(2020) Acrylic on Unstretched Canvas | 64x99 inches - SOLD - In Collection of Dio Sumagaysay

My first completed in-studio painting; “St. Alice of Portland”, painted over the course of one year with acrylic paint in 2019 while essentially learning how to paint by using the traditional renaissance grisaille technique. This painting features young people from Portland being stopped in time after a night of partying in the moment they are caught up in a psychedelic rapture. Many of the allegories and symbolisms in this painting point too one of my biggest inspirations, Alice In Wonderland. When I first saw the 1951 cartoon when I was very small, I thought it was real and the most magical and most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I still do, and it not just holds up now, but I think it transcends time and genre to become an absolutely timeless masterpiece of art. It looks even better now. My mission is to have this effect with my paintings as well.

It was during creating this painting, where I heard a voice when I felt like maybe stopping and giving up halfway through learning how to paint during the summer of 2019. After painting for six months straight all day every day, I was distraught because I didn’t know what I was doing and learning how to actually paint can be very challenging. I did paint a handful of paintings in my early 20s and even had art shows and sold pieces at café shops, but this was different. Now I had lots of life experience and I really wanted put in the time, work really hard and make something memorable.

I remember six months into painting… I was up close to the painting on the wall and feeling like leaning up against it and giving up. Although to my surprise, in my sullen and exhausted state, something spiritual and magical happened to me. I heard an audible deep voice out loud say to me; “Keep Going”. It startled me, shook me out of my stupor but really struck me and I trusted it and decided right then to not stop and not give up. I wasn’t sure if it was god, or my higher self, or a guardian angel, but I knew I was going to do what it said, and I now knew with the utmost complete confidence that I was headed in the right direction doing what I was supposed to by following what I love to do.

During this time I also built a very magical and beautiful summer garden full of a variety of different color sunflowers, brightly colored pink and blue zinnia flowers, edible nasturtium, fields of clover, vines of rocket trumpet flowers and spindling growing bean stocks all the while and all around me as I was reading the book; “Men In Space” by Tom McCarthy. I would sit in the sun every day during the summer, taking a break from painting, with small and fuzzy kind jumping spiders, buzzing bees, and wasps flying everywhere even landing on me to drink sweat. If you look you will instantly recognize the figure on the cover of the book as one of the main characters in my painting. During reading this book I had incredible synchronicity, as I was reading, the book started talking about a rapture and describing the exact painting I was working on. It totatlly blew me away. I was floored and couldn’t believe it at first, but I let myself believe in magic every day especially after hearing that voice. And I knew right away with both of these magical synchronistic moments, that I was doing exactly what I was meant to do. If you are reading this, this is the first time I have mentioned this book.

Technically before this painting I started my first in-studio painting, “Dreamers” (2024) but didn’t finish it until recently when I learned how to oil paint in 2024. My studio at the time for this painting was my kitchen and so the first two paintings, “St. Alice of Portland” and also “St. Alice of Portland II” (2020) were both painted there in Boise, Idaho. I lived there for three years to take a break from Portland, Oregon after twelve years. All other paintings after were painted in my official art studio in Portland.

Another magical and amazing thing happened right after I finished this painting. A art collector named Dio contact me and bought it for my asking price of $12,000. I feel it was worth closer to $20k but felt that this was a fair price. This also greatly helped validate again I was on the right path by selling my first ever legit painting for over five figures. This sale also greatly helped me be able to afford paying rent during covid the following year.

After this painting I painted; “St. Alice of Portland II” (2021), “Moments” (2022) and my first ever oil painting; “Dreamers” (2024).