The themes of my paintings choose themselves because I paint from my everyday life.

I’ve been working on a new series of pictures titled, A Walk in the Woods: Night & Day.

You don’t have to stretch your mind much to think of good reasons to explore nature. My new series is mixing daydreams, parallel universes, and lingering human shapes.

I like the idea of layered realities. I twist what is happening into a new energetic version of itself.

I want to show you this painting today and share the story behind it.

Lunar Light is a 12x12 inch mixed media painting. I’m having fun with the new helmet characters I’ve been working with. The motorcycle helmet seems so out of place and random in the forest landscapes.

But, it’s really not. My family and I ride four-wheelers and a dirt bike through the woods all the time. We stop a lot to poke around at things. Maybe we’re mushroom hunting, rock hunting, or for the most part just wandering around. The kids don’t pop their helmets off for every five-minute stroll. So walking through the trees wearing brightly colored helmets is the norm.

Then, to layer that reality with moody paint, white stars, silver atmospheric spray paint, and a rocky moon-like ground makes you wonder what’s happening. Is this boy an astronaut?

It’s what I’ve been doing to make the narratives of my paintings special. The series so far is filling with dark skies, deep colors, and new symbol markers.