CD Released

It was very cool to open my mail yesterday and be staring at the new CD from WAR STORIES. My painting "Coyote" works great as a graphic throughout the cover and on the CD itself where the designer reversed the smaller coyote image with the yellow desert background. It looks awesome and not to mention sounds sweet. Check out the band at www.warstoriesmusic.com

CD available through iTunes and music video can be seen on You Tube.

Weiss Commission: Finishing Up

"Asana", 12x12" on birch panel.
I dulled the turquoise down by glazing over with its complementary color of yellow-orange. This also helped harmonize it with the background. Around the edge of the circle on the inside is a few handwritten quotes from "Meditations from the Mat." which touch upon the acts of a yoga practice.

"Prana", 12x12" on birch panel.
The Om symbols are in a flourished sanskrit font and really show up well against the red violet color. The violet is much more subtle in person and is transparent allowing the underneath to bubble up through the layers.



The two panels have exposed wood sides to add a natural element to the finished piece. I was pleasantly surprised this morning over my cup of tea as the rising sun hit the paintings on the fireplace mantel, the gold half circle behind the grapevine was glowing and blazing. I LOVE it! I wish they could stay here for another week. I want to see what else they can do.


I did loose one of the three panels. I tried a different pattern element in a green color that turned out to be quite nasty. I tried to erase/sand and go over the damage, but ended up with mud and loosing the transparency of layers. So it will be transformed into something else at a later date.

I'm pleased with the outcome of these paintings and can't wait to give them to Cathy and Michael today. I am interested to see which one they pick.


Prana is Sanskrit for "Breath" or Life-force energy. Comparable to the Chinese notion of Qi.

Asana is a body position, typically associated with the practice of Yoga, intended primarily to restore and maintain a practitioner's well-being, improve the body's flexibility and vitality, and promote the ability to remain in seated meditation for extended periods.

Weiss Commission: Painting the Foreground.

I've added some more design elements. Searching out Tibetan, Yoga and Indian symbols, patterns, text and imagery.

I chose the circular shape in the composition to echo the Mandalas*.

*The word "mandala" is from the classical Indian language of Sanskrit. Loosely translated to mean "circle," a mandala is far more than a simple shape. It represents wholeness, and can be seen as a model for the organizational structure of life itself--a cosmic diagram that reminds us of our relation to the infinite, the world that extends both beyond and within our bodies and minds.