Saturday, January 17, 2009

Paintings on Canvas

Misty Mountains
Size: 16" x 20"
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Date: 2003
This was a painting that came from the first scenes of The Two Towers movie from Lord of the Rings. As the camera panned through the mountains, I saw this view and though it might make a good painting if it had a cross on top of the mountain.

Paintings on Canvas

The Patriarchs
Size: 12" x 36"
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Date: 2008








The Patriarchs are a set of beautiful mountains located in Zion National Park, Utah. These three mountains were named after the Patriarchs of the Bible: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The overwhelming beauty of God's creation is hard to capture with just paint and a canvas, but the painting can remind us of how creative God is with this world that He has made. This painting is currently located at the Griffith Art Gallery in Pelham, AL.

Santa Paintings

Santa
Size: 12" x 20"
Medium: Gouache on canvas
Date: 2008
I have heard many Christians discussing the concept of Santa Claus. Will I allow my children to believe that Santa Claus magically brings all the "good" boys and girls worldly treasures on Christmas Eve? Will I teach them from the beginning that Santa is not real, but that his persona comes from Saint Nicholas? No matter how the matter is presented, Santa Claus is immensely visible to all from Thanksgiving through Christmas Day. This Santa Claus is meant to remind the viewer of the true meaning of Christmas through subtle symbols. The three gems on the sleigh represent the three gifts that the wise men gave to Jesus. The three holly leaves represent the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The larger, cross star represents the star that the wise men followed in search of Jesus, the Savior.



Christmas Santa
Size: 24" x 36"
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Date: 2008
This Santa Claus has twelve festive holly leaves which are significant of the twelve disciples. The dead leaf stands for the one who betrayed Jesus, Judas Iscariot.

Seascape Murals

Hawaii Sunset
Size: 8' x 6'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2004
This mural was painted in the main classroom for the ABSOP Program at the Department of Youth Services.












The Reef
Size: 25' x 32'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2002

This mural was painted in the main dining room of The Reef restaurant in Tuscalosa, AL.

Landscape Murals

Mountain View
Size: 8' x 8'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2005
As the main classroom for the ABSOP Program moved, the teacher requested that I paint her a new mural, since she lost the old room that had the beach mural. She asked for a mountain scene this time.












Switzerland
Size: 8' x 5'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2001
This mural was painted from a combination of postcards from Switzerland. This was a castle that my family and I visited in 1998 in Sion. It was such a special trip to take, and I enjoyed it so much, that I painted this for my mother in her spare bedroom.



Twin Falls
Size: 8' x 5'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2005
Twin Falls was painted for UAB hospital in the central monitoring room. They requested that I paint the Birmingham skyline on one side of the room and this painting on the other side.









Mediterranean View
Size: 5' x 14'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2005
This mural was painted for a Tuscaloosa resident in their dining room.










Winter in the City
Size: 8' x 16'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2003
Winter in the City was painted in a group room for the ABSOP Program at the Department of Youth Services. This is the room where the therapists would council the students and teach them how to develop attitudes and behaviors that are socially acceptable. They wanted a calm, peaceful painting.

Underwater Murals

The Shallow Waters
Size: 14' x '18'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2004
This mural was painted for The Goddard School off of 280 in Birmingham. This view is from the main entrance in to the foyer. The classrooms were located down the halls on each side of this painting. Each classroom had an exotic fish that was painted on cutout wood to identify each room.






My Daughter's Room1
Size: 8' x 8'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2006
This is one wall in my daughter's room, which has now become the playroom. All four walls and the ceiling were painted in this room as a panoramic underwater scene.

















My Daughter's Room2
Size: 8' x 10'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2006
Here is another wall of the panoramic painting.











My Daughter's Room3
Size: 8' x 10'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2006
The right side of this picture connects to the left side of the above picture. When my daughter was 2, she decided to help the painting by drawing on the walls with her sidewalk chalk. Thankfully chalk comes off easily.

Paintings on Canvas

Title: Two Whales
Size: 36" x 48"
Medium: Oil on Canvas

This painting is currently on display at the Griffith Art Gallery. This painting was inspired by Christian Reese Lassen and many of his underwater paintings.

Abstract Paintings

Title: Reclining Nude
Medium: Acrylic
Date: 2000














Title: Fallacious
Medium: Mixed Media
Date:2008










Title: Eruption
Medium: Mixed Media
Date: 2009


















Title: Rose
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Date: 2003














Title: Abstract Composition
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2001

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Bread and Wine Paintings

Bread and Wine
18" x 24"
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Date: 2008















These paintings portray the last supper and Jesus who described himself as the bread of life. The cup in the top painting represents His blood which was poured out for the forgivness of sins.

Bread and Wine
Size: 18" x 24"
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Date: 2006

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Paintings on Canvas

Swiss Mountains
Size: 20" x 28"
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Date: 2004
This painting was commissioned for a resident who just asked for "pretty mountains and sheep." I wanted to paint this mountain as realistic as possible, considering that most of my mountains up to this point resembled Bob Ross's paintings. I initially started painting with the Bob Ross kit, and the rest was self taught through prayer and practice.



Perkins Music
Size: 48" x 72"
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Date: 2006
This painting was commissioned by a resident who makes his own guitars and other musical instruments. His wife wanted me to paint all his instruments as if they were displayed in a store front window. This painting currently hangs in the music room of his home where their band practices.






New Orleans
Size: 18" x 24"
Medium: Watercolor
Date: 2002

This painting was commissioned before Hurricane Katina destroyed most of New Orleans. The woman who asked for this painting, had a picture that she wanted replicated as a watercolor. The only thing that was not painted were the cars that were parked in front of the building in order to keep the painting from being date as easily.

Paintings on Canvas

One Touch
Size: 36" x 48"
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Date: 2008

This painting was inspired by One Touch by Nicole C. Mullen and from a woman at my church suffering and living with MULTIPLE chronic illnesses. She is one of the most humble, faithful servants that I am blessed to call my friend. The symbolism in this painting is meant to be not only seen, but experienced by the viewer. The red robe represents the blood of Christ, which covers the believer who reaches to God in faith. Look closely at the bottom of the garment. As we reach to touch God, He reaches back and touches us (His hand reaches from the right to touch her fingertip). The shape of the hand mimics the shape of God's hand in The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo.


Moses
Size: 18" x 24"
Medium: Gouache on canvas
Date: 2008
This painting of Moses was painted after the Melekh painting, but obviously close to the same style. I imagined Moses as he gazed across the Promised Land from Mount Nebo, with the afternoon sun in his eyes, being somewhat sad as he knew his judgment was about to come. The blue on his mouth represents the water from the rock that he was told to speak to in order to obtain water for the Israelites. Instead of speaking to it, he struck it, and so incurred the judgment of not entering the Promised Land.



Melekh
Size: 24" x 30"
Medium: Gouache on canvas
Date: 2008
Melekh was painted as the other side of the face of Jesus from Face of Christ. It illustrates the before and after of the crucifixion. Whereas the painting below shows the suffering servant, this painting reveals the glorified King.













Face of Christ
Size: 36" x 48"
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Date: 2002
This painting depicts Jesus gazing at the cross in the distance, realizing that this cup has to be taken by Him from the Father. This image has been commissioned three different times, and the original was sold through the Griffith Art Gallery.













Faces
Size: 24" x 36"
Medium: Acrylic on masonite
Date: 2000

This was my portrayal of a model from Painting I class at the University of Alabama. It was also sold through the Griffith Art Gallery to a dentist office. This painting also was displayed at the West Alabama Juried Art Show in 2001.

Paintings on Canvas

Calming the Storm
Size: 18" x 24"
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 2007
This was the first painting of which limited edition prints were published. The print sizes are 18" x 24" and 10" x 13". The prices for the prints respectively are $29.95 (+S&H) and $11.95 (+S&H). There were 3,000 prints made with 100 artist proofs. Jesus is dressed in red to represent the blood that He shed, while Judas Iscariot is robed in green. Just as green is opposite red on the color wheel, so Judas was the opposite of the righteousness of God. His hand is also grasping the money bag in this picture. Some of the hidden scriptures in this picture can only be seen in the original painting.

The Tempest
Size: 16" x 20"
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Date: 2004
This painting also depicts a ship that is weathering a storm. The Tempest was painted while I was teaching art class at the Department of Youth Services for the juvenile sex offenders. It was a fairly quick painting that illustrated many different painting techniques for the students to grasp.








Dragonflies and Ladybugs
Size: 24" x 36"
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Date: 2005
This painting was commissioned for a baby's nursery which had a ladybug and dragonfly theme. The colors were taken from the crib blanket to match the room.









Jack
Size: 24" x 34"
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Date: 2007
Jack was painted for a client who wanted this as a gift to his wife for Christmas. He commissioned me to take pictures of his dog in a park and work from the picture that he liked the best. The background was replaced with a scenic view of Yosemite National Park.






Ali-Bama
Size: 18" x 24"
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Date: 2007

Ali-Bama was painted as a result of Jack. A woman who worked with Jack's owner wanted her dog painted as well, so she commissioned me the same. This painting was gallery wrapped for this client since she did not want to have the picture framed.

Sculptures

Chosen
Size: 24" x 32"
Medium: Bubble Gum
Date: 2001
This was a fun sculpture to make! It took almost 930 pieces of chewed bubble gum to finish this work. I didn't tell my dentist about this until it was completed:) The idea was inspired by a tree at Six Flags over Georgia where everyone apparently stuck their gum when they were finished with it. Even though it was gross, there were enough colors to do a picture of some sort. So when I got home, I purchased a huge box of gumballs at Sam's that had all the primary and secondary colors and started chewing. Sometimes my jaw would get tired, especially when I had to mix about four or more different colors of gumballs in my mouth at on time, but it was worth it in the end.






New Creation
Size: 24" x 36" x 48"
Medium: Steel and Wood
Date: 2000
This sculpture was inspired from 1 Corinthians 5:17 which states that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The welded steel conveys the old self which is hard and unforgiving with pride, while the laminated wood portrays the new creation that is unveiled when Christ begins His work in a repentant person. As Christ tears down the old self, the individual can begin to understand the hold that sin had on his/her life. The tack welds on the interior side of the peeled steel resemble a fungus and allude to sin being a disease like cancer. The overall shape resembles a person that is bound which corresponds to the scripture in John 8:34 which says, "everyone who sins is a slave to sin." Jesus is the only One who can free us from this bondage, and this sculpture is one way for me to express this incredible truth by means of the gift that God has given me.


Starburst
Size: 72" x 72" x 2"
Medium: Sprees and Sweettarts
Date: 2003
This sculpture was made from the big Sprees and Sweettarts that were then glued to a 3/4" sheet of plywood. This became a very heavy sculpture by the time it was finished. The design was meant to represent a supernova explosion of radiating light. The whole piece was only one layer of candy except for the center, where a second layer formed the shape of a cross from which the "energy" radiates.







Courage
Size: 24" x 30" x 52"
Medium: Wood
Date: 2001
This work has one several awards including 2nd place in a student juried art show at the University of Alabama and an honorable mention in the West Alabama Juried Art Show of 2001. The twisted wood in this sculpture was inspired from the twisted trees that can grow straight out of rock in the Rocky Mountains. The perseverence that must take place to grow in such harsh conditions reminds me of how God desired His people to grow to be more like Him in this world, despite opposition. People have commented on this work stating that it reminds them of a heart and veins.







Lamentation
Size: 28" x 25" x 39"
Medium: Wood
Date: 2000

This piece was designed to represent the twisted agony that Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, must have felt when speaking God's word to His people. Knowing that he was prophesying judgement on the people he loved and to the nation which held his devotion, he continued to boldly speak the message that was given to him. So many times I think we also feel twisted and pulled to go against the grain of the crowd, and hold to what we know to be right.

Golf Paintings

Scenic View
Size: 20" x 28"
Medium: Oil on Plexiglas
Date: 2001
This painting was for my brother who loves golf. It was a little tricky painting on plexiglas, though.












Hole #9
Size: 6' x 8'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2002
This was Hole #9 from the University of Alabama Golf Center that was painted in their mini restaurant. This was commissioned by the Golf Center as well as the picture below.







Jack's Sand Shot
Size: 4' x 6'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2002

This was painted on the opposite wall of the previous mural. The golf ball in the painting was a real ball that I cut in half and mounted to the wall. That was done to help with the appearance of the ball coming at the viewer.

The Pelham Grill

Castle on the Lake
Size: 6' x 10'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2004
This was one of the murals in The Pelham Grill which was a restaurant in Pelham, AL. This painting was located in the banquet room.










Calvary
Size: 3' x 6'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2004
Calvary was painted in the main dining room area.














Axes and Flags
Size: 6' x 9'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2004
This was the first painting that I did for the Pelham Grill which landed the job for the whole restaurant. This was painted between the bathrooms, but still very visible from the dining area.






The Pelham Grill Logo
Size: 5' x 6'
Medium: Latex Paint
Date: 2004

This was their logo that was already designed, that I was commissioned to paint in the cafe area.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Posters for DYS

Houston Art Car Parade Poster
Size: 18" x 24"
This car was brought to the Department of Youth Services so the students could have a chance to decorate or paint it before it rolled through the annual Art Car Parade in Houston. Each prison (Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana) had a section of the car to paint. I supervised the students as they painted the car and directed the layout and design as they painted. The students had two days to paint their section before it moved to the next state. The car was in the parade and won 1st place entry by a youth group. Since the students that painted the car could not see the end result, the parade, or any of the trophies, I designed this poster to hang in the dorm. The students that worked on the car were then able to sign the matting that surrounded the poster so others could see their work even after they leave. I also printed smaller postcards of this design for each of the students to take/send home.
















The Fright House Poster
Size: 18" x 24"
One of the abandoned building on the campus of the Department of Youth Services was converted into a haunted house for the students. Just as with the art car, I was in charge of 6 or 7 students that helped create this spooky house for the others to experience. The students that worked on the haunted house were also the ones that worked in it as other passed through. These students were also able to sign the matting around the posters and had smaller prints to send home. The framed posters are hanging in the dorm.