There's something electric about the way children move- how they spin, leap, and tumble through the world with pure, unfiltered energy. That motion, that moment, is what I aim to capture in my paintings.

As an oil painter based in Pittsburgh, my ongoing series, "Children in Motion" is one of the most personal and joyful bodies of work I've ever created. Here's how I bring those fleeting moments to life - one brushstroke at a time.

Why Children in Motion?

I've always been drawn to movement. Before switching to oil paint, I painted with my fingers - literally feeling the motion on the canvas. Today, I use brushes, but that same intuitive energy still guides my process. Some of my old finger paintings have motion in their subject, like "Man Running" or even "Fly, Chloe, Fly".

Children represent something I try to hold on to in my work: freedom, spontaneity, and joy. They move before thinking, they leap before looking - and that kind of boldness is what I try to echo with bold color and fluid lines.

My Process
All but one of my "Children in Motion" series was begun with with a video clip of the child moving that I cut into stills. I then photoshopped the still pictures into an image. Sometimes, the way the camera has blurred the action is a big part of what I want the end painting to convey. I'm not just painting a likeness, I'm trying to capture the feeling of a fleeting moment.

Once I get the image put together on photoshop, I then transfer that image to the canvas possibly with a projector or I just sketch it on from the photo. I often paint an underpainting glaze of color that helps to work with the overpainting colors to create more pop where the underpainting shows through.

Brushwork That Moves

This is where the oil paint really shines: the texture, the blendability, the way you layer wet-on-wet to suggest motion without hard lines. I often use loose, directional brushstrokes to imply movement - hair sweeping across a cheek, arms swinging, legs in a blur.

Color as Emotion

I don't always stick to "realistic" colors. A shadow might be violet. A highlight might be orange. These choices are intuitive - and emotional. Color helps me communicate joy, chaos, and the emotional weight of play.

What I Hope You Feel

When someone views one of my "Children in Motion" paintings, I hope they feel the momentum, the fleeting joy of being young - and maybe even remember what it felt like to move like that themselves.

These works are about energy, yes - but they're also about memory and connection. Even if you don't know the child I painted, maybe they remind you of someone you love. That's the real power of art.