NATURE & WILDLIFE

The inspiration for Keeper of the Barn came from an unexpected encounter in Wilmington, North Carolina. A wildlife rescue organization had set up during a street fair, and one of their wildlife ambassadors was a Barn Owl named Karma. Seeing her up close gave me an opportunity to appreciate the remarkable details of a bird I rarely get to see so closely in the wild, and I knew I wanted to paint one.

I placed the owl overlooking an old barn and open field, where she seems perfectly at home—a quiet guardian watching over the landscape as evening approaches. Keeper of the Barn was selected for the 2026 North Carolina Wildlife Calendar.

This is the original painting, so there is only one. The piece is 12" × 16" and painted in Oil and Acrylic on a 1-1/2" thick gallery wrapped canvas with painted edges. The image wraps over the sides, so no framing is required unless you prefer a framed look.

Limited-edition prints are available and only 200 are being sold. Prints are roughly 7.5" × 9.5" in a white mat with an overall size of 11" × 14". They come in a clear plastic sleeve along with a certificate of authenticity. This print fits in a standard 11" × 14" frame.

There are a few reasons that I immensely enjoy this painting. Great horned owls have the look you picture when you imagine a wise old owl and I am quite happy that this painting captures that look. Secondly this painting has both a sense of energy and calmness at the same time and that feeling resonates with me. But one of my main reasons for appreciating this piece is that it is another painting that features an element hidden in plain sight. Many people initially miss the Gray Squirrel in the lower right corner. Just as in nature, unless you take the time to stop and look you may not reap all of the rewards.

This is the original painting so there is only one.  It’s painted in acrylic on a 1 1/2” thick gallery wrapped canvas and the scene continues on the edges for a very finished look. No framing is needed, but if you like frames it can also be framed.  The size of this piece is 18” x 24”.

In 2014, I spent several months studying how changing light and seasons affect a scene, painting this same bird feeder in summer, winter and autumn. The experience taught me a great deal about light and color and helped shape the way I paint today.

In this autumn version, the cool grays and blues of the Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch and Blue Jay contrast with the warm autumn light and leaves. The Nuthatch and Blue Jay also remind me of my grandmother. I first discovered Nuthatches at her home, and one year Blue Jays nested in her apple tree. Curious, I climbed up for a closer look—only to have the protective parents aggressively encourage me to leave!

This is the original painting, so there is only one. It is painted in acrylic on a 1½" gallery-wrapped canvas and measures 16" × 20". The image continues around the painted edges for a finished look, so no framing is required unless you prefer a framed presentation.

I’ve seen hundreds of strutting wild turkey toms over the years, and somehow the sight never becomes ordinary. Whether in the fields of northern Durham County, along the Blue Ridge Parkway, or in the Pennsylvania woods, watching a tom put on his spring display is always a thrill.

That excitement inspired Spring’s Grand Display, selected for the cover of the 2026 West Virginia Wildlife Calendar and also for the 2027 North Carolina Wildlife Calendar.

This one-of-a-kind original measures 16” x 20” and is painted in oil and acrylic on a 1-1/2” deep gallery-wrapped canvas with painted edges, so framing is optional.

Limited-edition prints are also available, with only 200 being produced. The approximately 7.5” x 9.5” image comes in a white 11” x 14” mat, ready for a standard frame, with a clear protective sleeve and certificate of authenticity.

This painting has been chosen to be included in the 2022 North Carolina Wildlife Calendar.

It captures a scene of a family of Red Shouldered Hawks that nested in my yard during the Spring of 2020. The mother hawk is feeding one of four babies as the father flies from the nest. Note the way that one of those babies is stretching his wings to fly like his dad. Having three siblings of my own, I see this piece as a little bit of my own family portrait. See my Blog for the complete story behind this family of red shouldered hawks.

This is the original painting so there is only one.  It’s painted in acrylic on a 1 1/2” thick gallery wrapped canvas and the scene continues on the edges for a very finished look. No framing is needed, but if you like frames it can also be framed.  The size of this piece is 36” x 36”.

There’s a story unfolding in this painting, but I’ll leave it to you to decide exactly what it is. A Northern Bobwhite has taken his place on an old fence post and is calling across the meadow, while two white-tailed bucks disappear into the distance. What caused the ruckus?

Bobwhites have always been special to me because I encounter them so infrequently in the wild. Hearing that unmistakable bob-WHITE! call—or actually catching sight of one—is a rare treat. With this painting, I wanted to capture that feeling along with the warmth and quiet mystery of an old country landscape.

This is the original painting, so there is only one. It is painted in Oil and Acrylic on a 3/4” thick museum panel. For someone who loves bobwhites, wildlife, or country landscapes, this is an opportunity to bring that moment home.

Sometimes a painting begins with the wildlife, and sometimes it begins with a place. The snowy woods in this painting are based on a photograph I took at Eno River State Park after a snowfall in 2026. I stopped to photograph the scene because I could already imagine a painting taking place there—I just didn’t know yet what animal would enter it.

That became this moment: a white-tailed buck bounding across the snowy forest and over a fallen tree, while a gray squirrel watches from a safer distance. I like the sense that we’ve arrived in the middle of something already happening. Where is he going, and why did he choose to cross here?

This is the original painting, so there is only one. It measures 18” x 24” and is painted in oil and acrylic on a 1-1/2” deep gallery wrapped canvas. The image continues around the sides, so no framing is required unless you prefer a framed look. The snowy woods began with a real winter afternoon at Eno River State Park, but the story that takes place there came from my imagination.

There can be an entire world unfolding around us when we’re focused on something else. In Whispers by the Riverside, a fisherman works the stream while a family of Downy Woodpeckers goes about its life nearby.

I enjoy putting small discoveries into some paintings—things that may not reveal themselves at first glance. This piece has one of those hidden-in-plain-sight surprises. Explore the tree and you may discover the woodpeckers aren’t its only inhabitants.

That’s part of the pleasure of being outdoors: the longer you stop and look, the more you notice.

This is the original painting, so there is only one. The 14” x 18” piece is painted in oil and acrylic on a 1-1/2” thick gallery-wrapped canvas with painted edges. No framing is required unless you prefer a framed look.

There is a time for staying and a time for moving on. In What Remains When We Rise, a flock of Canada Geese lifts above an old truck that has been left to weather quietly in the field. One is beginning a journey while the other has already reached the end of its own.

I wanted this painting to capture that sense of transition—the way nature continually moves forward while traces of what came before remain behind. The truck is slowly becoming part of the landscape, while the geese rise into an open sky. For me, there is something both beautiful and hopeful in that contrast.

The title asks the question at the heart of the painting: What remains when we rise? I think the answer can be different for everyone who sees it.

This is the original painting so there is only one. It’s painted in acrylic and oil on a 1-1/2” thick gallery wrapped canvas and the scene continues on the edges for a very finished look. No framing is needed, but if you like frames it can also be framed. The size of this piece is 24” x 30”.

My fascination with elk began more than twenty years ago in Benezette, Pennsylvania, where I first experienced the unforgettable sound of a bull elk bugling in autumn. Since then, I’ve photographed and observed elk in Yellowstone National Park—including newborn calves and one memorable bull that charged me—and closer to home in Cataloochee Valley in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Those encounters inspired Resting Elk. I wanted this painting to capture a quieter side of these magnificent animals: a bull at rest in the mountain landscape, while still conveying the size and presence that make seeing an elk in the wild so memorable.

This is the original painting, so there is only one. It is painted in oil on a 1½" gallery-wrapped canvas and measures 24" × 30". The image continues around the painted edges for a finished look, so no framing is required unless you prefer a framed presentation.

I was well into adulthood before seeing my first black bear and it happened at the place that always comes to mind when I think of bears - Shenandoah National Park. That was more than twenty years ago at the time I’m writing this. However, even today, when I want to see bears I visit Shenandoah. During a visit there in 2019 I saw a total of seven bears and some were while hiking on trails like this. My experience has been that they are gentle giants and if you don’t bother them then they don’t bother you.

This is the original painting so there is only one.  It’s painted in acrylic on a 1 1/2” thick gallery wrapped canvas and the scene continues on the edges for a very finished look. No framing is needed, but if you like frames it can also be framed.  The size of this piece is 30” x 40”.

Two trips to Yellowstone National Park have given me some remarkable opportunities to observe Bighorn Sheep, from imposing rams to ewes and young lambs. One of my favorite places to find them is Gardner Canyon between Mammoth and the North Entrance, where I’ve watched them move with surprising ease across steep, rocky terrain.

Those encounters inspired Proud Ram. I wanted to capture both the strength of a mature ram and the rugged landscape these animals navigate so effortlessly. Seeing Bighorn Sheep in the wild—especially against the dramatic terrain of Yellowstone—is an experience I won’t soon forget.

This is the original painting, so there is only one. It is painted in oil on a 1½" gallery-wrapped canvas and measures 24" × 30". The image continues around the painted edges for a finished look, so no framing is required unless you prefer a framed presentation.

Before moving to North Carolina in 2009 I didn’t know the joy of encountering Box Turtles in my own backyard. It isn’t an everyday event and I consider myself very lucky when I see them a few times each year. I know they are always near since they have a home range that is normally a diameter of just 750 feet! So if one is born in the middle of my yard they may scarcely visit my neighbors.

My encounters with them in the backyard inspired this painting and I wanted to include another rarely seen creature that lives in the same habitat so I chose the American Woodcock. Shaped like a shorebird with a bill designed to catch earthworms, this bird is also known by many other names. Some of the more memorable are Bogsucker, Mudsnipe, and Labrador Twister.

I envisioned the two meeting in this little clearing and neither much caring to see the other since they both tend to be solitary creatures.

This is the original painting so there is only one. It is painted in acrylic on a 1 1/2” thick gallery wrapped canvas and the scene continues on the edges for a very finished look. No framing is needed, but if you like frames it can also be framed.  The size of this piece is 16” x 20”.

Deer have fascinated me since childhood, and they still capture my attention today. The morning I added this painting to my website, I watched two does and a tiny fawn walk through my own yard—a sight I treasure just as much now as I did nearly 50 years ago. Autumn Woods reflects that lifelong connection, pairing a magnificent buck with a quietly resting doe among the colors of autumn.

This original is painted in acrylic on a 1½" gallery-wrapped canvas and measures 14" × 18". The image continues around the painted edges, so no framing is required.

In 2024, I spent time exploring and photographing many of the waterfalls around Brevard, North Carolina. With so many beautiful falls in that part of the state, Triple Falls was one I especially wanted to capture in paint.

It wasn’t until I began showing the finished painting that people asked whether I knew about its Hollywood connection. I didn’t! Triple Falls and DuPont State Recreational Forest were used as filming locations for the 2012 movie The Hunger Games.

I love that I was drawn to this scene simply for its natural beauty, only to discover afterward that millions of moviegoers had seen this same remarkable landscape.

This is the original painting, so there is only one. The 14" × 18" piece is painted in oil and acrylic on a 1½" gallery-wrapped canvas with painted edges. No framing is required unless you prefer a framed look.

This scene was inspired by a little stream that runs through my front yard. It is a fantastic feature of the property and it attracts all sorts of wildlife. Birds particularly love this section that I have painted since it is shallow enough to splash and take a bath. The challenge I created for myself in this painting was the water. There are places where you can see through to the bottom, places with very light reflections and others with strong reflections. Because of the interesting water, you may not at first notice that there are four birds depicted. There are two American Goldfinches and two American Redstarts. All of these elements combine to create lots of interest on top of its three dimensional construction.

This is the original painting so there is only one.  It’s painted in acrylic on six permanently attached and overlapping gallery wrapped canvases with painted edges to create a three dimensional effect.  The overall thickness of the overlapping canvases is 3”.   No framing is needed.   The size of this piece is approximately 22” x 30”.