My son, Cole, was able to cap off his soccer career with his travel team, the Blue Devils, with a tournament in Orlando, Florida. Was able to get the trip in right before the Corona virus lockdown went into full effect. Did this colored pencil drawing to celebrate him and his accomplishments. Reference photo taken during this tournament.

Although this says “on canvas”, this painting was the first that I’ve created on a prepared wood panel. Boy, this took some getting used to. It’s like the difference between driving on blacktop and driving on ice. The wood panel was a “slick track”. The panel had next to no “grab”, so I really had to adjust. Had to think about edges and transitions. Was more difficult to blend.

Always enjoy painting neon signs. Liked the challenge of painting this during a rainy gray day background. That’s my son walking in the foreground – had to bribe him to pose with some baked goods.

Termini’s Bakery in Philly is the best. The best cannoli anywhere. And, their Italian cookies are to die for. Great cheesecake. It’s all good. When entertaining friends from out of town, gotta get some Termini’s after a cheesesteak run.

Created this oil painting at the request of my son, Cole. “Dad, you should do a soccer painting.” I told him, “one condition – we do this together.” That’s why there’s a portrait of him by my signature. And, Cole named the painting. Painting includes all of Cole’s favorite players. And, the players had to have the right, most-representative jerseys on. Once the painting was finished, we had a number of giclees made – gave the prints to Cole’s best friends as high school graduation gifts. Names of his Blue Devil teammates and coaches are in the painting. I have loved watching Cole’s love of the game develop. And, I’ve become a fan as well. The game has been a wonderful gift that has helped me get closer to my son – enjoyed commemorating that experience in this painting.

Colored pencil drawing of Cole playing soccer on his school team. Reference photo from his senior year season.

Had fun painting the reflections from the Christmas lights on this one. This painting is all about light and texture. Composition is very complex. There’s lots of fur, clear glass, and reflective surfaces. And, the lights create all kinds of reflections. So, “white” hair in the painting was painted using yellow, red, purple, and a host of other colors. The complexity of this one made it fun to create.

Another toy car painting. In this one, wanted to use different size cars. Wanted the larger cars to form the main structure of the composition. Then, I used smaller cars to fill in the gaps.

Painted this “fantasy” landscape from a series of photos taken while on Summer vacation to Ireland in 2017. Painting was cobbled together – the tree was at one part of the Ring of Kerry. The cows and ocean view were at another. Got a “liar, that’s not what it looked like! That tree wasn’t there!” Creating your own reality is what makes being an artist fun – only limited by your own mind. Gave me an opportunity to teach a lesson to the kids on “artistic license”.

Painted this from a reference photo taken on a Summer family vacation to Ireland in 2017. Beautiful landscaping in the park around Blarney castle and mansion. That’s Stacey in the foreground and the kids are suggestions in the background.

On Summer vacation in Ireland in 2017, took a reference photo used for this painting. Was touring the retro village around Bunratty castle. Brushing up on my watercolor skills – it’s actually painted with gouache, an opaque watercolor. This guy was a cast character in a village office – was playing a doctor. Interesting guy.

Drew this picture of Stacey and me from a reference photo taken the year before at our annual Christmas train ride. I always get some great shots during that ride. Now have a half dozen art pieces created from train ride photography. Created this to celebrate Stacey and my 25th wedding anniversary (11/28/2017). Where does the time go? My lovely bride gets more beautiful every year. I am a lucky guy – friends/family never hesitate to tell me I married up. Hard to argue – I agree. I’m not much of a facial hair guy, but decided to grow a beard that Winter. Yeah, it’s pretty white. Too many similarities to Santa Claus for me to keep it.