Painted this from a reference photo taken along one of the main roads in Lancaster County. Passed an Amish buggy every few hundred yards. This painting is part of a series of Amish buggy scenes.

Was at a local produce market. Had a bin of Fairy Tale Pumpkins (yep, that’s the name). Liked the washed out, almost salmon color and deep segmentation of these pumpkins. My pallet is usually pretty bright – liked the neutral, dulled pallet required for this painting. My daughter, Em, named this one.

Love New York City. Was driving through Chinatown when I captured a few reference shots used to paint this picture. I’m usually attracted to light. In this case, what struck me was the shadow. Liked the cool, subtle detail on the neon signs and the grid-like angularity of the scene. Liked how the woman in the foreground hides the little girl from the bright sunlight. Particularly enjoyed painting the helix-like pattern of the fire escape shadows in the extreme background – must have had work on my mind, because it reminded me of a DNA strand. My wife told me this work was “different for me.” Once it was finished, placed it on our fireplace mantel next to “Eiffel Tower Carousel.” Told Stacey it wasn’t much different after all – can see a similar theme and composition (strong off center foreground figure facing the viewer; washed out background detail) in both pieces.

Got the inspiration for this painting on our family’s annual apple-picking trip. Saw this pile of pumpkins, and was struck by colors in the shadows. One of the farmers managing the stand gave me a weird look while I snapped the reference photo for this painting. Didn’t matter – was captivated by the composition and colors. Even though the pumpkins are white and orange, I used every color on my palette to create this work.

Friday Night at Alhambra is a painting created around the New Alhambra fight club in Philadelphia. After I completed this painting, asked legendary fight promoter, Russell Peltz, if he wanted to use the painting for an upcoming fight program cover. Russell wanted to use the painting, but on the night of the painting, he wasn’t the primary promoter, so his logo doesn’t appear on the signs above the ring. Asked me if “I could change the painting.” Didn’t want to, so I painted “patches” that could be used to digitally replace the signs in the original just for the fight program. Felt silly just painting the three signs, so I finished out the scene with the ring and the crowd.

One of 3 paintings created for Airgas’ 2006 Holiday Cards (See also “One More Run” and “The Extra Mile.”) Was going for a Thomas Kinkade/Terry Redlin vibe in these paintings.

Love the story behind this painting. Was at the fights in Phili with my father and some friends. I’m a diehard – I’m there for the first fight and stay through to the last round of the last fight. Many people leave after the main event. Well, one night, after the main event, there was a 4-round fight featuring this guy from Phili, Joey. Must have been only 100 people left in the place, 90 of which seemed to be friends and family of this guy. They were going nuts chanting his name, “Joey, Joey.” Was a great fight. Went toe-to-toe with this other guy from the Carolinas. Both guys leaving it all out in the ring. Joey scored a knock out with seconds left in the fight. The place went wild. Seemed to us like this was the fight of his life. Called Joey to the ring ropes and snapped some shots of him – he was so excited by the win. Wasn’t snapping the shots as a painting reference, but when I reviewed them, was drawn to the light behind Joey’s head. And, his eyes were closed. Gave the composition a spiritual, religious icon feel. Can sense his weariness the way his hand hangs over the rope.

A number of years ago, Stacey and I visited Cape Cod. Took a ferry one early morning to Martha’s Vineyard. The harbor was misty and gray – real cool vibe – loved the pastel colors, so took some shots. While we were sitting there, this dapperly-dressed older gentleman walked on by. Caught a shot. Love the heat of the one exposed light bulb against the cool colors of the harbor mist.

Took the reference shot for this painting the same night I took shots for Beachcombers, Sea Isle Promenade, and Sea Isle Sunset. Just before sunset, everything was bathed in a beautiful shade of indigo. Didn’t put too much effort into this one – just wanted to capture the gist of the scene.

This is the same swing in Ocean City, New Jersey as can be seen in Giant Swing. Took the reference photo for this painting at the top of the entrance way to the amusement pier. Washed out the detail in the riders – wanted the focus to be on the swing lights. Having the riders as blurs gives this painting a sense of motion.