THE VISION
A portrait is never just a likeness. It’s a physical record of who someone was, built to outlast the moment it was made. I’m not trying to flatter. I’m trying to hold onto something specific enough to still mean something decades from now.
HAND-PAINTED PORTRAITS
A hand painted portrait begins with a photograph, but it doesn't end there. I develop each commission from a directed reference session and reinterpret it in oil, building it layer by layer until the likeness becomes something closer to a record. A fixed, physical account of exactly who someone was in a specific stretch of time. These aren't quick studies. I accept commissions on a limited basis, and most pieces take four to six weeks to paint once the photographs are finished. I want the result to be something you live with and pass down.
PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY
Every session I shoot is on location, built around the same handful of decisions. Where the light falls, how much of it reaches the frame, and what's left in shadow. I work primarily in low key contrast with rim light to define form, because the goal isn't a flattering photo. It's one with enough weight and specificity that it still holds up years later. I'm available for personal work, creative projects, professional use, and personal branding.
FINE ART
Alongside my portrait work, I keep an ongoing fine art practice exploring structure, movement, and symbolism across oil, watercolor, graphite, and ink. Figurative studies, equine subjects, and conceptual pieces built from personal narrative and direct observation, rather than commission or client brief.
This is the work I make without an audience in mind first. It's been shown in galleries across Washington, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Mexico, and it's the throughline connecting twenty years of painting practice to the portrait work above.
THE ARTIST
I am a portrait photographer and fine artist with more than twenty years of experience creating visual work.
My practice blends photographic precision with a contemporary painterly approach to portraiture, producing legacy-driven works that are intended to be collected, preserved, and passed down through generations.
A portrait should do more than document appearance.
It should reveal character, atmosphere, and presence.