Commission Stories
Original paintings created around meaningful places, personal histories and thoughtfully designed spaces.
Every commission begins differently. Some begin with a landscape that carries personal meaning. Others begin with a particular wall, architectural setting or memory. These stories offer a closer look at how individual ideas are developed into original palette-knife paintings.
Narrative Landscape Commission
Carried by the Trade Winds
48 × 72 inches · Oil on canvas · Kauaʻi-inspired private commission
A monumental narrative landscape bringing together voyaging, human presence, moving water and a deeply personal connection to place.
The commission began with conversations, historical imagery and personal reference material. Rather than reproduce a single photograph, I brought these elements together in an original composition built around movement, companionship and place.
A monumental cream sail rises above an outrigger canoe carrying figures, provisions and island fruit. Beyond it, the mountains of Kauaʻi emerge through atmospheric color, while distant sails and shifting water create a sense of movement across the Pacific.
One of the greatest artistic challenges was incorporating substantial human figures while allowing the landscape to remain dominant. Every element was painted with palette knives in thick, expressive layers of oil. Up close, the figures dissolve into abstract passages of color and texture. From across the room, they resolve into a deeply inhabited scene.
Earthy ochres, walnut browns and warm cream are balanced by mineral blue, ultramarine, turquoise and reflected color in the water. The result is a richly textured original painting that holds both the scale of the landscape and the intimacy of a personal story.
This commission opened an exciting new direction within my work: narrative landscape paintings that combine meaningful places, human presence, movement and memory while remaining unmistakably rooted in my sculptural palette-knife style.
Commission a Meaningful Place
I accept a limited number of custom oil painting commissions inspired by meaningful landscapes, journeys and personal stories. Each commission is developed collaboratively and painted entirely by hand in my California studio.