"What's with all the letters n'words n'stuff?"  Good question!  My personal work has taken an interesting turn as I've started to explore the visual forms of language and the alphabet.  How did this come about?  Kind of a confluence of influences, I'd say.

    I've always been fascinated by, and admired, the art of lettering.  When I used to work at other art studios, I'd watch the 'lettermen' do their thing and just be fixated on the precision of their craft.  The rules and parameters involved in the design of fonts is a complete art and science in itself.  When I began doing letter work in my business, I became even more in awe of those lettermen.  The ability necessary to do fine lettering was outside of my experience and became a focus of my learning: developing a steady hand, learning the rules of letter structure, building on my ability to compose even and balanced lettering, and just absorbing dozens of fonts into my repetoire.  A whole new art had invaded my world and once again, I was the student, craving knowledge.

    Hang on, I'm not done yet.  After moving to Nashville, I became fascinated by the rustic, 40's-50's look of so many of the street signs that grace the streets of this wonderful town.  I soon sensed a kind of relaxed humor in the Nashville way of life.  I mean, compared to the intensity and deadly seriousness of living in California, Music City seemed to take a tongue-in-cheek attitude to the values that drive most of the world these days.  Even those tens of thousands of talented musicians and songwriters that have gravitated to the epicenter of musical stardom aren't bogged down with the weight of possible failure.  They just do their thing and have fun while hoping for the best.  Success in Nashville isn't about fame and fortune.  It's about enjoying the process of living- a lesson I still need to work on.

    Anyway, as I began to meld into the daily fabric of Nashvillian life, I found something inside that I'd completely ignored my whole life- my sense of humor.  Applying my own twisted brand of funny and irony to the lettering thing, with a nod to the nostalgic signage of days past, I discovered a new language to speak with (visually speaking).  What you see on the Fine Art page of this website, under the heading of Word Works, is some of the first works in this line, including a set of alphabet letters that can be used to spell anything that works for you- your name, your mantra, your love. 

    It's all about fun.  Look around and enjoy the view.  There's a fascinating world of wild weirdness all around us.  And when you've run out of places to look for the humor in life, do what I did- look in the mirror.  Guess what?  I'm funny!

I was asked by Art and Invention Gallery to produce a 'permanent' logo for the annual TomatoArtFest.  Here's the finished product.

 A Black and white version of the new logo.

"Ripe Red", acrylic on canvas.  Being able to combine all aspects of my art into one piece (color palette, humor, lettering, pop style) brings out the best in me.
 

The client that commissioned this piece gave me free reign to do what I wanted.  I always seem to do my best work when I'm given that license.  This piece reflects the spirit of the client.  I love being able to intuit my patron's personalities and expressing them in art.

"Coming Soon"- a new piece that really captures my love of old signs as well as my sense of humor.
 

"Animato", acrylic on canvas.  This was one of the pieces shown at the annual Tomato-art-fest in East Nashville.  I entered 6 pieces as well as designing the poster and t-shirt art for the event, all of which sold out.

"Miracle", acrylic on canvas.  Also from the Tomato show.  Seems I've found my home here in Nashville.  They actually like my weird sense of humor.

So your child's a star?  This one got his own stage!  Ladies and Gentlemen, let's have a warm welcome...

He also wanted a red guitar- what a rock star!  With paint, anything's possible.

With a border of musical notes dancing around his room, this little star is living his dreams!

Barona Casino, 2 of 3.  Like so much of my commercial work, I created these pieces on canvas and sent them to the client for framing and hanging.  The internet has become an essential tool in my arsenal.

Barona Casino, 3 of 3.  Beyond the French impressionists of the19th century, the California plein aire artists took the concept that the Europeans developed and raised it to the level of genius.  I find this genre to be one of the best challenges to emulate as an artist.

This piece was commissioned to show the possible look of a 'green' community to be established in the Nashville area.  Despite some clingy old stereotypes of Southern life, Nashville, as well as most of Tennessee, embraces positive new concepts such as the 'green' movement.

Barona Casino entry piece, 1 of 3.  These pieces were commissioned by the casino to adorn one of their entrances to the casino.  Done in 'California plein aire' style, they capture the feel of the land that the Barona reservation sits on.

Left side of a large diptych mural for Barona Casino's new Mexican restaurant.  I just wanted to capture the flavor of old Mexico.

The right side of the diptych mural.  I added more space by making a breezeway that's open to the ocean view.