Welcome to my journal. This is the place to come if you want to vicariously experience Italy with me. I will try to update this section on a regular basis with news and pictures. Please send me comments.

[march - may 2003] [june - end of 2003] [2004]

[5.March.06]

Me starting entries with apologies for not making one for a while seems to be a trend. GRRRRR.

Okay, I'm in Italia. It's great. It's frustrating. It's fun. It's stressful. It's ITALIA! This country can be the most wonderful place and the most hideous. How is that? Well, imagine those amazing Tuscan landscapes that you dream and romanticize into and then splash some cold water on your face. Reality is a harsh mistress. I'm not going to suggest that I'm not having the time of my life here though, quite the opposite.  I consider my time here in Florence to be such an amazing gift.  God has blessed me beyond measure.  I live in the center of one the most artist-centric cities in the world and being an artist here, well, do the math.  It’s just tough having to spend, spend, spend and not have a lot coming in.  Finances are tight and the exchange rate is still a killer.

But, enough of that.  I’ve been working quite hard these last few months.  I’ve accomplished a lot at school.  I’ve finished a few more paintings, as you can see on my other site, mcoriginals.com.  I’m also painting from the live model now. [progress pic] Also, i'm working on a new cast painting that is going very well. [pic] I will be doing more street painting as the weather changes and becomes friendly to me.  Rain and chalk don’t mix well.

I stayed Europe side this Christmas and had a wonderful time.  I went to Britain for Christmas and stayed with my friend Jo and her family.  They live south of London out in the country in West Sussex.  Their village is close to Guildford.  Jo’s family is amazing; they made me feel like a member of the family.  I had such an amazing time, a real English Christmas! See some pics here.  Upon returning to Florence, I was surprised by what I’ve heard was the heaviest snow fall in Florence in some 50 years. [pics] Florence is so beautiful during the holidays, the whole city is dressed up and you really get the sense that it’s a special time. [pics]

At the beginning of January, I moved to a new place in the center on Borgo San Jacapo.  My new place is fantastic! I’m much closer to everything and I only have 1 roommate.  When I first returned this last September I had 7 roommates…  So, I’m happier in the less active environment.  My own bathroom, place is easier to keep tidy and my roommate is a member of my home church.  In fact, we have home church at our place quite regularly.

On that subject, I’m very excited about Renaissance Firenze. That’s the name of our home church movement here.  It’s exciting; we’ve had fantastic growth and impact on the city.  Currently there are 2 groups meeting each week but we expect to expand soon to possibly 2 more.  Please pray for us as we try to reach out to this city and minister to the variety of needs it presents.

I’m returning to the US in April for a few weeks, finishing in Arizona doing the Easter painting presentation again with the church I was painting at last year, Cornerstone Christian Fellowship.  I will try to post more information soon.

[23.May.05]
Excessively overdue update to my journal. Sorry, I know a lot of people enjoy this page and I'm sorry I've not been updating it more. My life seems rather mundane here in the states at times. But the last few weeks have been pretty exciting. Outside of getting a new niece at the beginning of the month, I turned 35, saw Star Wars Episode 3, went to the E3 show (Video Game thing... big deal if you're into video games), threw a rod in my 97 Saturn (bummer) and was the feature painter at the Fun With Chalk festival last weekend. Whew.

The feature painting went really well. It was hot, yes, very hot, and fortunately we had shade in the morning, but we wen and purchased shade Saturday afternoon. I say we, since my friend Luke Mysse joined me on this piece to do the frame at the bottom and lot's of background work. I jokingly referred to him as my 'mule'. But in the most loving and thankful way that you could refer to someone as your mule. LOL. Okay, I really, really appreciated his help. Thanks Luke! See a gallery of the piece here.

Yes, my 97 Saturn without warning, threw a rod or something last Thursday on my way to Star Wars. I've been blessed to get connected with a shop that's going to do the repairs (put a new engine in) for a pretty low price. It's still a lot of money, and I'd appreciate prayers from those of you that pray.

Plans are still moving forward for my return to Italy in September. Back to school, this time hopefully to complete the program. So that will likely mean another 2-3 years. Finances are a bit tighter than I'd hoped at this point, but I'm not the one in control of that. Again, prayers are appreciated.

It's been pretty wild being back in the states. I'm looking forward to doing a few more festivals this summer and I'll be going to Colorado in July to paint for an art festival there. I'm the only one doing street painting at that festival. Otherwise, working at My Webteam and picking up commissions as the come. I hope to do another show of drawings and paintings in August, details will be posted when available.

Take care and thanks for reading!

[17.January.05]
Wow, I'm back in the United States. Weird! Like really, weird! I've been experiencing some major culture shock coming back to the states this time. I've been back for a little over a month now, but I'm still not quite used to the size of things, and the pace. Plus, where the heck can you get a quality cup of capuccino?

My holidays were great. Spent time here in California and out in Texas with family. I did a 2 day show in December at the same location I did one last year, Crossgrain Creative Studios, in Orange. The show went okay, but the turn out was less than I'd hoped for. I did sell three pieces and a potential 4th, so it wasn't a total loss, in fact I more than broke even; but I think the holidays aren't the best time to do this type of event. People seem to be a little pre-occupied with desserts, parties, etc. I'm planning to do another show in late February or March. Watch for postings about that.

In the meantime, I've gotten back into the wonderful world of website consulting with My Webteam again and I've already had an opportunity to do a chalk painting. Just finished today, at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA, a reproduciton of part of Norman Rockwell's 'The Golden Rule'. Chris Bennett, my wonderful mentor in chalk, and I got to work together for the first time in almost 2 years. What fun! We did the painting over 2 days and you can see the pictures in the gallery.

It's good to be back in the states for a while. Great seeing friends and being in a place where I understand the language, most of the time (silly grin). I'm definitely missing my other home in Florence, but am looking forward to returning later this year to continue my studies. In the meantime, look for me at festivals in California or possibly at a town near you. Never know when the next 'chalk job' is going to arise. Check back soon for more postings to this site and my fine art site, MCOriginals.com.