These works were displayed at the Austin Bouldering Project in September of 2023. They are all oil and graphite on wood panel with some pieces using spray paint as well. They are an extension of my little rock sketchbook series that I worked on in May of the same year.

Thoughts About Rocks:

One time at Inks Lake, I woke from camping early, before anyone else. I walked through the deserted campgrounds. A gray fox stopped to stare at me and we met eyes for a moment. The sun was just starting to warm the ground with light and lift the mist. It was one of those times to cherish, all to myself, everything felt at peace. I noticed two rocks sitting in a partial clearing and I stopped. Something about that image caught my attention, but not just the image… the morning, the fox, the mist. Everything happened just so, to stop me in my tracks. Time paused and there was so much beauty in that moment I do not know how to describe what I experienced. I thought about that moment for a long time, I tried painting it, but didn’t know what I was trying to paint. Was I trying to paint a landscape or was I trying to paint time? I thought about rocks. How does a rock experience time? What would it take to stop a rock in its tracks and notice something out of the long geological stretch of its existence? I have painted many landscapes since then and in the back of my head I was constantly thinking about light and time. In May I took a break from painting, and drew a rock everyday of the month. I used these drawings to explore ideas and techniques and sometimes just to keep my hands moving. Some of these drawings are on display here. I still wasn’t sure what I was trying to paint but there was something I wanted to say with rocks.


These paintings are all moments captured while looking at rocks. But not real moments, they are created moments, or a collage of moments. I don't know what time or day these paintings exist in, I don’t know if these rocks still exist or ever existed. I wanted to paint rocks soaked in time. I wanted to paint landscapes that contained centuries. One fleeting moment stayed with me for years, could something as large as time fit in a small painting? I have a harder time writing about what I want to paint than painting what I’m trying to say, but hopefully these paintings capture a moment in time that makes you pause.

The Light was Golden, Like Dawn or DuskThe Grass Glowed RedRain was in the DistanceThe Stars AppearLight Shooting Across the SkyMoonlit CloudsIt was like an Eternal SunsetThe Landscape Rippled in the WaterAn Unnatural Glow