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"Portrait of a Master" was accepted into the 2014 Michigan Watercolor Society Competition.  It took honors winning the "Michigan Watercolor Society Anniversary Award"   Juror for the show was internationally acclaimed artist, author and photographer, Paul Jackson.

This painting has so much meaning for me personally.    The reference came during a workshop by Alvaro Castagnet.   I had been watching him paint for a week with unashamed bravado and passion.    Watching this master work, I found myself again and again amazed at his ability to throw paint with seeming careless abandon.  But the mastery lie in a clear sense of a focal point in the middle of water chaos.  This ability to create logical form in the middle of passionate madness clearly articulates the soul of this artist.   I hope to embody these same qualities.  When Alvaro was finished with one of his last demonstrations everyone rushed to snap photos of his painting...but I stood spellbound in the wake of his workspace.   I could not take my eyes off of this scene.....the remains of a frantic, beautiful dance between the artist and the paper.   There is a ton of symbolism in this painting as well which I won't go into at this point in time but it stirs my heart in many ways.   One of the things that I love about this painting is the degree of difficulty for me to execute it.   My brain constantly struggles to accurately perceive strange vantage points...the bird's eye view in this painting was very challenging...not to mention to degree of difficulty portraying glass, wood, rubber, metal, plastic, liquids and squishy pans of wet paint.....all while keeping the spirit of Alvaro's messy workspace.    Yes,  while this is not my most popular painting...for me it is the most meaningful.    My favorite painting.   Good night my friends,  and please...paint.  Paint your heart....don't paint what you think you can successfully paint,   paint something that moves you....jump every hurdle that you think would stop you.....and see where your artistic dreams take you.    Let's paint!