Essential Essays

Every painting has a story behind it.

Every artist has a way of seeing the world that develops long before the first brushstroke ever touches the canvas.

Over time, I realized that many of the conversations surrounding my work couldn't happen through painting alone. They needed words.

This collection brings together the essays I consider the foundation of that conversation.

If you're visiting for the first time, this is where I'd recommend beginning.

Start Here

If you'd like to understand how my work developed, begin with From Witness to Maker.

It traces the path from years spent documenting musicians and culture through photography to the decision to begin again as a contemporary abstract painter.

If you're curious about what happens behind the finished paintings, continue with The Labor Behind the Myth.

It's an essay about discipline, persistence, and the often invisible work that creative lives are built upon.

Together, those two essays provide the personal foundation for everything else you'll find here.

Understanding the Work

The next group of essays explores the ideas that continue shaping my paintings.

If you'd like to understand how I approach abstraction, where the work comes from, and why process matters, I recommend reading The Work, Understanding the Work, Texture & Process, Influences & Perspective, and Art, Music & Culture.

Those essays explain the philosophy behind the paintings rather than attempting to explain the paintings themselves.

I think that's an important distinction.

Beyond the Studio

Art doesn't exist only inside a studio.

It becomes part of homes, collections, architecture, museums, galleries, and the communities surrounding it.

If those ideas interest you, continue with Collecting Contemporary Art, Interior Design & Architecture, Collections & Exhibitions, and Austin Art Guide.

Each explores a different part of the journey a painting takes after it leaves the easel.

For Artists

If you're building your own creative practice, you may want to spend time with Artist Resources and The Business of Art.

Those essays are less about my own work and more about the lessons I've learned while building a professional creative life.

They're written in the hope that they might save someone else a few unnecessary mistakes.

A Growing Library

This collection will continue evolving.

As new essays are written, some will naturally become part of this list.

Others will lead you deeper into specific subjects that interest you most.

There isn't a right order.

Only a place to begin.

I hope these essays encourage you to spend more time looking, asking questions, and engaging with contemporary art.

If they do, then they've accomplished exactly what I hoped they would.

Welcome.

I'm glad you're here.