Sensing what you see

Documenting Textures

Candy maker

Photographing Sharjah's Port

Solitude

Chatting with Students

Exploring Old Sharjah

Oldest Cafe in Sharjah

Relaxing with a candy maker at the Souk

Photographing the Zodiac Dome

Iranian Architectural Influence in Old Sharjah

Museum of Islamic Civilization

What is it about travel that makes you take a journey into yourself? How to keep that spirit with you when you return home. To see, to document your own home with new eyes. To keep a record of things that pull you in. I took my students to different parts of their city and asked them to chronicle the textures and shapes as if they had never seen them before. To observe patterns and focus on the details and edges of interesting elements that we plan to incorporate into their work digitally. Watching them taught me so much. Wanted to bring you along as we walked the old part of Sharjah where fishermen lived and originally built their houses out of coral in the way we would use stones. We journeyed to an old Souk [market] visiting candy makers.  Leaving myself behind I discover new things.

Wander Often-Wonder Always.

Leaving the California coastline behind

After 17 hours flying over the North Pole I'm suddenly part of another world.

Color and Form Juxtapositions

Amazing Sharjah World Book Fair 

Getting lost in the rich architecture and geometry

One of many beautiful mosques of Sharjah

Through the windows

Decorative Water Fountain

Detail of old souk

Islamic Sunset

Along the Lagoon

Teaching a workshop to local artists

Drawing Demonstration

Exchanging Ideas

Road map to the solution

Thinking with Chalk

Along the road

I'll never get over the sheer magic of getting on an airplane and suddenly arriving in an exotic place. The unfamiliarity of it all just ignites your senses in new ways. Tuning into those landscapes, the allure of turning the corner and exploring with your eyes, the textures and sounds of a fountain, of children playing in another language.

Exploring the street art of San Francisco

Spent several amazing days in San Francisco documenting street art.

This beautiful mural in the Mission District beckoned me to return to the studio. I painted a series of Saint portraits for Loyola Press, followed by a personal piece fueled by the textures of the city.

Pumpkin Carving 2013

Santiago Celebrando el Día de los Muertos

Nature Watch

Keep close to nature's heart ...and break clear away, once in awhile, climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. -John Muir

I know you haven't heard from me in awhile as I've been spending some much needed time in artistic exile. I've got sketches for two new children's books on my drawing table and boards sanded and ready to paint. I've just completed this poster and web banner for the USDA Nature Watch Program of the United States Forest Service. My artwork was designed to appeal to kids by blending touches of realism with a child's imagination. Now that our parks are again open it seemed the right time to reflect on these national treasures -home to amazing creatures.  Breathtaking places that are an authentic source of pride. In the mid 1800's a group of visionary thinkers believed these treasures could rival the great castles and cathedrals of Europe. One of those idealists was the naturalist John Muir whose poetic voice, like the cry of a falcon reminded us that wild places were essential for the soul.  

He wisely reflected that "The power of imagination makes us infinite".