recreating a photograph I’ve taken.

My palette consists of roughly a dozen different colors of Gamblin® oil paints. Some of the color mixing happens right on the canvas as I overlap colors to add depth and richness. I never use black, but instead get my darkest values by combining Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna, and then sometimes adding a dab of whatever else is on my paint tray at the time.

My technique for applying the paint must be somewhat unusual, as I am constantly asked “are those oils?” I thin the paint down to a liquidly consistency somewhat similar to acrylics, which then allows my brush to easily move around in loose, sweeping motions. I have found that my best work is that which I do quickly and freely. Just as in life, it is too easy to get caught up in the details and forget the big picture. This is why I first focus on filling the canvas with colors, coming back later to fill in and fine-tune the details.