Birds, like the robin or humming bird, are common in Washington State where I live. But nonetheless, they are beautiful. And so, I paint them.

There’s this incredible park not far from my home in Seattle, WA. At Volunteer Park you’ll find a Conservatory and the Seattle Asian Art Museum, of course. Plus, there are all sorts of walking paths, gardens, a kids wading pool, playgrounds, benches, and sculptures. My kids love it. I especially love the lily ponds that are in front of the art museum. They are teeming with koi fish. This is a series of paintings focused on the fish I observed there.

These paintings are full of vibrant colors and interesting, contrasting textures. To give each painting the feeling of movement, I engraved the backgrounds with a pattern of deep grooves, which are reminiscent of the carefully groomed sand found at Japanese gardens. To enhance the variety of textures, I’ve painted the fish onto a textured specialty paper which is affixed to the background. The fish are full of life, painted with brilliant cadmium yellows, oranges and reds, and in some cases silver and iridescent blue highlights.

I’ve been heavily influenced lately by the artist Chuck Close. He is best known for painting enormous realistic portraits from photos using a grid method. To create his paintings, Close puts a grid on the photo and on the canvas and meticulously copies the image cell by cell. I’ve employed this similar approach, except I’ve taken my images further away from realism. I’ve attempted to combine the Chuck Close’s technique with textures and techniques of my own. I’ve also chosen to work with small and medium-size canvases in order to achieve an abstract aesthetic when seen at a close distance. However, when the painting is seen at about 100 feet, a striking portrait comes in to full view.