Hi Everyone: I am back on-line after this very long absence. This year and a half has been spent on a very large project, which is why I have not blogged in a while. Please forgive me. I just completed illustrating the first and second book for this company info@familylifevalues.com. who are now also my dear friends. Take a look at the two books available. There is still a lot yet to do with it but my end of the job, is done, I think? But because of this I can now share many new paintings that were created during this time. The reason why I joined this project is because the main purpose of this book is to create an opportunity for friends and family members to talk and explore many concepts of values in you life. The ups and the downs of various personal beliefs can be discussed and hopefully this will help people of all ages to come together and guide each other to better states of mind, increasing their awareness. It is not often enough that artists have an opportunity to help people view the world differently, and maybe make a change for the better. Each of the paintings are to depict a theme of living well and being well, of personal values. I had discussed with the authors each theme and each of their concepts. The first book was relatively easy as most of the paintings that I have already done fit their needs. However, the second book needed many new paintings. This was a greater challenge as the authors had their visions of what animal would depict the theme best and the rest would be up to me. Everything from color to light to action etc, and all trying to enhance the value/moral/belief by way of visual impact. I felt the weight of the responcibility. Yikes. There were times when the ideas rolled and others when I felt I was pulling out my hair. Everybody on the team meditated on the concepts and ideas and in the end of it all I was dreaming of color and shapes matching values. Here is a difficult value but a great example. Beauty: see with the eyes of your heart. How can I see beauty in everything. Suggestion: peacock. Ok, this may seem simple and straight forward to you, but I wanted to bring to the effort a peacock but a peacock with the full feeling behind the intention. Do you know how many artist have their own examples of peacocks and some of them are quite standard. I wanted to give them something unique and inspiring, not what everyone else would do to fill in the blank. So I went to the zoos here in Ecuador, photographing and studying peacocks, rifled through the internet and then stopped short of banging my head against the wall, I finally came up with a great concept. However, I put the peacock in an area where I would see it often as I was not really happy with the final result and thought maybe it needed just that little something more. Well, I read the book "Color and Light" (a must for all artists!!!!) by James Gurney (dinotopia series) and he inspired me to make further changes. So now there is the peacock inspiring me with "Beauty, see with the eyes of your heart." Thank you James Gurney for your guidance and contribution to this painting and helping me through to see in a greater light and color. I also had a very difficult painting that was really all about the concept but also the subject. The theme: Spontinaity/act now. How do I follow my passion with playfulness and joy. The authors insisted on a domestic dog and cat as the animals of choice. I tried desperately to narrow down with them which breeds, positions etc. I was coming up with a great big nothing. This was also almost the last painting. I left it to last as to try and hope that it would just come to me. And in sorts it did. I really just had to have faith that I could do the painting even though it was not "wild life", my norm, modum oportendi. So I started with painting spontaineously and with happy electric colors and kept thinking about what spontaneous and joyous felt like. And then everything just happened and in about 5 hours it was done and I still look back at this painting and truly feel the spontaneous and joyous feeling. So all that said, you now know my reason for my absence on line and in the next several day/weeks all we be available for you to see. My camera is slowly giving up the ghost and wants to die a quiet and painless death, hence the photos are not quite up to snuff. I am going to Quito to find a professional photographer to do the work. So in the meantime you will have to endure my photos until I get a new camera and or the professional photos replace mine.