“Out of the Light” & “Out of the Dark” are the last two pieces we have to talk about in the transformation series. I chose to discuss these paintings together because the idea behind them becomes much more paramount when weighing each option. Behind the two paintings I also incorporated other series that I have worked on allowing my work to try and flow freely between the different ideas I try and portray in my art. There are fairly subtle hints of Opposing Forces, and if you look closely you will see the Poetic Series at work too. (If you look closely into the collage you will hopefully find some methods and reasoning’s behind how I placed different words and phrases.)

I do not want to give too much away on these pieces because they were made for each observer to find their own ideas and voice within the two. Also, I am positive that each time you look at the each painting you will come away with something new you may have missed on your first observation. I will tell you though; that there is a choice to make as you look at each piece separately and together. And the choices could change or reveal something totally different depending on whether or not you look at them as one or choose to look at them separately.

​I am always willing to discuss more and have insightful conversations so please let me hear from you!

​"Molting" is the second piece I created in the Transformation Series. With this painting I really envisioned creating an idea of rebirth. I strove to use the first face as an idea of shedding off your old skin/perceptions/sins/ect.. I have the small face being born looking up to all the new possibilities this new world has to offer. It looks as if it is exhaling a huge breathe from his mouth. I tried to use this as a symbol of new beginnings. Once you shed off your old skin, you can let go of all the negative energy from your previous life, too begin anew. The blood washes you clean and has a religious context with the notion of Christ’s blood cleansing your sins and making you whole. I liked the idea of using very earthy colors because we all become dust in the end but what we do while we are alive is up to us. It is up to us to fill in the colors of our lives and we should always know that it is never too late to start again. Yet to do that it takes forgiveness not just from the people that surround and love us but even more importantly we need to forgive ourselves. We all make mistakes and live with burdens and regrets but we should never give up. We cannot let our demons win out and define who we are. We were made to be resilient, compassionate and strong. So in that strength we can find new life to hopefully live a better one than the first. 

“The Beginning”

This series has so many different meanings to me. I created it while going through a very pivotal point in my life and I believe it can reflect so many different emotions. It is actually based off of a drawing that one of my best friends drew. I remember going to see Adam in Colorado and on his fridge he had this pencil drawing up, and it just spoke to me. I asked him if it was ok if I took a picture of the drawing and at some point make a painting from it. He obviously was more than happy for me to do it; and so the story begins.

I finally started on the painting about a year and a half after that encounter. And coincidently enough it just so happened it was when I moved to Hawaii to roommate with the same friend. Both Adam and I had decided to uproot our lives and go to Hawaii to see where life would take us.
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I was using this move to not only do some much needed soul searching but also in an attempt to take away every distraction in order to focus on my art. While working on this series I started to come to see my voice as a painter and came to really embrace who and what I wanted to be as an artist. As we go through the paintings that incorporate this series I hope you will see the depth of each of piece and also the larger story entwined within them all. As with many of my series I feel that I have only touched the surface and I hope that I can continue the tale. 

"The Beginning" is the very first painting in the series and it is also the beginning to the journey of transformation. As we come to talk about the others in the following weeks you will hopefully come to understand my beginning thought process on this piece and how it evolved into so much more. I believe the transformation series is ever changing just like we ourselves are. 

"Will the Red Moon Arise" is my second painting and poem about my thoughts on a warriors spirit. This poem is also about the trials and tribulations of everyday life. I wanted to make this poem ambiguous so that people could relate it to their own lives. I chose the Samurai to represent my warrior in this painting for the ideology and code the Samurai lived by. I find that the Samurai represented the best of a warriors spirit in fighting for honor and devotion. Share with me your thoughts on the subject!

Click "read more" to read the full poem. 

(CLIMB)
​Heavily she floated back to the night 
Faintly abandoning her light
The heavens ever so dark again
As silence rains down a sunless sky
Void

Bleak is the idea of life without a tempest
So I will climb
Sift through the heavens
And tear through the darkness
To wage a fire within her soul
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​Solace

Shadows caress your bosom,
Gliding gauging gravitating, 
Sliding over your shoulders, 
Slightly savoring your structure, 

Darkness cascading down your spine, Descending draping drifting, 

Flowing softly around your hips, 
Falling freely flattering your form, 

A dimness swiftly clutching your toes, 
Coursing creating clenching, 

Engulfing the glow eradicating all essence, Existence extinguished as emptiness is embraced