Laguna College of Art + Design

My narrative paintings explore a fantasy realm that I call the flooded world, loosely inspired by my home on the expansive floodplains of East Texas. Using the imagery of high water to capture a moment of disrupted reality, my paintings respond to a…

Discord in the Garden is a body of work that represents my exploration into the permeability of gender by way of transvestism or cross-dressing. The subject of this work was initially inspired by a friend of mine who had the courage to reveal to me …

I undertake the process of individuation with art making. I paint contemplative images that tell stories of personal discoveries and of the transformation of the self by examining psychological relationships between characters in my work, their envi…

As I return to the muse after a 20-year absence, I am a much older and wiser man in search of answers to age-old questions. I had often looked for those answers in the halcyon days of my youth when I was a Laguna Beach “brother of eternal love…

My paintings are about the ways in which communities of color strive to protect and heal themselves from a matrix of oppression, and how they succeed in ways that foster joy, new cultural practices, and moments of contented solitude and stillness. I…

The scenes in my surrealist paintings are derived from literature, movies, past experiences, and places that I visited, dreamt of, and imagined. I seek to paint interiors and landscapes that will evoke a sense of déjà vu in my audience…

Living in a variety of places over the past 20 years has given me a transient view on home. My oil paintings reflect this perspective; and in this series, I’m asking the viewer to picture home as an abstract concept. It’s a historically …

My thesis is meant to be an exciting adventure in which I attempt to convey to the viewer a human portrait as an enigmatic puzzle, filled with allegorical interpretations of moral, social and cultural issues. Recently I came to the conclusion that t…

A Bridge between Worlds is a series of narrative paintings that explore symbolism and allegory. They are executed in a traditional, representational style, synthesizing the classical, naturalist, symbolist, and contemporary genres of painting. The a…

Jonathon Shay, in Achilles in Vietnam, wrote that he is “deeply opposed to war, but just as deeply respectful of the soldier” (Shay1994, 206). This sentiment reflects my exact feelings and motivations for the seven paintings in my thesis…

The people that I have painted in my MFA thesis series have suffered indignities, hardship, and sometimes the loss of their individual freedoms. Due to a variety of circumstances, they found themselves in situations that were dire. Often, their live…

In the film American Psycho, Patrick Bateman stares blankly at his reflection in the mirror as he states, “There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory—I sim…

Unconditional Love of a Gentle Soul focuses on human connections. I draw inspiration from the relationships that I have with people around me, who are both unique and artistic. By choosing to dig deep and highlighting the most vulnerable everyday mo…

I create large figurative oil paintings that revolve around the concept of growth. Growth is a beautiful experience but can also bring about overwhelming uncomfortable feelings. I am interested in capturing this duality and exploring how these inter…

Another cold brisk night in the city. Time to wander around, get lost, and find something else to paint. What am I looking for again? Tim suggested keeping my thesis idea in mind—the city is modern life with all the technology, supplies, servi…

This series of oil paintings is an analysis, a summary, a diary, and a confession. For me, creating art is a process of self-knowledge and excavation. Through art, I refocus on feelings and emotions to create a connection to the world around me. Tim…

What makes a place more than the sum of its physical parts? How can I imbue a painting of that place with the emotions, memories and associations that make it deeply significant in my life? These questions form the foundation of my mixed media lands…

Time seems to slow down when I am at my barn with my senior horse or in the studio painting. It is in these moments that I can recognize the nuances present in both situations and appreciate my engagement with them. When at the barn one of the thing…