“Couple” 2 versions
Oil/panel
30 x 24” approximate
2017
I own a spa that is just for couples. One day one of my staff said to me, “why don’t you do some paintings of couples for the spa?” So I did. Right away I surfed the internet and found some cute stock photos of couples embracing.
And went to work. These two paintings are the result.
In the future I want to invite couples to volunteer to model for me so I can do a few more. Stand by for some additions to this section.


“Person with Kitten” old and new versions
Oil/panel
36 x 24”
2017 and 1993
I painted the first version of this painting right after painting 3 very large pieces all at once. They were the three Tarot Card paintings that were each 12 x 8’. I remember distinctly feeling how easy it was to create this piece. It was the painting equivalent of walking home after running around the football field with ankle weights. The painting just fell out of my brush effortlessly.
It was inspired by a photo in a magazine of a homeless teenager. It was not evident if it was a boy or a girl nor did it matter to me. I loved the painting very much but sold it shortly after I painted it. I liked the gritty way I painted it and the tough black and yellow pallet. Those qualities seemed perfectly suited to the subject of a homeless person adoring a kitten.
Later, when I started painting again after many years in 2017 I wanted to revisit it. Unfortunately I could not locate the woman who bought it. So, I found a photo of the original painting and created a second version inspired by the first one.
I put both paintings below so you could enjoy them both either separately or as something to compare.


“Woman with Kitten” Three versions
Oil on panel
Various sizes
2017
These three paintings were all created in a little burst of painting right after I got my real estate license. I had not done any painting for a few years as I focused my energy on recovering from debt and building my spa business. The real estate license was to be my ticket to assisting Chinese investors purchase real estate here in the USA.
The subject of a person tenderly holding an animal has always appealed to me on several layers. For one thing, it gives me an opportunity to paint people and animals. On another level, though, it suggests relationships between the human subject and their own internal life in a way that even being present with another person in the painting can not necessarily convey.
These three pieces were each created with a different kind of subject matter. The gray one was inspired by a photo I found on the internet. It’s impersonal nature yet lively more realistic Cat is what appealed to me. The woman wearing the hat was created without a model or photo but I would refer to a live model and photos of a friend from time to time. The one with the woman in a blue dress was done entirely from imagination with no reference to subject matter or models. To me this third one is the most powerful, even heart wrenching one.
Each has their own qualities. My favorite one to look at is the one with the woman wearing a hat. But the most popular is the soft gray one. Not surprising but a little disappointing.




This is a double throwback. When I was a teenager I discovered a love for observing nature. One of the ways I enjoyed that was to paint birds in a very detailed manner. Many years later, in my 30’s, that love of observing nature evolved into observing naked women. And one way to ennoble that ancient custom some called lechery was to make art while doing it. During that period my basic instincts merged with some genuine moments of higher level thinking and I managed to rise above my prurient inclinations long enough to make some beautiful contributions to the world of art and maybe even to our understanding of how to see… not just look.
Well, many years later in my mid 50’s, immediately after passing my real estate broker’s exam I recoiled from the prospect of moving further from my true passion and pumped out a small body of work for the first time in 5 years. My first inclination was to reach back to my painting roots and re-visit some of my favorite moments from my past. That brief period in 1995-96 was on one of them. Like several other periods, I wish I had done more works in that way so this was a chance to make up for that lack… a little.
Of course it’s not the same. Nor was it my intention to make it “the same.” For one thing, the red squares would never have become birds back then. And more importantly, I would not have fussed over the details of the anatomy so much resulting in a more finished look in this piece. No, for better or worse, back then it was more about the energy of the moment than the polish of a finished piece.
This piece, and others that came out during that little burst of activity were at least as much about “memory” as about energy. But both pieces reveal my continued and persistent interest in sculptural form which I hope will result in more sculpture before I’m too old to do it.
“Olivia”
Oil/panel
36 x 24”
2014
Olivia is the daughter of my friend Kaili who also collects my work.
She has also bought work from me at key moments when I needed funds to keep going. At one point she commissioned a painting of her daughter both because she wanted a painting of her but also to help me recover from a devastating economic situation when the recession that began in 2009 was really beginning to bite.
I wanted to reach back into my skill set as a painter to give Kaili a work that was both realistic and psychologically penetrating. Furthermore, I wanted to use it as an opportunity to express some of my fondness for the work of a 19th century French painter named Ingre.
I worked on this piece for 2 years. Olivia sat for me just twice but I was able to get the basic idea for the painting down quickly on the first visit. Then, on her second visit she let me take pictures of her. I used those photos to finish the painting. I have always felt that my understanding of Ingre’s work helped me from delivering the kind of two dimensional and psychologically flat painting that almost always results from working from photos.


Oil/Panel
48” x 32”
2012




Oil/Panel
30” x 20”
2012

“Jesus”
Oil/panel
48 x24”
2012
I was asked to do a painting of Jesus by the owner of a local store that sells religious supplies and over the years had sold 6 or 7 paintings of Mother Theresa that I created for them.
The idea for the painting was to compress his baptism, his death and his resurrection into one image without it being a collage or cubist fractured image. Instead, I wanted a kind of elegant visual pun where one thing could be seen as any of several things.
Jesus, of course, was baptized in water as an adult. So he would have looked more or less the same as when he was crucified. I also wanted to create an ethereal sensibility which it was hoped would evoke the sense of his resurrected person.
The overall affect is cute and even a little sweet. However, it contains none of the gravitas and grit that I feel is part of my understanding of these powerful real life moments of transformation, whether or not one believes in either the idea of Jesus or the historical Jesus.
So, I never took the painting to the store for sale. My kids, however, took a real liking to the painting. My son even borrowed it to put it in his bedroom and then his first apartment. I only got it back when he sold or gave away all his stuff so that he could travel the world.
Ballerina Femme Fatale
Oil/ Panel
48″ x 32″
2015
This was a commission piece that has a very strange back story.
One day I was approached by a man who looked to be in his late sixties about doing a painting of his daughter. I told him that I do in fact do commissioned work but that I either work from life or from my own photographs. After discussing the concept a bit and agreeing on a price he made arrangements to being his daughter to the studio for a photo session. Based on his age I expected a woman of about 30. I encouraged them to bring more than one change of clothes and some props. The commission was not for a nude.
They arrived and his daughter was about 20… at most. She very quickly stripped down to her underwear and proceeded to “model” for me in poses and positions that seemed like typical choreographed boudoir pictures. Not what I expected. She also brought a ballerina outfit, plastic crown and many other theatrical props including a plastic human heart.
At one point It became clear this was not his daughter. Among other clues was the fact that she spoke very little English. At some point I decided to paint the heart red and hold it up as a trophy. And there was my painting.
This was back in the days when pictures were still shot with film so I didn’t really know what I had until a few days later when the film was developed. I asked my client to come see the film. He did and we both agreed on the same “scene” for the painting… the one of her in the ballerina dress holding up the heart. He paid the deposit which was 50% down and off he went.
I started the painting and when it got to the stage you see it here I decided it was time to have him come see the painting and could he please bring his daughter so that I could see her for a bit. He never came. He never even returned my calls. I decided after a few years to complete the painting according to the original concept but decided it looked great just as it is.
Ever since then it has always been many people’s favorites. I think, even without the ripped out heart of a man, this piece captures the essence of the femme fatale, a woman who uses the power of her beauty to capture and destroy men. And who doesn’t want to taste that power and seduction for just a few moments in the relative safety of being on opposing sides of a painting.

“Jo’s Back: Second Version”
Oil on panel
6’ x 4’
2012
This painting was inspired by black and white photos I took of Jo back in 1996. The first version was painted in 2005 and was the same size and format. The painting was subsequently stolen by my art dealer, Roland Crane and it’s location remains unknown. Any information leading to the recovery of this painting would both be appreciated and rewarded financially.
I painted the second version to essentially overcome theft with creativity. I felt this painting is at least as good as the first version, if not better. The second version employs new techniques that I had not yet incorporated in the first version. There are also fine details in the anatomy that are arguably more accurate making this painting a bit sharper. Mostly, however, it is the use of crimson in the edges of the figure set against the orange of the background along with contrasting aquamarine blue that makes this piece unique and more original than the first version. I also used a large stiff house painting brush to essentially etch the background paint in the direction of the curves of the fabric which was done to pick up overhead lighting and effectively make the background glisten. These techniques are not used in the first version.


“Jack”
Oil/panel
6 x 4’
2012
Jack was the name we gave the spirit that lived in my studio under the freeway. He was a kind and protective spirit that some would call a muse. I don’t know how he got there or why he dedicated himself to my studio for so long, but many people who came there could sense his presence. After getting used to the idea of a palpable supernatural presence people quickly realized that he was a kind and supportive spirit with no malice.
I did not set out to paint a picture of him. But he did finally appear in a painting at what was to be nearly the end of my stay at the studio in Eastlake. When I did leave it was 20 years in that same space. Jack came along about at the 10 year mark.
On the very last night in that studio, after the Herculean effort of moving everything out, we decided to have a ceremony to either say goodbye to Jack or invite him to come along to our next studio. We even brought a bottle along to see if he wanted to come along in the bottle. After waiting for quite some time in the dark and cold Jack finally spoke to us through the ouiji board we also brought with us. He first told us that he was in fact Jack. But when we asked if he wanted to come with us to the new studio he said no. When we asked us why he said because Jeff was not going to paint at the new studio.
Well, I just assumed either Jack was wrong or it wasn’t really Jack. One of my major plans was to re-create my studio in this new place. It was perfect for that. But Jack was right. The new space turned out to be great for the spa but not for making art. Aside from a few pieces I did on the fly, I never set up a studio and made art there. Jack was right. And I assume Jack was somehow tied to my art or creative process.
I have now been in my new studio for a year and half. I have settled in and am making a lot of art in my new studio. But so far, Jack has not shown up. Maybe I need to demonstrate more commitment over a longer arc of time before he will again make his presence known and lend his supporting energies to my mysterious creative process. I hope so.


“Wakako”
Oil/plywood
48” x 48”
2012
“Chinese American Doll”
Oil/panel
48” x 24”
2011
My former wife and I adopted our daughter from China when she was 10 months old. At some point she developed a passion for a doll which was very popular at the time, the American girl doll. So, of course we got one for her. As she began to outgrow an interest in dolls she asked me to make a painting of one for her. So I started the painting over an image of a woman I had started a year or so earlier but had lost interest in. At some point I realized there was very powerful juxtaposition of the doll and the blurring image of an adult Asian woman behind the doll.
The doll was Caucasian but in my painting it’s not clear what her race is. Her face is at about the same level of finish as the adult woman behind it.
The body is more finished. On many occasions I set up to “finish” the doll part of the painting. But in each situation I decided that the piece is in fact finished. Even the spots of paint on the sides seem appropriate somehow although I’m not sure why.
At the time of this writing my daughter is 19 years old and beginning to wonder about her heritage. This is a complex process for her and for me as her dad. Looking at this piece helps me resolve these feelings in some hard to define way. She hasn’t seen it in years. Perhaps in a few more years I will get it out for her to look at. I will be very curious to hear what she says about it and whether this helps her on her journey of self discovery.


“Sophie with Bent Knee”
Oil on panel
36″ x 30”
2011
As you may have read in other places on this website, Sophie was a model for me from about 2005 to 2010. During that time I did many paintings inspired by her. In fact, I don’t think I have any photographs of her. She was patient, passionate about art in general and my art in particular and liked the art I made of her. She understood “line” very well and knew how to create a “line” without even trying. And at the same time she had a way about her that was always natural and unaffected. On top of that, her body was like a ripe peach, her forms filled out to their fullest potential without overwhelming her structure.
For someone like myself painting form and volume, she was the perfect model in every respect. I don’t think I did a single bad painting of her. And that wasn’t for lack of taking chances. In this case, my experiment was a less than life size painting. I am reverting back to a black background and fire red under the skin, things I had done frequently years before, but never on a small painting.
The pose is also not new. I used this same pose on a number of pieces. The most interesting one is 4’ x 4’ and employees some bold new ways of applying paint that I then used for years afterwards. This small piece is more like a visit to an old friend, in this case both the model and the technique.
“Jordan in the Corner”
Oil on panel
6′ x 4′
2011
Jordon was one of my first models who was willing to do whatever I asked him to do during our modeling sessions. We didn’t meet on any regular basis but whenever I had an idea I knew I could call him up, tell him what I had in mind and within hours he would come over and pose for me.
One day I was putting away several large boxes I had made for an art instillation. They were 8’ tall and made of plywood. They were painted black. For some reason I thought it would express something powerful about the human condition to have Jordon pressed in between them, trapped, crucified or just bewildered.
I thought of the work of Francis Bacon. And of course I thought of Lucien Freud’s work.
When I worked with Jordon I always took pictures. I rarely painted or sculpted with him. Everything moved too fast.
Shortly after this idea I did the painting that is featured below and then sold the piece shortly after that. Ever since then, I wanted to explore other poses and ways of painting this idea. So, in 2008 or so I decided to dig out those paintings and do it. At that time, working from photos that were ten years old seemed like a big deal. Wow…10 years….so long ago. Now, as I’m writing this, it’s been 14 years since I did this “new” painting.
A few photos from that session still are among the images that clutter my desk and my mind. I think there is something there I still have not expressed completely. So it’s likely that soon, about 25 years after the fact, I may explore this idea yet again.
Bottom left to right: Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud




“Sophie Line”
Oil on panel
Various sizes
2011
These are drawings with paint. The lines are created with a brush. They were either done directly in front of the model or from memory after a modeling session perhaps with drawings laying about the studio as memory aides.
It is such a pleasure for me to use my knowledge of the power of line and my understanding of the human body to create these fragment pieces. My goal is to express the invisible animating force of life that makes a body not just a body but the outward expression of the dynamic characteristics of these forces.
By thickening and thinking the line as well as let it simply drop away I am able to convey my understanding of this force. Then, of course, I try to apply that to the elements of the human body including bone just below the skin or bone beneath a layer of muscle or flexing muscles or muscles tense with anxiety or relaxed in repose and so on and on. There is endless variation and possible combinations.
The brush is an amazing tool to create this kind of variation from strength to tenderness.
Most of these creations don’t include heads or extremities. The reason is I am interested in conveying the power of the torso itself without the personality often contained and expressed through the head, face and hands and feet. There is a tradition of this that goes back through our display and admiration for fragments from the antique as well as artists such as Rodin and Michelangelo.

