About the Artist: Creative Process

My paintings are inspired by my experiences and my first paintings were created from a decade of memories of offshore fishing adventures with my good friends. I remember being on top of a large school of dolphin in clear Gulfrstream water. Peering over the side of the boat, it was easy to see what appeared to be a sure bounty of fresh mahi. All of the rods were set and the fish were all a nice serving size. The anticipation of which line would entice the first strike turned to disbelief. The dolphins chose to check out the lines while stubbornly refusing to take the bait. The image of the defiant dolphin was forever etched into my mind. The painting "Primavera" with the clenched jaw expression of the bull dolphin was inspired from this memory.

As my new career in marine art began to take off, I started to do research specific to a new painting that was on my mind. The paintings titled 'Guiding Force' and 'Full Circle' were painted after fishing for tarpon and sailfish in the Fabulous Florida Keys. The painting 'Keys to Life,' which does not feature game fish, was created in 2006 after a kayaking excursion through Key Largo's mangrove lined ocean side no motor zone channels. I was fascinated by the endless array of cris-crossed roots that form the sun streaked structure that harbor both predator and prey.

While fishing under the Channel 5 bridge to gain insight into tarpon fishing for a new painting, I caught a barracuda and a skyrocketing cero almost caught my wife. The dream of a tarpon was not to be realized on this day. However, the boat next to me caught and released a giant tarpon. 'Guiding Force' was painted after watching this hour-long fight at the Channel 5 bridge, which ended with the release of the monster-sized tarpon. The valient struggle of the tarpon also inspired me to create the 'Fight to be Free' line of T-shirts in 2004.

'Full Circle' was painted after sailfishing in Islamorada where I felt in tune with the ecology of the ocean and the pelagic circle of life. I learned to appreciate the subtle signs that point to the location of schooling game fish in the vast expance of the blue ocean water. High flying frigget birds serve as smoke signals in the sky that guide anglers to the vicinity of potential sportfishing action. Showering bait provides more clues to the presence of sailfish feeding nearby. It is the sight of the spiny fan-shaped fin slicing through the water that indicates the correct path to sailfish action has been taken.