Forty-five small panels, one large trout in two parts, a wet palette, and a blank canvas. All in a days work for the upcoming Cashiers Design Showhouse.

A painting is not really finished until it has met the wall it's going to live on. So that night I carried both canvases over to their house.

Paintings take on a different life outside the studio. Today they are shaped by coastal light, shifting air, and the quiet rhythm of Tybee Island.

Last weekend I painted live on the front steps of the Gibbes Museum of Art as part of Art Charleston — connecting with collectors, passersby, and one who turned out to be a neighbor from another life. A reflection on the city, the work, and what happens when you put a canvas in front of people who weren't expecting it.

Southern heritage painting is less a subject than a way of seeing. It is shaped by land, memory, and the quiet continuity of tradition.

As the evening unfolds, so does the painting.
Live portrait painting transforms an event into something lasting, an experience guests carry with them long after the night ends.

Painted beneath the oaks of Forsyth Park, this portrait study explores how place, light, and brushwork shape a likeness.

A photograph captures a moment. A painting reflects a presence.
For collectors considering a portrait, the difference is not just visual, it is lasting.

When the Telfair Museums invited me to create work for the Telfair Ball, I felt a deep sense of honor. The opportunity was twofold: to paint the Telfair Academy itself for display during the evening, and to create a live portrait of Bob Jepson—a figure whose legacy is woven into the museum through the Jepson Center for Contemporary Art.

A live painting at SEWE with Garden & Gun, rooted in Charleston heritage and inspired by Southern fly fishing. Discover Chasing a Fly and inquire about future commissions.