A watercolor painting of the city of Chicago. Tall buildings reach for the sky and tower over the busy life at the bottom.

This abstract painting, Lost City, is layered with acrylic paint/collage. It feels dreamlike with a city disappearing behind clouds

This 16” x 11” oil painting, A Quiet Morning in May, shows a view of Cuba Marsh in Deer Park, IL. It started plein air and finished in the studio.

“Nature’s Symphony” transforms the familiar landscape of Yellowstone’s Artist Point into a lyrical fusion of East and West. Instead of depicting the scene realistically, the composition borrows the structural logic of Chinese ink wash painting while using oil to create layered depth and luminosity. The palette echoes the spirit of Qīnglǜ Shānshuǐ (青綠山水,) where mineral greens and blues evoke a world both earthly and transcendent. The result is a landscape that feels remembered, reimagined, and sung rather than seen.

“Sunset Crossing” draws inspiration from a beloved Taiwanese folk tale, portraying three buffaloes wading across a glowing wetland at dusk. A small blackbird rests on one buffalo’s back as the buffalo gazes toward distant mountains, whispering praise for the beauty of Formosa, the first name given to Taiwan. The warm horizon and gentle movement evoke the tenderness of homecoming and the quiet dignity of rural life. This painting becomes both a tribute to Taiwanese cultural memory and a meditation on belonging.

“Hope” was created for the performance of A Cry for Peace by Sir Karl Jenkins, and its structure is built upon the ancient Chinese pictograph for “net” (網), originally formed by two inverted caves with interwoven lines signifying entrapment. Flames rise along this structure, symbolizing the pressures and constraints that surround the human spirit. From within this fiery lattice, a figure lifts in prayer, insisting on light even when engulfed by adversity. The painting embodies resilience: hope not as optimism, but as defiance.