Glowing creatures, powerful waves, and vibrant coral- these ocean scenes inspire some of my favorite peices.
Drawn in ink, the original of this Cat Chainshark is actually fluorescent. The markings on these sharks are as unique as a human fingerprint. I wanted to capture their unique qualities along with their mysterious, fluorescent capabilities.
The galaxy squid was one of the very first pieces of art I ever created (back in 2019). I’ve always loved both squid and space, so combining the two felt natural. This piece marks the beginning of my journey as an artist, as well as and atuhor. I started writing my first book at the same time as this first painting. This ended up being the silhouette for the cover art of my first book:
Both with ink and paint, the ammonite and sea diver are reflections of my love for the ocean and science.
Ammonite: I often hunt for fossils with friends, and I was surprised to learn that ammonites likely had tentacles. I wanted to imagine what these creatures might have looked like when they were alive.
Diver: In this one, the diver is staring straight out at you, but the helmet reflects something no diver could actually witness this close: hydrothermal sea vents erupting in the dark. It’s science pushed right up against the edge of fantasy, the kind of beauty that does exist in our world, just far deeper than we can go.
A bit whimsical and fantastical, this series began with a picture painted across three separate canvases. I wanted each canvas to stand on its own, but also connect into a single scene, like short stories spilling across their edges to create a fuller picture.
Some of these stories come from memory. When I was young, I visited an aquarium where a hammerhead shark glided overhead. I remember the thrill of that moment, the feeling that the ocean was full of strange, brilliant creatures I wanted to know more about. A shadowy hammerhead makes a small cameo in this piece, a nod to the animals that first captured my imagination.
Other moments are ones we rarely get to witness. The top image shows a mother whale gently pushing her calf toward the surface for its first breaths, a scene I once watched in a documentary and never forgot. It felt tender, almost private, so I tucked it into this world too.
The bottom section is brighter and more playful, filled with vibrant flora and fauna and a little yellow submarine. I wanted a touch of that classic vintage feel, part childhood nostalgia, part shared cultural icon. I didn’t grow up listening to The Beatles, but for some reason my second-grade choir sang Yellow Submarine for a concert, and that memory has always stuck with me. So it found its way into the painting as another small echo of childhood, woven into this imagined ocean full of stories.
