Animals & Wildlife

This painting was done from a photo a friend of mine had taken. Even though they can be a nuisance, chipmunks are just so very cute! 

I've always loved riding carousels as a child as they are so magical. I decided to do a series of four different carousel horses from my imagination as a project for my students. many of them have done their own versions and enjoyed the process!

Bold brushstrokes and color reflect the beautiful breed of this draft horse from  Lake Farmpark in Kirtland, Ohio.

This palomino beauty was a therapy horse in southern Calif. My sister volunteered there & sent me a photo of him, so I felt compelled to capture the gracefulness of this gorgeous animal.

This was a compilation of the Heavy Horse Hitch team of draft horses at Lake Farmpark in Kirtland Ohio. I've always been in awe of these magnificent horses!

This was 1st in a series of small 6"x6" paintings I did from random drawings in my sketchbook. I suppose I have a fascination with crown wearing creatures, so I decided to do a series depicting different species in imaginative settings.  

This is the 2nd painting from the crown series. A majestic lion who perhaps has taken a much needed break from his kingly duties and made the decision to get away from it all. Maybe he's sailing to a far away land dreaming of adventures to come. A few stow aways snuck aboard as well!

I was feeling artistically frustrated one day, so I put on some fast music & started to make random markings in my sketchpad. One thing led to another and I was soon out of my "slump!" It was very freeing to just let my imagination go. A glorified doodle perhaps!?

This piece is from a photo I took while at the Cleveland Zoo. I wanted to practice more with scratchboard, so I thought that elephants would be the perfect start, with their rough textured hides. A very fun but unforgiving medium to work with. 

  I painted this piece for an insect & arachnid inspired art show. It's an enjoyable design challenge for each insect to flow into one another while keeping the images crisp & clean.