First visit to Israel

I landed last night in Tel Aviv in my first trip to Israel. Except for the use of Hebrew everywhere, the city pretty much resembled many other urban European towns I've visited. There weren't as many people walking about as I would have expected for a Saturday night. We went to a very nice restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean. My seafood casserole was delicious. The weather here is very mild--about 70 degrees with little humidity and a slight breeze.

Tomorrow, I head out to for a visit of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, which I think will be neat considering the time of year. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post them here.

Shalom.

My paintings

As some of you may know, I received my degree in Studio Art (and Political Science) at Stanford. I studied under Professor Frank Lobdell--a name you may recognize if you're familiar with the Bay Area Abstract Expressionist movement in the 1950's. Professor Lobdell was a fantastic instructor whose words and lessons I still remember today.

While my painting style is far from abstract, I do strive to capture a certain "truth" of my subject matter. I would say my sensibilities lie more with drawing and composition than with light and its effects. I have sold some of my paintings so what is displayed here is what's left of what I could find. Their resolution here is not terrific but I think you can get a sense of my visual style and sensibilities. All work is oil on canvas unless otherwise noted.

This first painting here is one from Santorini, Greece. It measures about 4'x3'.



This next painting stands over 7 feet tall in real life. The imagery was a composition of various studies and photographs I took from around the Napa valley.



Here's a self portrait. It stands about 5' tall.



Here's a close-up.



I also do portaits. Here's one of my father-in-law's parents. Pastel on paper. Approximately 3'x2'.



Here's a close-up.



Here's another portrait I did for a client. It was a Father's Day gift. I hope she liked it.



This image captures an 80% complete pastel portrait of my sister and brother-in-law.



This is a still-life study I did back in college. I wanted to see if I could capture the different textures, shapes, and flows of various objects and materials.