The Fates Have Decided II

Most of you are probably wondering "Who are the Fates? And what is it that they've decided?"

Like echoes, my childhood reverberates within me rather unexpectedly sometimes. I loved(and still do) love reading. Growing up, I read a lot of Greek mythology. Gods, Demi-gods and mortals were all fascinating creatures described on pages I could get lost in for hours and hours. No matter how powerful they all had one thing in common, they all feared the Fates.

Also known as the Moirae/Moerae, the Fates controlled every moment of life from birth to death. The golden thread represents life.


Clotho spun the thread.

Lachesis measured.

Atropos cut the thread ending the lifespan. The whole idea that fate/destiny controls our very movements...well I'm not quite sure I believe it personally but it is an interesting topic to think and talk about regardless.

Patchwork Field

18 x 24 inches, oil on  canvas

Patchwork Field started out initially as a commission that went awry years ago. Long story short, the client purchased a sculpture instead and I was left with a canvas and geometric shapes I didn't care for. A family friend saw the unfinished piece and fell in love with the colors and shapes. When his birthday came around I thought I'd present him with this piece but not before fooling around with the shapes a little more in order to make it more "like me".

Resistance, Defeat, Freedom

In consecutive order, Resistance, Defeat and Freedom were completed during the span between April and June. While I used oil paints for all, Resistance and Freedom were done on canvas but I experimented a little on gesso board with Defeat.

The process took a longer time because gesso boards as you know, are completely smooth. It took a few layers and quite some time for each to dry before I could continue working. Out of the three my favorite happens to be Defeat because of the effort it took to complete. I am usually impatient while painting but I am glad I took the time to finish this one.

Play the Samaritan

18" x 24", oil on canvas

Are you helping me or harming me? Play the Samaritan is about someone pretending to help with intention of harm. Or is it? It's up to you to decide because once again, there is no proper interpretation.

Guitar Club

This is a commission piece done for the LIFGC, The Long Island Fingerstyle Guitar Club.

Still Life Sketch

A quick sketch of some items on my desk today. Using ballpoint pen I did this in a few minutes in a Moleskine notebook. I thought it looked a bit plain so for bits of color I used a couple of Prismacolor watercolor pencils minus the water.

A Banner or two...

Last weekend I received a request from a friend of mine, Valisa. She asked me to make a customized banner for her blog, something cute, eclectic and ultimately showing her personality. I worked with her for a couple of hours and the end result is what I have below.




I am rather proud of it, still not quite believing that I did that. I wouldn't mind getting commissioned to do more personalized banners. It was a lot of work but fun for me. It was also easy work compared to most of my other clients because my friend knew exactly what she wanted. For those of you that want to know, I did this on Corel Painter using the acrylic brush for outlines and digital watercolor for the rest.

To check out Valisa's blog follow the link here.