My Art

Thank you for visiting my Art page! As I finish up new and interesting projects, I’ll post them here. To purchase prints, check out my Etsy Page.

The Holy Family

Pencil and Watercolor – 2017

I started this project in 2013 when I was 27 years old. I had done smaller works prior to this, but given the greatness of the subject, I wanted to put forth nothing short of my finest, and I ended up working on it for five years. Every time I put my pencil or brush to the paper, I prayed that my work might glorify God.

I took inspiration for this project from various religious, historical, and cultural sources. It was important to me that Jesus, Mary and Joseph looked Middle Eastern. The concept of including the scripture texts as part of the art work was inspired by Islamic calligraphy, and the specific texts were chosen from among the various passages read during the Catholic liturgy throughout the Christmas season. My intention when selecting the texts was evangelical. I want the reader to hear not only the Christmas story, but the entire story of salvation history. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph also contain several marks of iconography similar to those found in other artistic works throughout the ages of Christianity.

The star on Mary’s shoulder presents her as a guiding star—as one who leads poor sinners to the mercy of her son. Her halo harkens to the book of Revelation, where we read of a woman clothed with the sun and wearing a crown of 12 stars. The lilies within the stars and her blue sash are both signs of purity. Her mantle was modeled from our Lady of Guadalupe—the patroness of the Americas.

Mary’s husband, Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, is depicted as a strong and caring carpenter. The tassels on the corners of his garment were commanded by Mosaic law and show him to be a faithful Jewish man.

Jesus is shown giving us the sign of peace. In his hands are the elements of the Eucharist—his body and blood under the appearance of bread and wine. His chest contains his most sacred heart, pierced and burning with love for mankind. Radiating from it are rays of red and blue light which signify the blood and water which flowed from his side on the cross. The Christ Child’s face is designed to capture the apparent duality of his nature—that of an all-powerful God, and that of a vulnerable baby boy—that of one who demands satisfaction for our sins, and at the same time offers infinite mercy. It’s only by his cross (seen on the ground in the background) that this apparent duality is reconciled. God’s nature is one of infinite and sacrificial love. Jesus is our servant-king who calls each one of us to himself. My hope is that each person who views this image will feel that call more strongly and respond to it so that they might receive the grace needed to love the Lord our God with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their mind. Jesus came that we might have life, and have it to the fullest! Amen!

Here is a video that tells about it too:

Saint Joseph Foster Father

Pencil and Watercolor – 2021

May God be glorified in his saints and may I too give him glory with this icon and in all I do and say. “Filii Dei nutritie, Sancte Ioseph – o.p.n.” Translated from Latin to English, these words read, “Foster Father of the Son of God, Saint Joseph – pray for us.” The Latin word for foster father, nutritius, is also the word from which we get the term nurture. It’s this sense of tender love and care that I hoped to capture between Saint Joseph and the child Jesus in my painting. I chose to write the words in Latin because I wanted the image to speak to all people from every nation and tongue, and using the universal language of the Church seemed the best way to do so. In every age and in every region of Christendom, artists saw fit to depict the figures of scripture with the same ethnicity as those in their community. In the modern world where cultures and ethnicities so often overlap, it seemed fitting to me that Jesus and Joseph look middle eastern, since of course they were. Joseph’s outer garment is very colorful and decorated with the star of David to show him to be of the royal lineage from which a savior was prophesied to descend. The fringes on the mantle are to remind faithful Jews of the law. The hole in the shoulder with the crude patch is to remind us that Jesus was born into poverty. Jesus is seen as a happy two year old resting his head peacefully against the chest of his earthly father. The carpentry tools remind us that Joseph was a worker and that he was familiar with the toil and hardships of life after the fall. The organization of the tools suggest a sense of stability. Perhaps they’ve been in Egypt a year already or perhaps that very night they’ll need to flee there as refugees to escape Herod’s massacre of the innocents. Jesus is wrapped in a baby blanket decorated with lambs which remind us that he is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world by his passion and death on the cross, which is also seen on the blanket. On Joseph’s finger is a wedding ring reminding us that God saw it fit that Jesus be raised in the blessed context of marriage. The lilies are to remind us that Joseph lived out his sexuality according to God’s plan for him, committing to chastity even if it meant a unique call to celibacy. Set as a seal on Joseph’s heart and as a symbol of his love and devotion to his wife is a crowned M bearing a cross. The M is for Mary. The crown reminds us that she is the queen of heaven, and the cross reminds us of her close connection to her son’s sacrificial act of redeeming love. It’s fitting for us to meditate on how Joseph too played a key role in the story of our salvation. At a pivotal moment he believed the words of the angel, entered into the mystery, and took Mary and the unborn child into his home and lived out the rest of his life in faithful service to them. What an example! What an icon of sainthood! Like Joseph, each one of us is called to invite Jesus into our home, family, and heart, and to serve him faithfully till the end. Saint Joseph: Foster Father of the Son of God – pray for us! Guide us, protect us, and nurture us as you did the child Jesus, that we may live with you and him and all the faithful in heaven forever. Amen!

From the original sketch.

The Divine Mercy

Still In Progress

This is the image I referenced to make the sketch. It’s kind of embarrassing to use myself as a Jesus model but I’m the cheapest model I could find haha. I went the bathroom, which is the only dark room in the house during the day, and I lit a few candles on the floor to create a gentle light. I had a magnesium flame in a tin can with slit in it to create the appearance of light coming from the heart. I ran a smoke machine in the hopes that the can would create the appearance of rays of light. While messing with it, I caught my robe on fire because of the candles on the floor!

This is the tin can that had the magnesium flame in it.

There wasn’t room to stop-drop-and-roll, so I just smacked out the flame with my hand! All in the name of created good art!

My Book Cover Image

Pencil and watercolor – 2025

It feels a little pretentious making a painting of me praying so hard, but I wanted a book cover for my memoir that was as personal as the memoir itself. Yes, I’ve prayed this way many times, but not because I’m some holy person trying to impress others with my holiness, but because there events in the world that beckon me to pray in a very serious manner. This image and my book are not really supposed to be about me but rather about God. If we were were to praise and petition him for a lifetime, it would still be less than he deserves.