"Self Portrait"
Photography
2022
Tried something a little different while playing with a new camera. Ended up being used for marketting and openning a line of consumer prints.

Art needs to effect the viewer in some way. Sometimes is serious, or a message that needs to be told, and sometimes it just taps into the inner child and brings back fond memories we often leave behind. Odds are, a smile was found for this very reason.
"Crumbling"
8" x 10", Graphite on Paper
2012
Featured on "Emerging Artist Wellness" in 2021.

A past-friend asked me to draw her and encouraged me to capture her in the image. As she suffered from mental health illness and struggled to find her way through failures and successes, this is what I came up with. Our external image falls away through tears and pain only to expose who we are. It is our stone-like strength deep within that we find in the hardest of times.

Sometimes, others cannot see past a strong facade to see what is really there. It is easy to be pushed away by unusual sub-cultures and 'strange' appearances. Seeing the true individual and who they are, takes caring about details other will miss. Follow the path on her cheeks and you will find their source.
"Dove in the Darkness"
8.5" x 11", Graphite and Charcoal on Paper
2010
Featured on "Emerging Artist Wellness" in 2021.

While hospitalized for a third time, I picked up a pencil and this is what came out after 10+ years of not drawing. It started as a something to fill my time and became 2 individuals who helped me through dark times when I needed them the most.
"Nemo A534"
Life sized, Latex on Statue --- 2013
I was asked to repaint this statue by a historian on Lackland AFB I worked with prior to retiring. It had been sitting in the Texas sun for 20+ years and was completely faded to near white. I restored the paint with custom mixes of Latex paint hoping it would last longer as it was designed for houses.

The statue was moved to the US Air Force Security Forces museum on Lackland AFB, San Antonio, Texas, USA after completion. They created an complete exhibit for 'Nemo' to appear as a standard War Dog kennel from the Vietnam Era. This included a covered shelter to keep the sun from fading the statue.

It was a massive honor to restore this hero of Air Force past. Later I was thanked personnally by a society dedicated to remembering war dogs used in by the US Air Force. A couple years after the exhibit was completed, I was told the new base commander's wife drove by on an extremely hot day (above 100f/37c) and called the Security Forces to complain that a working dog had been left outside and wanted it taken care of immeditately. I can think of no greater compliment.