This oil painting launches a new series I'm working on depicting people of the American heartland. I'll be exploring many emotions by depicting character studies of everyday people as they live their lives and dream their dreams throughout our nation's landscape. My main goal is to capture the inner soul of real people and paint a moment in time that encapsulates an emotional beat in their life. Painters like Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper inspired me to embark on this journey of discovery in my own unique way.
This series will cover a wide spectrum of people ranging from happy to sad and from lovely to hard weathered. The common denominator will be the truth in what I see—taken as it comes. In my first painting of this series, "Storm Clouds," I took the opportunity to delve into a man's life at a moment when he is dealing with deep feelings and bitter choices.
We have all been cheated. We have all experienced loss. It is what we do in the aftermath that set's the course of our individual life and those around us. "Storm Clouds" captures this inner struggle as it is set against the backdrop of the American West.


