This painting was juried into the 2024 Eastern Regional Exhibition of the Oil Painters of America. The exhibition was hosted by The Centerpiece Gallery in Raleigh, North Carolina during the month of October, 2024. I came across this scene on an early morning walk along the beaches of Long Beach Island, NJ. The night before there had been a summer thunderstorm. The surf was rough and the sun was bright as it glared off the fast moving water.

This painting, inspired by encounters with commercial boats that crab on the Chincoteague bay along Maryland’s eastern shore, has been selected to be included in the 2025 Art of the Sea Exhibition sponsored by the National Maritime Historical Society and the American Society of Marine Artists. The exhibition takes place between June 1st and July 1st online at seahistory.org/artofthesea2025. 122 artists submitted 334 works for jurying. 44 were accepted into the exhibition.

Absorbing the Roll has been juried into the permanent collection of the US Coast Guard and is the 2024 recipient of the prestigious George Gray Award for outstanding artistic achievement. The scene illustrates cutters Angela McShan and Seneca conducting joint search and rescue drills in the mid-Atlantic. The work was on display in NYC in the summer of 2024. First at the Salmagundi Club and then at the Federal Hall National Memorial. Currently the painting is on display at the Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, DC.

This painting was selected in a 2024 international watercolor painting competition to appear in a special edition of Artist Magazine - Splash 25: The Best of Watercolor. The boat, the Jamie Elizabeth, is a commercial crabber that works the Chincoteague bay out of Snow Hill, Maryland. I have come across her many times while boating and sailing in the area.

I received this commission through Main Street Gallery in Manasquan, NJ. It was one of two done at the same time for the same client. This image needed to remind the buyer of one of her sons who has been an avid surf fisherman since he was a child. Showing a Jersey Shore jetty and a morning wave rolling in was key. I relied on my own library of thousands of photos I have taken over the years.

This piece was done to be reproduced as signed numbered prints and made available on Long Beach Island through North End Trilogy. I used satellite photos to help accurately draw the area.

Studies of master paintings by artists including Winslow Homer, John Singer Seargent and Andrew Wyeth are a great way to learn. This is my version of Homer’s “Hauling Anchor”.

I spend a lot of time researching the areas we visit, mainly in the summer, by sketching on location and taking photographs. I like to travel light and look for interesting vantage points.