"Cultural Intersection"

This turned out to be a challenging piece. Originally, the sky was a deep, heavy ultramarine blue while the background building was a heavy burgundy. After the rest of the painting was complete I felt that the background was really competing with the foreground elements, so I took a chance and blotted out both the sky and the building. 

This definitely isn't my favorite piece, and I keep threatening to crop it down. This is where Photoshop can be such a boon. 

Beautiful Oakland

Oakland Rotunda

If you think Oakland is some sort of sad, poverty-stricken town, you're not looking carefully enough. There are so many beautiful places, people and ideas swirling around. The Rotunda was renovated in 2011 and is a fantastic example of Oakland's slow and steady revival.