Gulf of Mexico Sunset

 

As summer winds to a close, we must be respectful of nature's power. The days grow shorter but hurricane season still looms as a threat. Here, we see the sun set along an empty, grassy beach on the Gulf of Mexico. The sky is heavy with grey clouds that threaten torrential rain. Or perhaps the storm has passed, and better weather is on its way? The cycles of nature are eternal, beautiful, but also uncaring about humanity's expectations. Enjoy the moment for it is ever-changing.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Orange Coneflower Sunrise

It's well into summer now in the Mid-Atlantic region, and all the flowers are in bloom. Here we see a clump of orange coneflowers up close as we look across a flower-filled meadow at sunrise. Light gleams across the grass and wildflowers as clouds part and the sun rises. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Paving Over Paradise

The latest in corrupt idiocy from the Trump administration is a plan to sell off over two hundred million acres of public land to assorted connected private interests. Excuses for stealing this land from the American people include "affordable housing" in the middle of nowhere and mineral and fossil fuel extraction to make a quick a buck while continuing to warp the climate. Nothing will get better until there's nothing left, it seems. The exact location depicted here doesn't matter, but if you feel the view would be better without the barbed wire fencing and smoke-spewing refinery, that's the point, and the cynical greed and cruelty of this administration is costing us far more than just pretty views. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Moonlit Cherry Blossoms

As final tribute this year to the cherry blossoms that have long since faded, here we see a gnarled old cherry tree in the light of the full moon. Its limbs and flowers are backlit by the pale light, long shadows are cast, and pink petals glow like sparks in the blur of night. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Gnarled Cherry Trees

Spring has arrived in the Mid Atlantic, and flowering trees light up the woodland edges and highways in pastel colors. Here, we see a small grove of old, gnarled cherry trees by a lake. Their trunks and limbs are twisted and scarred from age, but they continue to bloom each year with explosions of pinks and whites. In this fleeting moment, let us enjoy spring!

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Denali Reflections

It's been a typical winter here in Maryland, with snow, ice, and a bad cold spell in January. As we wait for spring, let us visit a place where winter lasts about half the year. Denali, in Alaska, is the tallest mountain in North America, and its peak is often shrouded in clouds. Here we see it looming above one of many local lakes and rivers carved by glaciers, its proud crown illuminated by the setting sun. Warm light hints of better days to come.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Regaining the Light

The holiday season is finishing up and it's now 2025. The winter solstice was a little over a week ago, and slowly but surely the days are growing longer. Here we see the sun rise across a snowy northern forest of conifers. Light gleams through the trees, hinting at the still distant spring. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17" 

Exoplanet - Red Dwarf Transit

Things have been going rather poorly on Earth lately (in America in particular), so this painting takes us someplace far away. We stand on a slushy, terrestrial planet at the outer reaches of its star's habitable zone. The sun here is a blazing red dwarf that looms above us, casting a ruddy, warm glow across snowy hills and a cold lake. Other worlds dance through their orbits in the sky, with one planet transiting the star as we watch. Total eclipses cannot happen here, but transits of other planets are a regular occurrence. To put it in perspective, a star system around a red dwarf is about the same size as the moon system around Jupiter, so with little optical aid, one could see details on the other worlds. Red dwarf stars live a very long time, so perhaps life will evolve someday on this cold planet.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Old Autumn Sycamores

As fall spreads over the land, a chill breeze starts to turn the leaves to fiery colors and the grass to dried earth tones. Here, we see a pair of old sycamores at the edge of a scrubby forest. These ancient guardians have been here far longer than the young trees around them, and they face yet another coming winter stoically. Low light plays across their gnarled, pale trunks, and their leaves glow with copper colors before blowing away in the cold wind.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Rocky Autumn Foothills

 
When we think of autumn, the most common images that come to mind are the fiery colors of New England or the golden aspens in the high elevations of the west. This painting explores a different region. Here, we see the cottonwood trees in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains as they turn yellow in the chill autumn air. Every tree is precious here, for dry grasslands are the norm, and the change of seasons is always beautiful even in unexpected places. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Fleeting Summer Days

 
As August rolls on, the days are becoming shorter, and summer is winding down. Back to school sales are in full swing, and the first fall leaves can be seen on a few vines and understory trees here and there. But for now, let us enjoy one last day at the beach, far from work and crowds. Watch the sun swing low amid a cloudy sky, illuminating the waves in gleaming light.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Waterlily Trail

 

As the summer heat grows beneath a blazing sun, let us visit a marshland where the water flows and droughts aren't a worry. Here in lazy stream, waterlilies bloom in pink and reddish hues, catching the summer sun. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Dusty Prairie Storm

 

Spring this year throughout most of the US has been plagued by severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and flooding. Summer has now begun, bringing with it a terrible heat wave and early tropical storms. As bad as the severe weather is, storms can bring rain to drought-stricken regions, and they are beautiful when they are not dangerous. Here, we see some late afternoon thunderstorms billowing over the dry hills and grasslands typical of the plains and western US. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Francis Scott Key Bridge - Twilight

In the early morning hours of March 26, 2024, the huge cargo ship Dali lost steering and tore through the western support pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge outside of Baltimore's harbor. In seconds, the bridge collapsed, sending six men to their deaths and forever changing the city's skyline. Some things seem so permanent; you'd never expect them to be gone.

This may be the most difficult painting I've ever created. I rarely paint cityscapes or architecture since fine details and complex perspectives are overly challenging. On top of that, the Key Bridge was a local icon with clearly defined features - I can't just create a generic bridge in its place. Finally, the bridge's main structure was an overwhelming lattice of trusses, something well outside the norm of what I paint - a maze of detail that can only be suggested and not actually drawn in fully. I hope I did it justice. 

Here, we see the bridge on an evening like any other with the lights of Baltimore's harbor in the background and peaceful sunset clouds in the sky. While it was just a bridge, I will miss it. Its distinctive arch could be seen from afar and welcomed me back to Baltimore. May those who lost their lives that dark morning rest in peace. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

2024 Solar Eclipse from Little Rock

I had the privilege this month to see the total solar eclipse from a farm and winery to the northwest of Little Rock, AK. Words fail when describing totality. The ominous, storm-like approach of the Moon's shadow, the strange sepia tones the world turns as the light dims, and then a sudden sunset followed by the ring of fire. As with 2017's total eclipse, this one is painted faithfully to what I saw. The flares in the corona are positioned accurately, the light to the lower right is a planet (Jupiter, I believe), and the eerie clouds that thankfully kept out of the way are included. It'll be 21 years before another total solar eclipse of note passes over the continental US, but I hope to see it. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17" 

Snow Covered Trellis in Winter

This is a photo of my first commissioned landscape painting; other sales have been of pre-existing works that customers enjoyed. This painting is based on a photo the client sent me of a snowy scene in his rural backyard with the focus on a large trellis covered with vines. Thankfully, the client liked the painting and it sold! 

Acrylic painting on stretched canvas: 30" x 24" (SOLD)

Moonrise over Snowy Pines

Winter has been relatively normal this year along the east coast of the US. We've had a few snowfalls, with another on its way, and some cold temperatures, too. Here, we see the moon rise above a cold northern forest, casting its warm glow on the snow as a few stars peak through the clouds - light without heat. Soon, spring will come and melt away the snow as life returns to the forest. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Hill Country Winter Sunrise

After several years without measurable snowfall, winter returned to Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic region this week, with frigid temperatures and two snowstorms that each dropped several inches of snow. Here, we see the snowy weather from the rolling, forested hills of western Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania as the sun rises on a quiet, freezing day. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Exoplanet - Winter Lights

The winter season on Earth is marked by festivals of light to push back the darkness, but night has a different meaning on other worlds. Here we see a young, cold exoplanet covered in winter snow. The night sky is illuminated by an enormous nebula and the blazing light of countless new stars. Dark dust clouds are silhouetted against the glowing gases, and particularly brilliant star clusters cast their light across the frozen wastes. This world is far too young for life to have formed. Perhaps in billions of years - long after the nebula fades and the most massive stars in it die off - a sentient species like us will create their own winter festivals to drive back the darkness. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Fall Sycamore Thicket

As autumn color winds down, we go for a walk in the woods while there's still sun remaining. A mix of sycamores, both old and young, tower overhead, their leaves turning to crumpled bronze as they fall from the trees. Low light bathes the mottled bark; winter is when sycamores are at their finest. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"