Monterey Coast

16" x 20", oil on canvas. My wife and I took a trip last September to Monterey, CA. This painting is based on a bunch of reference photos I took on the 17-mile drive around the perimeter of the penninsula. One of my favorite places on the planet! So peaceful and hypnotic.

Bucket of Sunflowers

11" x 14", oil on canvas. SOLD (but contact me for prints).

Point Lobos Cypress

11"x14", oil on linen, SOLD (but contact me about prints).

Last September my wife and I took a trip out to Monterey, CA. We rented a spicy red 2010 Mustang convertible and drove down PCH (rt 1) to Big Sur. Just south of the charming former artist-colony of Carmel there is a small state park called Point Lobos. We were directed to check it out by a gallery owner in Carmel. What an amazing place...IMO it blew away anything we saw at Big Sur! This is the second in a series of paintings I'm doing based on my reference photos. Please let me know what you think...I love feedback. ;0)

"Sycamore Sunset"

18" x 24", oil on canvas. $1,050 USD

I can't believe this day has come and I'm finished with this painting! At least until I spot something that needs adjusting ;0) It's hard to let it go and say "finished" sometimes, and I've been working on this one for over a week, a few hours a day. I think I'm ready to move on to the next thing. Besides, I'm getting tired of snow. Looking forward to Spring!

Out on a Limb

So, I've been working on this new painting for a week now and I'm at that point where I can't tell if I've gone too far but suspect I might have stepped over that imaginary line a couple of hours ago. It's so hard to tell until you've blown past it to realize you have. I hate that ;0). I wish there was a little art gremlin that could sit on my easel and squirt me with a water-pistol when I've reached that magical and illusive stopping point! The thing is, I chose a hard subject because all of the trees, both foreground and background, are bare. So the question and challenge is to decide how far to go with all the detail of the branches and twigs and blades of grass showing out of the snow? I was really liking my Sycamore tree subject a lot until I started adding smaller branches. At some point it started to become something I didn't expect it to become and wasn't sure if I had ruined the abstract design of it or if i should just keep going. I chose to keep going and now I'm pretty sure it's almost done...just a few minor changes and smudged sections to fix. I decided to walk away for a day or two and start working on my next painting.

If you have any comments or suggestions I'm all ears...and branches ;0)

Study for a new snow scene

"Snowy Sycamore", 6"x8", SOLD.

This is a small study I just finished for larger painting I'm planning. It's based on a couple of photos I took of a large, twisty Sycamore tree ext to a creek (Pickering Creek, Charlestown, PA). I am interested in the colors that the late afternoon light create on the trees and the shadows on the snow. Snow is one of my favorite textures to re-create with paint.

"China Beach, Point Lobos, CA"

12"x 16", oil on masonite. SOLD (but contact me for prints).

In September my wife and I took a trip out to Monterey, CA. While we were wandering around Carmel, CA one day we strolled into an art gallery...one of the many great galleries in Carmel (now one of my favorite towns!)...and we saw a painting of this exact view on the wall by a local artist. I asked the gallery curator where this location was and was told Point Lobos, just south of here..."you must check it out!". So the next day we decided to stop at Point lobos on the way down Pacific Coast Highway 1 to Big Sur National Park. That was the best advice we got the whole trip! I have never seen an area so breathtaking that close up before...and I've traveled quite a bit and been high up in the Alps and Rocky Mnts. There were areas that had "Lord of the Rings" qualities to them, especially when the fog rolled in! Anyway, I made my wife hike the entire length of the trail until the very end (several miles actually) when we finally reached the exact location that was in the painting we saw at the gallery. I snapped a a few photos from this point of view and the from them painted this painting, which I just finished today.

Some color advice for re-painting a room in your home...

“What is the color of happiness?” by John Pompeo

Harness the emotional power of color in your home décor!

Have you ever been to a restaurant or entered a room that you felt really uncomfortable in and you weren’t even sure why? It may have a lot to do with the color scheme. Color affects people emotionally on subconscious levels, and some people are more sensitive to these emotional influences than others. That is why most offices and new construction is painted in “neutral tones”. Most people think that means that the carpet won’t “clash” with the drapes, etc. That is a safe but not very creative way to think about it. Subconsciously, beiges and taupes are emotionally neutral…ie. they don’t have a strong emotional pull in any particular direction and therefore don’t offend anyone. For that same reason they can seem boring in residential décor. Your house is not an office, it is your sanctuary from the world, and is the perfect place to express who you are and how you want a room to “feel” through interior design! One of the most effective ways to do this is through creative use of color. It is one of the most misused and under-utilized elements of design, but can have enormous influence on whether or not a design is successful in communicating the feel and mood that was intended by the designer.

As humans we cannot help but be attracted or repulsed by color. It is sewn into our psyche with the threads of our DNA! It is how early man determined which berries were poisonous or which animals to stay away from. Whether it’s the pinkish blush of a cheek or the orange-glow of the moon, color helps us read and understand our world.

We process color on both an individual level and on a societal level. A color may remind you of something from your childhood or have a very personal meaning to you. Perhaps you have an affinity for the color red and as an adolescent used that color either consciously or unconsciously as a design element in your bedroom. At the same time that color means something to you based on your cultural upbringing and nationality. For example the color red is a strong symbol of luck in Eastern Asian cultures, especially in Chinese culture. As a result it is a major design element in Chinese décor and both interior and exterior architectural design. The same red would be considered too bold to use on every wall of an interior in most western cultures, and is used primarily as an accent color.

You make choices on a daily basis that are influenced by color, from the clothes you wear to the foods you eat to the stores and businesses you patronize. Advertisers and marketers take full advantage of the psychological influence of color on consumers. It is not an accident that McDonald’s restaurants chose the combination of red and yellow. That combination has been shown to stimulate appetite.

If you were trying to describe the color blue to a color-blind person, what adjectives would you use? Lonely? Cold? Pensive? Pure? Marine? Here are some adjectives commonly associated with specific color palettes. It can be very helpful to keep them in mind when choosing paint colors or general color palettes for interior design. These associations are especially useful when decorating a child’s bedroom or playroom as children are more sensitive to color stimulation than adults.

• Lavender: imaginative, fantasy color, romantic

• Purple: spiritual, passionate, visionary, royal, (assoc. with kings), creative, rare (gems, dyes). While many adults dislike it, it is a good color to use in children’s play areas because it stimulates imagination.

• Pink: compassionate (breast cancer ribbons), faithful, feminine, innocent

• Magenta (red-purple): inventive, outrageous, imaginative, creative

• Indigo (blue-purple): knowledge, powerful, integrity

• Light Blue: peaceful, cool, sincere, affectionate, masculine (for babies)

• Turquoise: refreshing, cool, imaginative, tranquil

• Aqua: motivated, active, dynamic, tropic

• Blue: calm, intuitive, intelligent (IBM), trustworthy (ie. uniform, navy), masculine, pensive, cold, pure (Virgin Mary), deep. It suppresses appetite so would not be the best choice for kitchens or dining rooms.

• Green: growth, abundance, vitality, life, earthy, natural, cool, relaxing, restful, serene, organic

• Brown: stable, reliable (UPS), earthy, common

• Orange: happy, successful, courageous, (assoc. with harvest), abundance, cheerful, warm, balance

• Gold: illuminating, wise, wealthy, distinguished

• Yellow: enthusiastic, playful, optimistic, friendly, welcoming (caution: bright yellows can cause anxiety in infants and young children).

• Red: energetic, stimulating, determined, passionate, hot, romantic, bold, lucky (Chinese), (most common color in advertising). It evokes a sense of excitement and can elevate blood pressure and energy levels. It stimulates the appetite and is often used in restaurants and dining room décor.

• Black: sophisticated, elegant, modern, luxurious, formal (tuxedo or black dress)

• White: pure, sterile, cool, modern, clean, angelic or heavenly

Nationality / Ethnic / Regional associations to color:

Red: Chinese, Oriental, Indian, Russian

Yellow/Gold: Egyptian, Roman

Orange/browns: Moroccan, Spanish, Mediterranean

Purple: Indian, Moroccan, Persian

Green + orange: Irish, Scottish, Italian

Blue + white: Greek, Jewish

Pastels: Caribbean, Miami, Bermuda

"Cary's Lighthouse"

16" x 20", oil on masonite. This is one of the rare images that I don't own the copyright to...it belongs to a good friend of mine, Cary Moore. He's a professional photographer and this painting is based a photograph he took of a lighthouse in Maine. He gave me an enlarged print as a gift and in exchange I told him I would do an oil painting of it for him. So, this is the painting as it sits, just finished, on my easel. I found the sky to be the most challenging part!

"Cary's Barn"

9"x12", oil on board, (make me an offer!)

My friend Cary Moore is an excellent and talented photographer. He recently loaned me a B+W print of an old farm that he photographed near Pottstown, PA so that I could use it as inspiration for a painting. I chose colors from my imagination. It was a nice little exercise!

Away in a Manger

6" x 8", oil on canvas panel. $125 USD. I think this one needs a better title ;-) Based on a photo reference I took during the summer at a small goat farm near my house. I'm pretty sure this was a mother and "kid".

Harbour Seal

6" x 8", oil on canvas panel. This little guy was posing for photos in Monterey Bay during my trip out there in September. There are harbour seals all over the place in that area. This particular one was hanging out on an old bouy as our boat was on it's way out to the open water to look for whales. Great trip!

woodland stream

22" x 28", oil on canvas. $1,500 USD. Unframed.

This just off the easel. It is based on a reference photo I took while hiking in the woods in Chester County, PA. I find moving and falling water very challenging. In fact this one took a lot longer than I thought it would.

Arizona Canyon

8" x 10", oil on board. $180 USD

Based on a photo reference I took in Arizona during my trip to Sedona. I think this was a canyon about 10 miles outside Sedona where my wife and I took a hot air balloon ride. What an amazing experience!

Morning Glow

6" x 6", oil on canvas $85

3 Gulls

6" x 8", oil on board. $125 USD

This painting is based on a reference photo taken last September at Cape Henlopen, DE.

"Colors of Spring"

5" x 5", oil on board $100

This is based on a photo I took at an arboretum. The butterfly was just sitting there with his wings open for several minutes as if it was waiting for me to get the shot :)

Temple of Poseidon

36" x 48", Acrylic on canvas $1,500

This is the fourth painting I've created in two weeks for a new Greek restaurant that is opening soon (mid-April) in my area..."Freskada Mediterranean Kusina", Exton, PA. This painting is also for sale...so if you are interested in purchasing it or a smaller print of it please contact me.

Church Road

12" x 24", oil on canvas

This sleepy Autumn morning scene is inspired by a photo I took from my car while driving near my house (on Church Road, Charlestown PA). There was something about the way the sun was lighting up the tree tops that caught my attention and made me pull over.

Greek Steps - final version

6' x 6' mural on canvas

Greek Steps

6" x 6" oil on masonite, NFS

This is a mini study i did yesterday morning in preparation for a large painting I'm planning on doing for a Greek restaurant. The finished painting will be 6' x 6' ! It will be a major focal point upon entering the restaurant and also an advrtisement for my future commissions (I will be able to hang a prominent plaque under the painting displaying my contact info). I'll post the finished painting when I'm done.

my latest pet portrait...

This pet portrait was just completed for a client. It measures 30" square and is based on several reference photos that were melded into one scene. The lighter colored dog is a yellow lab and the reddish colored one is a Rhodesian Ridgeback. Sadly, neither are with us anymore...thus the desire for the portrait. I hope I did them justice and am happy to contribute to honoring their memory...I'm convinced dogs are God's gift to us to remind us that we are loved unconditionally ;)

Valley Forge locals

8"x10", oil on canvas panel; $195 USD

Snapped a photo last winter in Valley Forge park after an 8" snowfall. The deer are extremely tame and used to people so you can get quite close before they start slowly moving away.

wave study

6"x8" oil on canvas panel. $125 USD

Violet Light

6"x8", oil on canvaspanel; $125 USD

Inspired by a photo I took just before sunrise at Cape Henlopen, Delaware.