Case Studies

The Challenge

The State of Ohio, through the Ohio Arts Council, sought a major painting honoring Ohio's extraordinary place in America's space program. The challenge was to bring several legendary figures, missions, machines, and historical moments together in one coherent visual story.

The Original Concept

I developed three concepts. The strongest organized the story around the people, places, missions, and equipment of the early space program. Rather than creating a simple group portrait, the composition was designed so viewers could immediately understand the larger story.

The Collaborative Process

Working through Charlie Moses of the Ohio Arts Council, the concept was shared with the astronauts' families. Their reactions helped shape important decisions, including how individual astronauts and difficult historical events would be represented.

The Symbolism

The painting traces a journey from Earth toward the Moon. Gene Kranz represents the enormous human effort on the ground, while the astronauts rise through the composition in historical sequence — John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, and Judith Resnik — creating a visual trajectory through the formative years of America's space adventure.

The Finished Solution

The result was a monumental 12-foot-wide by 9-foot painting that now hangs in the Rotunda of the Ohio Statehouse. It is one of the select major paintings occupying that ceremonial space and serves as a permanent visual record of Ohio's contribution to space exploration.

The Challenge

A young woman's best friend commissioned a portrait of Chloe, who had died by suicide, as a gift for Chloe's parents. The challenge was to create something deeply personal without allowing the tragedy of her death to overwhelm the life being remembered.

The Original Concept

I had very limited photographic reference, so the portrait had to be built through conversation and imagination. An interview with her best friend helped me understand who Chloe was, what she loved, and how she should be remembered. The goal became not merely to reproduce a photograph, but to humanize her and show her in her best light.

The Collaborative Process

The collaboration was primarily with Chloe's best friend, whose memories provided the emotional and biographical foundation for the painting.

The Symbolism

Chloe is shown informally on a North Carolina beach she loved, with her dog beside her. The beach, the dog, her relaxed clothing, warm evening light, distant sailboat, and open sky create an image centered on the things that mattered to her and the person she was.

The Finished Solution

The finished painting became a quiet, dignified memorial — an attempt to convey through paint a truth about Chloe that a single photograph could not fully contain, and to give her parents an image of their daughter meant to be lived with and treasured.