“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” ~ St. Augustine

We travel for many reasons. Perhaps we go to see historical architecture and landscapes, visiting museums that document the past through artifacts, art, and literature, or even something as quaint as sampling authentic historical foods in their place of origin. I had my first Chiken Kiev in Kiev, and will never forget it!

We may also travel to experience the lands of our family connections, or to revisit places where we had meaningful experiences or relationships in our youth. One reason that Paris remains a popular destination is because millions have an emotional bond to a particular location there, perhaps a bistrot where love once blossomed.

As a genealogist as well as artist, I paint locations important in the history of my own ancestry, and look forward to the chance to do the same for you.

"Cafe de Flore, Breakfast Alone"
2021, 16" x 20", Acrylic on canvas

Paris is known as one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world, which makes it all the more bittersweet to be there alone on business or research. At one point of my life, I traveled to Paris every two years. Regular travelers know the exquisite loneliness of a city where everything would seem even better if an appreciative companion would just sit with you for a while. One morning at Cafe de Flor on the Bouldevard Saint-Germain, a visitor sat with me at the inconic green tables, and sang sweetly while sharing my later breakfast! I worked here to accentuate the angles, so that even the smooth glass looks like it might shatter and leave shards in your heart.

Original: $900.
Numbered Edition of 100: $200.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]

"Rosslyn Columns and Crypt"
2021, 16" x 20", Acrylic on canvas

Rosslyn Chapel is a mid-15th-century chapel located in the Midlothian, Scotland, founded by William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness. The botanical themes of its stonework make it seem a living thing. This angle shows four of the 14 pillars, including the "Master Pillar" and "Apprentice Pillar", which are the source of rampant occult speculation and Masonic legend. To the right are the stairs down into the crypt, where generations of our Sinclair ancestors are buried.

ORIGINAL: $1,456.
Numbered Edition of 100: $200.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]

"Allt Coir a 'Mhadaidh, Glenbrittle, Skye"
2022, 16 x 24, Acrylic on canvas.

Allt Coir a 'Mhadaidh, also called Corrymaddy Burn, is the nexus of several streams running down from thawing mountain snows in the valley of Glenbrittle, Isle of Skye. It is known locally as a fairy pool, where waters are exceptionally clear and tinged with reflected blues and greens, the rocks and stone tumbled smooth by their journey from the mountaintops to the waterfalls. I was blessed to visit Skye in 2019.

Original: $1,000.
Numbered Edition of 100: $200.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]

"Dún Libhse and the Mermaids Cave"
2022, 16" x 24", Acrylic on canvas.

Castle Dún Libhse, County Antrim, Ulster sits atop a volcanic basalt outcropping that extends into the ocean. Mermaids Cave connects to the castle by a staircase, allowing supply boats to dock under cover, protected from marauding pirates. In the 13th century, my 25th great-grandfather Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster, built the first castle at Dún Libhse/Dunluce, and it became a stronghold for Clan Donald. It is close to Coleraine, County Derry, where some of my immigrant ancestors also originate. "Mermaid" is generally understood to mean selkies (seal kin), but Ireland has a tradition of female pirate leaders as well. I've illuminated the cave with comspiratorial firelight.

ORIGINAL: $1,000.
Numbered Edition of 100: $200.
Unlimited Edition, from $24 [Buy Now]

"Saint Catherine and the Mountain of Prayer"
2021, 16" x 24", Acrylic on canvas.

The walled monastery church of Saint Catherine of Mount Sinai is the world’s oldest Orthodox church in continuous use. It is in the southern Sinai peninsula, at the site where legend say God spoke to Moses through a Burning Bush, in the shadow of the mountain where God gave Moses the tablets of the Law. It has served as a pilgrimage destination for 1500 years. My family has been connected to the church since the 6th century. Its library, founded between 548 and 565, is the oldest continuously operating library in the world, preserving the second largest collection of early Christian texts in the world from as far as Ethiopia and Georgia, outnumbered only by the Vatican Library. There is even a mosque on the grounds for use by Muslim visitors and travelers. This 2021 work is based on an 1839 lithograph by Scottish artist David Roberts. Breaking the stereotype of portraying desert scenes in pale shades of yellow and beige, I have invoked the brighter colors of America’s Painted Desert and Antelope Cave, letting the distant Mount Horeb, which appears almost as a pair of praying hands, to trend to lavender. May this artwork be an inspiration to you and reconnect you with the Word.

Original: Not Yet For Sale - Check Back
Numbered Edition of 25: $250.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]

“The Golden Gate of Kyiv”
2022, 16" x 24" Acrylic on canvas

The Golden Gate of Kyiv was the main gate in the 11th century fortifications of Kyiv, the capital of Kievan Rus. It was named in honor of the Golden Gate of Constantinople. This gateway is the largest of three constructed by my ancestor Yaroslav the Wise. The gate was built in 1017-1024 about the same time the Saint Sophia Cathedral was erected a few blocks north, and has a church atop the structure. It was destroyed several time, most notably by the Golden Horde Mongols. The structure was dismantled in the Middle Ages, leaving few vestiges of its existence. When I was first there in 1970, all that remained were the ruined stone uprights. It was rebuilt completely by the Soviet authorities in 1982, though no images of the original gate has survived. In 1982, the gate was completely rebuilt for the 1500th anniversary of Kyiv, as you see here. A testimony to the antiquity and resilience of this great city!

Original: Not Yet For Sale - Check Back
Numbered Edition of 25: $250.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]

"Rue Foyatier in the Autumn Rain"
2021, 24" x 24", Acrylic on canvas.

As a younger man, I charged around the hills of Montmartre like a an Alpine goat. Today, my joints hurt at the mere sight of rain! When I look at this view, I am also looking back through the mists of the past to my many trips to Paris as an art student and teacher, counting my blessings along with the fallen chestnut leaves. The steep escaliers of Montmartre provide perspective, and are a great place to share and umbrella with your honey when the rain starts. I wanted to show the beauty of a Paris rain, making the surfaces appear sugar-glazed. I worked the canopy of chestnut trees into a green heart, pointing to the couple at the foot of the stairway. May this bring back all of your own youthful memories of Paris, real or dreamed!

Original: Not Yet For Sale - Check Back
Numbered Edition of 100: $250.
Unlimited Edition: From $33. [Buy Now]

“Rue de l’Abreuvoir”
2022, 20" x 26" Acrylic on canvas

I’m a sucker for colorful streetscapes! In Montmartre, Paris, there are many pastel buildings from the Belle Epoque. Originally a path where livestock and draft animals from the quarries were driven for access to water (the water tower appears in this view), the road was scheduled for “urban renewal” until the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 changed priorities. Just around the bend is the iconic restaurant La Maison Rose, and behind the viewer would be Place Dalida. Now a thoroughfare for a sifferent breed of livestock, affluent artistic tourists seeking to quench their thirst for the quirky and artistic in Paris!

Original: Not Yet For Sale - Check Back
Numbered Edition of 100: $250.
Unlimited Edition: From $33. [Buy Now]

“Saint Mary’s Well, Nazareth”
2021, 18" x 24", Acrylic on canvas

In Nazareth, Galilee stands a spring-fed mikveh (ceremonial bath house) which has been restored many times over the centuries. Orthodox Christian tradition states that it was here the Blessed Virgin Mary was told by the Archangel Gabriel that she would bear a son who would be the awaited Messiah. The Annunciation is narrated in Luke 1:26-38, but the location is unclear. The non-canonical Protoevangelion of James states that Mary received the message while fetching a pitcher of water. Three spouts provide water from "Gabriel's Spring" to any who seek it. I have worked to capture a balance between the blazing sun and the cool shadows provided by olive, cedar, and cypress trees. Mary's Well is an active place of pilgrimage, as are the nearby Orthodox and Catholic cathedrals of the Annunciation. The three songbirds foreshadow the appearance of the Three Magi later in the story.I hope the viewer will have the sense of making a virtual pilgrimage, a connection to the locations of the Gospel, and the assurance the God will speak to us directly or through messengers if we will but listen.

Original: $1,200. NOTE: A smaller 16" x 20" study is available for $900.
Numbered Edition of 100: $250.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]

“Cherry Blossoms Along The Tidal Basin”
2022, 16" x 24", Acrylic on canvas

One of the most beautiful moments in Washington's calendar! Every spring, people stroll along the Tidal Basin to observe to temporary beauty of the iconic cherry blossoms. After a brief burst of beauty and splendor, the blossoms fall, reminding us of the transitory nature of the human experience... or of a very short political career! Of her years working in Washington, this is the one my dear Joyce remembered as the most positive memory.

Original: Not Yet For Sale - Check Back
Numbered Edition of 100: $250.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]

“Foreign-Born Woman of Color”
2021, 16" x 22", Acrylic on canvas.

When I lived in New York, the Chinese sometimes referred to the Statue of Liberty as the "Jade Goddess". The original copper skin had formed a pale green patina after years of exposure to salt water, giving the impression of jade. As I was in the shadow of the statue in the harbor in 1986 for the centennial de-dedication, Our Lady of the Harbor was illuminated by a spectacular Grucci fireworks display. Inspired by the series by Peter Max, I worked here to capture the American ideal of an harmonious mutli-colored nation. When I first executed this, I simply titled it "Liberty". My own ancestors include Jamestown colonists, both free and indentured. Inspired later by the 2021 election victory of Jamaican-born Winsome Earle-Sears as lieutenant governor of Virginia, I retitled it "Foreign-Born Woman of Color".

Original: $1,000
Numbered Edition of 100: $250.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]

“The Great Ancestor”
2022, 16" x 24", Acrylic on canvas

Pharaoh Ramesses II is known to historians and humble genealogists such as myself as "the Great Ancestor". The Greeks called him Ozymandias from his throne name Usermaatre, and his monumental statuary guarded the boundaries of his domain. I chose this angle of his 66 foot tall statues at Abu Simbel, placed to intimidate Nubian traders entering Egypt, because the recess into the stone cliff resembles both his nemes headdress and the pharaoh lying in his sarcophagus. Besides being the ancestor of many pharaohs to follow, he is the ancestor of Persian, Armenian, Roman, Byzantine, Bulgarian, French, German, Bohemian, Polish, Kievan, English, Italian, and Scottish royals, among others. 1922 marks the centennial of the discovery of King Tut's tomb, which sparked a global fascination with ancient Egypt, and I proudly take this opportunity to honor my 108th great-grandfather, whose bloodline flows as steadily northward as the Nile.

Original: $1,000
Numbered Edition of 100: $250.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]

“Vitrolles, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence”
2022, 16" x 30", Acrylic on canvas

Vitrolles is adjacent to Aix-en-Provence and near Marseille. The sun sets to the west beyond the usually placid Étang de Berre lagoon, giving a calm ending to most days. At right is a portion of the medieval Sarrasene Tower, from which local defenders kept watch for the return of the ocean-going Saracen plunderers, a word used for the Arab-Persian-Turkic pirates that tormented the Mediterranean. A scene of calm with a history of imminent violence.

Original: $1,000
Numbered Edition of 100: $250.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]

“Gordes Village, Provence”
2022, 16" x 24", Acrylic on canvas

Provence is a land of contrasts – craggy hills and angular stone building softened by lush vegetation and sunlight. Built atop the foothills of the Hills of Vaucluse near Avignon, Gordes is one of the most beautiful hilltop villages in France. Its houses and buildings of white stone root themselves into the sharp cliff of the mountain like barnacles, its labyrinth of narrow cobblestone streets making the whole appear as a single living creature.

Original: $1,000
Numbered Edition of 100: $250.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]

“When Even The Sky Turns Lavender”
“Sortie, Gare de Lyon"
“Alzette Gorge, Luxembourg City”
“Archangel Michael and Satan”
“Where The Eagles Roost”
“Sarcophagus Rising”
“Shadow of the Pendle Witch at Malkin Tower”
“The Russet Pigeon”