Mural for St. Mary's Hospital at Bon Secours

 

Live Wedding Painting - Afton, VA

 This was probably one of the most beautiful landscape-style live wedding paintings I have ever had the opportunity to complete. I love a wedding at a winery, and this one was simply divine. The sunset, changing of the leaves, the mountains in the background...it was truly beautiful. 

Post Wedding Painting - Samantha Waugh

 This is tagged under Live Wedding Painting, but it was a studio painting post wedding.

Garret & Elizabeth - Live Wedding Painting

 Elizabeth and Garrett - Live Wedding Painting at the Historic Tuckahoe - the childhood home of Thomas Jefferson.

Main Street Station at Christmas prints

 

I decided to make some digital alterations to the painting. These can be ordered at my etsy store with either The Grinch or Santa's sleigh.
5x7 prints are $15
8x10 prints are $20
11x14 prints are $25
Just follow the link below. This time of year, processing can take slightly longer, but if ordered by Dec. 15, you're guaranteed to have it by Christmas...unless the post office is overwhelmed.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1615345665/main-street-station-at-night-fine-art

Main Street Station at Night

 Main Street Station at Night

Oil
18x24
$864

Painted with permission from an original photograph by Richmond photographer Brian Johnson

Derek & Briana - Live Wedding Painting

 

Fall live wedding painting

 I love live wedding/event painting in the fall. It never gets old.

VMFA Fellowship

This is the first time I have ever applied for a fellowship anywhere. Earlier this year I had lunch with Dr. Betty Crutcher and Dr. Michael Taylor, and he strongly encouraged me to apply. So...I did. Keeping my fingers crossed for the outcome. But I won't know until next February. 

Richmond Public Library Art Show

 This Friday, from 6-8 PM I will be at the Richmond Public Library showcasing my presidential portraits. The portraits will be on display for the month of December.

Bride & Groom touches

 Last weekend I was at Veritas Vineyards in Afton, VA (right outside of Charlottesville) and one of my favorite things when doing a live wedding painting is when the bride and groom come up to the painting and they put their little touches on the canvas. At every wedding, whether it's in Richmond, Denver, or wherever else someone wants a live wedding painting, the happiness is unexplainable. I love it!

Live Wedding Painting at Alturia Farms in Manquin, VA

 

VCU Family Weekend Paint Party

 This was the first of 3 events for VCU's Family Weekend event. Throughout the Family Day weekend event, families of students are invited to participate in fun activities, whether it's ghost tours, paint parties, pep rallies, white water rafting, city tours, and a whole lot more. I was given the opportunity to put do 3 events - a paint party for 150 people on Friday, and two more on Saturday (both with 150 painters). This is a short video I put together of the event on Friday.

Portrait WIP

 This commission came completely by accident. I was doing a painting of a woman and her husband and she had a small tattoo on her leg. This lady saw it and immediately reached out, "have you ever done a nude but make the focus on the tattoos?" I've painted plenty of nudes, but never one that focused so much attention on the tattoos. We did some live sketches and her cat, Stu, popped in and kept looking over at me, and then over at her. So I painted him in. This is a progress pic of the painting. I'm looking forward to seeing the end result. I love the way that tattoos work with a person's figure and their overall image. The body is a canvas, and I'm excited to paint something a little different than what I usually do.  

Joseph & Jaelyn Live Wedding Painting

 

Camera to Canvas auction

Lynanne and I had an absolutely phenomenal time last night at the Camera to Canvas auction at The Boathouse at Rockett's Landing. All 4 of my bird paintings were auctioned off to raise money for conservation of the James River. This comes one day after the Art For The Journey auction, where 2 of 4 original paintings sold. Having Lynanne in my corner, pushing me and encouraging me has put me into some amazing situations. Last week, I was given the opportunity to sit down with the curator of the VMFA, Dr. Taylor and go over a strategy for the VMFA to (at some point) own some of my work. It's because of this woman here - she's strong, tough, and quite possibly the best thing that has ever happened to me. 

Photorealistic Drawing of the CSX Train in Richmond, VA

 

Pencil Drawing of the CSX Train going over the James River Bridge

Black & White pencil drawing from an original photo by @billdraperphotography 

This was originally meant for the Camera to Canvas Fundraiser this upcoming Thursday, but halfway through, I realized I would not have time to finish. The drawing is 18x24 and is currently being framed, and will be available for purchase within the next few weeks (frame molding is on backorder).

The price for this piece is $1900. Generally I donate 10% to the Innocence Project, but because this was specifically for conservation of the James River, I feel it's only right to donate to them.

 

Unfortunately...

 Unfortunately for me, my white Ford Escape has come to an end. On Friday evening, a man decided to try and beat the light...he lost, and so did I. I slammed into him, spun his car around and then crashed into the guardrail. The witnesses on the scene, the two men in the Mercedes and the guy in the Steak and Seafood Direct truck (who, despite being white, kept calling me 'whiteboy') were so kind; neither stuck around to give details because both "didn't want to get involved." How was your weekend?

Untitled Barn in Culpeper, VA

I took some creative liberties with this one (removing the cows, changing the colors of the clouds, and a few other odds and ends.) The original photo is by a wonderful photographer named Judith Crouse Muffley, who gave me permission to paint it. The original is oil, and will be on display at Crossroads Art Center in September. 

The River Close To Home painting and reference photo

The top is the painting, and the bottom is the reference photo I used. This particular view is out in Callaway near A&A Market. I took some creative liberties by opening up the field, adding more blue to the water, a variety of greens, and a few other things. Like most of my paintings, I hid Lynanne's name in it. If you'd like prints, follow the etsy link: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1535961501/the-river-close-to-home-canvas-print
 

Wedding at Main Street Station

 

The Clocktower

 The original has sold, but if you'd like a print, feel free to click on my Etsy page and select the size you're interested in.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1527129333/the-clocktower-fine-art-print-richmond

The Mill - Live Wedding Painting

 

Putting in the final touches...

 This beautiful painting is in its final stages. I will most likely pull back on some of the brightness of the leaves (even though they were a massive clump of bright leaves, it's just too much) and add more sky. There's some slight detail left to do on the water (reflections/highlights) but this gorgeous painting is just about finished.