October 18, 2009: Out of dozens of 2-D artists exhibiting at the Frisco Arts Festival, I was awarded 1st place in painting, and will receive a complimentary booth fee at next year's event.
September 26, 2009: "The Beautiful Rebel" won the Mayor's Choice award at Arlington's Front Street Festival!
September 2009: I was awarded first place in Myartworkspace.com's Annual Spring Art Competition, for the painting, "The Young Explorer." You can view all the winners here.
"Can We Come In?", has won BEST OF SHOW in the Irving Art Association's "Unconditional Love" juried art show, which runs from August 31-September 25. The award ceremony was held on Sunday, September 13.
Also, I've finally got a link here for an article that was written about the 6 commissioned paintings I did for a global children's nutritional company this past spring. You can check it out here.
Check out my brand new art blog here!
June 2009: I recently painted a small portrait of some charming pets to play around with a limited palette. I was very pleased with the results, as I was working only with black, white, burnt sienna and yellow ochre.
Although I don't have a separate gallery for pet portraits, they are extremely popular and I am always happy to do paintings of your favorite furry friends.
Can we come in? 12x16 - oil on linen
April 2009: On April 23-27, I attended the Portrait Society of America's annual "Art of the Portrait" conference in Reston, VA. The conference hosted many incredible artists, some of which gave inspiring presentations, and others who did stunning portrait demonstrations, sharing their methods and techniques along the way. I was particularly honored to meet Richard Schmid, whose legendary work I had seen for the first time as a freshman in college. At the time, Schmid was showing a retrospective exhibit at the Butler Institute of Art, and when I heard his slideshow lecture,
and saw his work up close, I believe that was the moment when I truly started to take my artistic career seriously. There are so many different directions you can go when you are young, but I decided that I wanted this
more than anything. Attending "The Art of the Portrait" not only gave me a chance to learn from other artists and network with portraitists in my area, but it also re-affirmed my
passion for portrait painting, and gave me many new ideas and tools to continue forward. I came away from the experience encouraged, because the great artists who were there all knew this truth: that no matter
how long you've been painting, you never stop learning.
With Richard Schmid at his book signing for Alla Prima: Everything I Know About Painting
