Window shots of Hoffman LaChance Gallery, St.Louis, May 2025

Below you can see half the pieces in this show. What you see covers 40 years give or take.

Above is a recent plein aire painting captures the vibrant atmosphere of the scene with fresh, natural light and spontaneous brushstrokes, bringing the outdoor setting to life. This effort is PURE color.

Overloaded with Trash

A curious black cat.

This pot is titled "Today China takes over Hong Kong”. The cityscape below is painted in cobalt and the red copper curtain flows down. This is one of the many history pots and history art objects that I have made through the years that deal with daily news. I was an historian in a previous life. This was made last day of June 1997 when China took over Hong Kong from the British after a 150 year lease ran out.

One of many tile panels I made when I was a full-time Potter. I worked with porcelain for 22 years full-time. After 22 years I defected to figurative sculpture.

These two heavy, massive frames deal with thoughts about money and what it's value is. The frame that's 46 wide on the left has just a dollar bill framed. What value have I given that dollar by framing it? The frame on the right that's 44 in.². has a tiny little window with a hyper realistically painted penny composed of copper dust and oil paints on a copper surface. There are a lot of artists that use images of money. So the title of the one on the left is "what's this dollar bill worth?” And the one on the right is “what is the value of a painted penny?” It's a strange intersection between money and Art.

This realist self-portrait talks to you when you approach it. It has a motion sensor to detect light change, and when it does, it starts talking and preaching to you. This particular one curses himself saying, “Damn!……….Damn! ……………………Damn!” I think it is somehow indicative of the human experience. Everyone curses themselves for something. Video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lfXfFpuT5hM

Here is another self portrait about making art, particularly as a Potter. I was making porcelain pots and sculptures for 20 years full-time. This piece is a metaphor. My job as an artist is to look at and take in the white light of the world that hits my eyes, digesting what I see, and then creating colorful art as a response.

This 6 foot wide word puzzle is just an effort to make something visually exciting and pleasing. I simply took four words and jumbled them up into one image. You stare at it and you can easily decipher it. Each color is a word. The words are indicative of how and why I do what I do and I am confident that those four words are representative of how and why you spend your life. Should I tell you what the words are or let you look??? ……………… I'll tell you, the four words are “for love and money”. That is probably pretty universally the two drives that motivates people during their life.

Here is another more simple word puzzle. A bit patriotic perhaps- noticed the stars. “WE THE PEOPLE”.

My painted portrait of my MOM and DAD. I nearly all my paintings I feel compelled to create the frames.

Here are four 5 x 5' paintings side-by-side that all, in one way or another, deal with tourism. Don't ask me where I get these ideas as I have no idea. I look at things when I'm done and I say to myself, where did that come from?

Without really thinking about it, I started making pictures that dealt with tourism.

Titled “The Three Graces Visit Tahiti”.

Pictured above is a horror scene. And yet it's beautifully attractive. It's actually a depiction of what the classroom at Ross Elementary school in Uvalde Texas must've look like after the mass shooting. I tried to find photographs of that horror scene and of course you cannot. You can see aftermath photos online, which looks like a slaughterhouse. I debated whether I wanted to even deal with the subject, but I did. This piece was chosen for a significant regional art survey exhibition. It got best of show! I'm guessing it's the contrast of horror and outright beauty. Add to that the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil about the whole gun issue.

Peaches on the Patio…

I was a full-time Potter for 20+ years and I focused primarily on the beauty of nature.

Judd, Warhol, Michelangelo and Me!

The Sacred Heart…

This Gallery visitor is reverently listening as I preach and tell her why everyone nails themselves to a cross of one kind or another. (The sculpture talks to you when you approach.) Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMfFAIoP2D4&rco=1

Here's me in my work clothes. I find myself frequently getting up on roofs. Whenever I do that I always wonder, when is the last time I'm gonna do this? Video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PQ1Ed4DZ3A0

A realist sculpture I called “the dancing family”. Here is a video of it in the studio before being painted. Video: https://youtube.com/shorts/mokna588pcU?

Another cat in the studio.

A photograph I call “Young Love”. For five years I set self standing picture frames up in public places. The boardwalk at the beach. In front of the cathedral on Easter morning. In the street during the naked bike ride and the like. I would just set up the frame and wait for people to want to have their pictures taken. Here's the pitch I give the subject: “let me take your picture, I will text it to you immediately, you get a copy I get a copy, no money involved.”

The brass plaque on the little sculpture says it all. "Probably the best person I will ever know". That was Carl. Carl was the most open, selfless, generous person I've ever met. He came to visit the studio, and he had a tee shirt on with a big lump under it in the middle of his chest. I said Carl, I know you have a big heart, but what is that? He lifts his shirt and he has a monitor and four leads attached to his body. Carl says the monitor talks to his phone and in turn it talks to his doctor. I mediately ask Carl if I can take some photos of him. Selfless as he is, he takes off his shirt, and I take photos of him in the round. I make the little sculpture of him that you see. When it is done, I show it to Carl and I asked Carl if he would like to have little Carl- the sculpture - talk in his voice. Shortly after I record Carl's advice on how to live, he died. Here is the advice he gives on how to live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpLqX03doxM . After his passing, and because Carl was so humble, I felt I had to elevate him to some kind of spiritual status. The photographs you see where the working photographs simply taped to a piece of cardboard and were used to model the sculpture. I've decided to take those humble and normally discarded photographs, and elevate them with a grand frame. Then I put the brass plaque on the sculpture and put the two together.

A realist, freestanding, measured self portrait made of aluminum foil. Pounded dense aluminum foil.

This particular self portrait was made outside in the fall of the year. The photograph you see is what I worked from. I did actually measure my body between joints, thicknesses of legs, etc..

A video tanka for the eclipse. https://youtube.com/shorts/er7rx3z1xrM?feature=share

Possibly the best image I ever got out of a camera in 50 years of taking pictures. Click the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu1xvMPP_Ak

Looking south in the gallery…

Looking north in the gallery…

Here is my good artist friend Tom Casey. He was a huge help during the install, which took six days, two people and two van loads and one car load. He wanted to try on my “Original Sin” necklace. It is 8 pounds of lead that hangs from your neck on a tow chain. It's probably 10 pounds total. I didn't realize it when I made it but as soon as I put it on, I noticed it had another 10 pounds of irony. When you wear it, because of the weight of the necklace, the chain will choke off the blood supply to your brain. Anyway, I wore this cross to an opening, and I had to hold it up the whole time. Besides the fact, it was heavy and hunching me over, it made me dizzy if I didn't hold it up.

Above is a talking sculpture that really sums up a lot of my beliefs about religion and philosophy and our situation in this existence. I took Michelangelo’s God and Adam image and replaced God and Adam with images of me. This piece is battery powered has 39 batteries and has two voice modules, one for the figure on the left, and one for the figure on the right. When the voice modules are triggered by a change in light, (if somebody walks up to it,) it starts talking in two voices, both mine, and it is God and Adam discussing who created who. But they are both my voice and my image. I think artists are gods because they create.

Above is a 40 year old painting. It is titled “Void- Contains all matter s”. I think I'll stretch it up.

Above is another one of the pictures I took on the boardwalk with my frame to entice people. I had to crop the frame for this door so she would fit. This woman was a real treat. And this photo got a lot of attention in the gallery door.

I also make a lot of jewelry…. I called this piece, “fish and bubbles”.

The video above shows what the gallery looked like at night when closed.

I had a second simultaneous solo show at Meramec community college in Saint Louis and it was comprised of another 60 pieces that covered 50 years. Where Hoffman LaChance was all the BIG art, Meramec was a show of all my smaller stuff.

I have lots more work- hundreds of pieces in addition to what you see above. A lot of the best stuff has never been shown. Keep your eyes out…

That’s all folks- for “Shows 2025”