Award-Winning Paintings

All of my award-winning paintings began with a design-first mindset.

I begin with multiple croppings of images and sketches, which give me a wide field of compositional possibilities. By playing with formats, placements, and the relationships between shapes, I’m essentially auditioning ideas until the motif steps forward with unmistakable clarity. This exploration feels like the quiet, deliberate work of a mature painter.

For me, the motif is the reason I must paint a particular scene. Naming it early keeps the painting anchored. Whether I’m drawn to the lyric sweep of clouds, the strength of a mountain silhouette, or the shimmering interplay of water and reflection, my design naturally gathers itself around that central intention.

I establish the value structure early, deciding how dark the shadows will fall and how the light will move across the forms.

This deliberate structure gives my paintings their sense of unity and calm confidence. It’s the steady framework that allows color to rise, vibrate, and sing without losing harmony.

I create color studies as exploration, not miniature versions of the final painting. They’re small, intuitive journeys. In them I test temperature shifts, harmonies, and edges, letting color reveal its possibilities before I step onto a larger canvas.