Portal, 40″ x 60″, Oil on Panel 2017, Collection of Patrick and Jeannie Wilshire

Over the course of my career, I have had the pleasure of creating a few paintings centered around contemporary space exploration.  These steps into real science has helped open the door to further depictions of astronauts seated more firmly, but not too deeply, within science fiction.

Recent directions in painting have me exploring visuals heavily grounded with contemporary elements which a viewer may quickly recognize and have a strong understanding of and possible affinity for.  These strengths of familiarity conjoined with slight distortions of events or situations create works of art which invite the viewer to prolong their engagement and hopefully experience a deeper connection with the image.

Alan Shepard, USPS Postal Stamp Commission, 9″ x 14″ Oil on Panel 2009

Included throughout this post are a range of paintings reflecting these thoughts.  Outside of four commercial and one private commission, all of the works were generated purely for the love and celebration of our space programs and the search of the unknown.  I have a few such series in development, running along side the consistent commercial work i create, and sometimes finding their way into the commercial work as well.

There is nothing much more satisfying than having an art director contact you to commission a project based upon one of your favorite personal themes!  It is for this reason I have continued to let these specific themes evolve and their numbers grow for who knows where the next commissions will come from?  Might as well be from something I am fascinated by and am passionate about!

It is interesting to look back at this series, reflect upon its organic development, and ponder what is yet to come…every voyage begins with a single step.

That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.’ – Neil Armstrong

Prometheus, 96″ x 75″, Oil on Linen 2005

Mercury: The Messenger, 48″ x 36″, Oil on Panel 2007

United Nations Stamp Commission, Space for Humanity, overall 34″ x 108″, Oil on Panel 2007

Asteroid Mining, Playboy Magazine, 24″ x 36″ Oil on Panel 2009

Whispers, 20″ x 30″ Oil on Panel 2014, Collection of Mary and Murray Moore

Initial Resistance, 11″ x 14″ Oil on Panel 2012, Private Collection

Portal II, 24″ x 36″ Oil on Panel 2019, Collection of Malcolm Bourne

Portal: Pathways, 20″ x 16″ Oil on Panel 2016, Collection of James Hoston

Generations, 36″ x 24″ Oil on Panel 2012, Collection of Jannie Shae

Spacial Dimensions, 11″ x 14″ Oil on Panel 2018, Private Collection

Dust, 24″ x 18″ Oil on Panel 2017, Collection of Jill and Paul Frasco

5th Dimension, 14″ x 11″ Oil on Panel 2018

Summer Nights, 42″ x 32″ Oil on Panel 2019

Angle of Deflection, 14″ x 11″ Oil on Panel 2017, Private Collection

Pulsar, 14″ x 11″ Oil on Panel 2017, Private Collection

Burdens, 30″ x 22″ Oil on Panel 2018

Evidence of Others, 24″ x 20″, Oil on Panel 2019

Life Seeker, 48″ x 36″, Oil on Panel 2019