Mistress of the Catacombs, book cover, 36″ x 60″ Oil on Panel, 2003, the first of the Earth and Sea series.

This past month I have been posting on social media a collection of paintings, my Earth and Sea series. These works originally had been created for various projects from commercial book covers to gallery exhibitions to personal works which did not have initially any intentional tie-in with each other except for the fact they represented narratives based along or near the coastline.

In my youth, some of the most impressionable memories were from our family vacations to the coast of Maine, specially to the Acadia National Park.  We would stay in a large tent at the Blackwoods Campground, attend Park Ranger lectures, and explore and hike along coastal areas for about two weeks time.

Undulations, gallery work, 24″ x 48″. Oil on Panel, 2012

As these were my first experiences with the ocean, I viewed the sea as bursting with dynamic, energetic movement – waves constantly crashing in on the rocky coast, tidal surges moving through small bays, and the constant threat of physically danger these energetic waves represented for someone who may slip and fall into the rocky waters.

Knowledge, personal work, 36″ x 48″. Oil on Panel, 2012

But what was most memorable for me was that this deadly coastline for mammals was absolutely TEAMING with life.  The tidal pools were packed with starfish, sea urchins, crabs, small fish, with seaweed, barnacles, and sea anemone covering everything at the sea level and lower. And so much more!

Contrary to what may seem like a barren deadly space, this meeting point of the earth and sea was a celebration of the resilience of life, animals and plants evolving to manage and embrace the difficulties of their environments, not succumb to them.

Search for Mother, gallery work, 36″ x 48″ Oil on Panel 2012

As a professional artist in the middle of my career I began to turn to narratives which resonated deep within me as a person.  Finding a middle ground between my clients assignments and a expression of who I was as a person.  Thus it was without too deliberate a choice that I began to select moments from commercial projects which placed the narratives along the coast.

Voyager- The Offering, gallery work, 36″ x 48″ Oil on Panel 2011

I am not sure which of these projects was the first to truly hit that nostalgic trigger for me, but it is fascinating that looking back in hindsight that this series has evolved to include so many works!

I present to you, the Earth and Sea series.

The Golden Rose, book cover, 48″x 36″ Oil on Panel, 2007

Venus Awakening, personal work, 30″ x 24″ Oil on Panel 2008, collection of Nick Nicolaou

Shaman’s Loss, gallery work, 36″ x 48″ Oil on Panel 2009

Mind Machine 18″ x 24″ Oil on Panel 2009

Progeny, gallery work, 36″ x 60″ Oil on Panel 2009 private collection

Orphaned, gallery work, 48″ x 36″ Oil on Panel 2010

Undulations 24″ x 48″ Oil on Panel 2010

Waiting, gallery work, 36″ x 48″ Oil on Panel 2010

Santiago – The Old Man and the Sea 36″ x 48″ Oil on Panel 2010

Scholar, book cover, 48″x 36″ Oil on Panel, 2011

Mermaid- Search for Mother Study, 20″ x 20″ Oil on Panel 2011

Jewel Collector, personal work, 24″ x 18″ Oil on Panel, 2015

Shaman – Water, private commission, 36″ x 24″ Oil on Panel, 2016

Breaker, gallery work, 24″ x 48″ Oil on Panel, 2012

Drogon and Daenerys at Slaver’s Bay, 20″ x 30″ Oil on Panel 2018, from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, private collection

Wreck of the Whydah, unfinished, 48″ x 84″, Oil on Panel

Sentinels, personal work, 36″ x 48″ Oil on Panel, 2025