There comes a time in every project where you have to wrap up the planning and get started. Any creative person, whether artist or writer, I have ever talked to has been able to relate to the terror of facing down a blank sheet, canvas, or in this case plywood.

Every journey has a beginning, and this post takes you through the initial steps of planning the San Damiano Crucifix mosaic, starting with the research into the original.

I like to create fast artwork. My watercolor engravings tend to take 2-3 hours from start to finish. When oil painting, I prefer to knock out a canvas in 1 or 2 weekends. It might be because I’m busy and tired from my day job marketing industrial chemicals. Most likely, though, it has more to do with my attention span. So how I got involved with a 30” wide mosaic, covered with over 6,000 tiles (by my best estimate), taking 6-weeks, and over 100 hours is anyone’s guess.

When examining Leonardo’s life, a comparison with his contemporary, Michelangelo Buonarroti, is almost inevitable. The contrasts are fascinating to consider. Leonardo was hyper-analytical and a perfectionist, so left artwork unfinished and spent decades working on his masterpieces like the “Mona Lisa”. Michelangelo, on the other hand, was very prolific, finishing “Pietà” and “David” in his early twenties, and continuing to be very productive throughout his life.

A few months ago, after I “boosted” a Facebook post to reach a broader audience, I was challenged by someone claiming Paradise Found Studio promotes idolatry. It was respectfully written, so I took it as a sincere concern for my soul and those of my patrons. Looking at this site, it isn’t hard to guess where I fall on the topic. I struggled on whether or not I should respond, or just delete the post. I decided to delete, which I’m not sure what the right thing to do. What follows is my response for all to read…

As you might expect, there is a story behind my store name Paradise Found Studio, and the stunning logo featuring the Archangel Michael. It all started early 2014 at an antique store along the historic Route 66 in Amarillo, TX. I walked by a tattered antique copy of Milton’s Paradise Lost that was in too bad of shape to be worth anything, so it was tied with twine to make a decorative piece.