A watercolor painting for the Month of Love challenge theme "Secrets".

This year I will be creating art centered around my foxdragon character and exploring more the relationship between it and a little girl and more my fantastical environments. "The Book of Spells" was created for the challenge theme secrets. I loved the idea of these two friends meeting in a vast leafy jungle, hidden under layers of monstera plants.

I created this piece with spring in mind. I don't know about you but during this time of year, I really miss the sunshine. We've been getting a lot of rain recently and so I decided to paint a piece to cheer myself, and hopefully others up.

I wanted to take the time to share with you a little of my process and thinking behind my most recent painting "Dream".

As with much of my work recently it was created from my inspiration and a desire to incorporate pieces of my life while living in Asia. Many of you know that I grew up in Indonesia and also spent some time in Japan. There I found lush Japanese gardens with beautiful temples and arching bridges. A harmony between man and nature.

Today was the first day we really wished we had planned a bit better on this trip. We’ve intentionally kept this trip from becoming itinerary-driven by only planning out one day in advance. We wanted it to stay restful, and not always feel like we had to meet our next wicket. Today, though, we arrived at Saint Peter’s Basilica hoping to be able to attend Sunday Mass with the Pope only to find out a few things:

We are nearing the end of February and also the end of the month long challenge I've been participating in - the Month of Love (an art event featuring a selection of artists and a new challenge/theme each week). This week's theme is "Fantasy" and I knew from the beginning of this month that this was a week I was definitely going to participate in.

As we begin the second week of February I am also starting the second week of the Month of Love challenge; a month-long art event featuring a selection of artists and a new challenge (theme) each week. This week's theme is "Lost in Translation".

The Language of Love has many dialects. Sometimes we’re fluent and other times… it’s all Greek. 

Among many ideas the one that stood out the most on paper was this one, a little girl sharing a flower with a robot friend. I can't imagine what this giant metal automaton must be thinking but I imagine it isn't "I like you".

When I began brainstorming ideas for this first week's topic of "heroes" I kept coming back to the heroes nature and not to one specific person. In many of my ideas and word lists the theme of a hero being someone who protects the innocent, regardless of their own abilities, kept coming back to me and stuck.

I started with a quick sketch of a woman with a child fending off a dragon and went from there. Initially, the woman was going to be a knight but I decided early on that I wanted to make her more vulnerable and also a part of the larger world I have been creating (more on that later).

I've got a bit of catching up to do in regards to updating you on the paintings I've added to my portfolio recently. Currently I have one to share with some progress shots along the way.

Since getting back from a 2 month trip spent hiking and camping I thought it would be fun to share with you what is in my daypack and the art supplies I carry with me when we are out hiking for the day.

Our time here in Japan has come to a close. Before I go I wanted to write a bit about my time here and reflect on the things I’ve learned about myself.

Yesterday I closed our house up and left the key with the realtor. It was a pretty surreal experience having lived there for over 2 years. It truly became home. Most places we’ve lived I’ve left and haven’t looked back. But this place was special and I believe, in some ways, it was meant for us. Atop our windy hill, sweeping views of the valley and nightly sunsets it was the perfect place to spend our time here. I still remember the first day we saw Fuji from our office window on a clear day, massive on the horizon.