The impasto painting below titled Harvest Festival was an experiment that became an award winner. The next painting (from a private collection) is a 2009 painting titled Where Doves Go to Die, inspired by the passion found from the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. I attempted to find that kind of passion through what is now classical abstract expressionism using colors from traditional landscape painting of the late 19th century.

Three children’s books designed and illustrated by me and published by McClanahan. Grimy, Grubby Gardening by Karen Angelucci, Kentucky’s Boone and Kentucky’s Capitol by Melissa Burton. Read an early review of Grimy below. The background for Boone is Cumberland Gap in March-April, the same time of year Boone’s party crossed through and opened the Wilderness Trail into the Bluegrass. Capitol cover features a night shot taken in the rain with existing light. At bookstores and at www.kybooks.com

http://www.kentucky.com/lexgo/books/story/922893.html?story_link=email_msg

The fun illustration of the goat was done in pencil in 1976. (I'm a capricorn) Center is an award my wife and I went to Chicago to receive for a McClanahan book I designed, Cook Talk withCurtis Grace and Friends. I am especially fond of it because it was done on an old MacPlus in 1989. At that time computer book design was in its infancy. The World Young Reader Prize for 2008 (grandprize) held by the old goat was for the Woody Washington series awarded in Europe to the Lexington Herald Leader. I illustrated the series and subsequent book. I did six Woody books (published in association with McClanahan) and four series published in 85 newspapers which reached close to a million readers a week. The article above announced our grandprize win.

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Below are examples of commercial prints. Originals are usually commissioned pieces and prints are marketed to various institutions. The series of pride prints (© Progress Prints) were generally done in the mid to late 70s including the University of Kentucky 78 Basketball Championship with a presentation made in Japan as they toured after the win. The tractor prints were a small series done in the 90s.

Page spread and cover design for Merry Christmas from Kentucky by Michelle Stone. (McClanahan) Order online at www.kybooks.com or find it at bookstores. I did the food shots and design.

Two illustrations of Charleston, SC. The first was used for the cover of a book South Carolina, Always in Season (McClanahan). That scene was discovered when my grandson and I were driving to the beach. The second is a miniature painting.  These paintings can also be seen @ http://www.rcstart.com/images.php?q=Marsh%20Lowcountry%20Oil%20Paintings&first=41

My wife Carol. She is the author of two books, Especially Herbs and Herbs, Cultivating & Cuisine. The first book was published in 1996 and the second in 2001 (both by McClanahan). The books were designed, photographed and illustrated by me. The author’s photo is from the dust jacket. Above right is a pen and ink from the 2nd book. Both books received several positive national reviews including the following — “Straightforward recipes that offer a practical look at cooking with herbs and a taste of what goes with what. The recipes encompass a full range of culinary herb uses, including seasonings, oils, sugars, sauces, salads, breads and entrées.” Sue Lenthe, Herb Companion

Left: Cover illustration and layout for Assassination at the State House published by McClanahan in 1995. Right: Cover illustration and layout for Murder in Old Kentucky by Keven McQueen (McClanahan). Note: two uses of the same font for different effects. Center: Illustration and cover design I did for the 8th Air Force book Second Air Division.

Image from Derby Entertaining (McClanahan). I shot this at the Ashford Stud Farm in central Kentucky.

Recent digital graphic.

Happy Birthday Carol! Apart from the misfortune of sharing her birthday with the infamous events of 9/11, we have shared many birthdays and almost 48 years together. I took this photo in our hotel room just off the central jardin in San Miguel when we were there on a vacation. We had been there a few years before when I was attending art school and spent at least one other vacation in Mexico after that. Note the water pitcher, the single candle and matches on the night stand. I remember there was a simple wooden cross on the opposite wall from Carol.

Another passing era — a Kentucky tobacco barn.

The illustration below was from some early digital work of several years ago. It won top honors in that division. It was printed and exhibited as a dye sub print. 

Below is one of my sculptures from a few years ago. It is an award winning piece out of walnut and stands about 30 inches tall.

Shaker stairs. Black/white image from Shakertown. Some subjects lend themselves to black/white more than color. In this case both work well.

Winter before last on a gray day I decided to challenge myself to see if I could come up with something inspiring — some beauty in the mid tone, mid winter day. This image from one of my farms would be a typical hillside farm scene, an image, I think, that would be often overlooked but secretly admired. 

Bardstown Bike. This photo is part of shoot for an upcoming book by David Dominé.

Looking up from the rotunda inside Kentucky’s Capitol. One of my photo illustrations from the book by that name by K. Melissa Burton and published by McClanahan. The book, designed for children, is photographed, illustrated and designed by me.  Order it online at www.kybooks.com or find it in bookstores. 

One of my photos from a year-long shoot of Adsmore in Princeton, Kentucky.

Grand Rivers Kentucky

Fancy Farm political event. 

Girl with basket at Shakertown.

Whitehaven in Paducah, KY. One of my photos of sites across Kentucky.

Newly released, Haunts of Old Louisville by David Domine (McClanahan). This is the third book in the Old Louisville ghost series. At book stores or order it at www.kybooks.com. 

The illustration below, from the Woody Washington newspaper series and subsequent book, features my granddaughter posing as Betsy Ross. The image and all the images from the book are under my copyright and the book was published in association with McClanahan. This series won an international grand prize in Europe for that year.

Below is one of my Boone Tavern shots, Berea, Kentucky.

A recent graphic.

One of my shots from the Red River Gorge area in Kentucky.

Below is a one of my shots from Derby Entertaining. Photograph is copyrighted as is all the artwork shown in this blog.

Below is my illustration for the title page from Kentucky's Boone by K. Melissa Burton (McClanahan Publishing House).  The portrait in this illustration is based on the only life portrait done of Daniel Boone as he neared death and from descriptions of him as a younger man taken from various biographies. 

I design a variety of book covers from history to light comic work. I have designed in one form or another (cover, book layout, illustration, or all of the above) over 200 books. Many of the books created through McClanahan are books published by subsidiary publishing companies in association with McClanahan. In this case Time Keeper by Anthony Frohlich from Enchanted Valley Publishing Company (on the right) and Women Words & Wisdom by Kim Mitchell and Judith Ralph from the Hen House Press (left).

My design work and illustrations cover a wide range of subjects including children's books. I am the illustrator/designer for K. Melissa Burton's Kentucky's Capitol and Kentucky's Boone, both published by McClanahan Publishing House. http://www.kybooks.com/. For the past several years I have been the illustrator for the award winning Woody series featured weekly in more than 85 Kentucky newspapers as well as in newspapers in several additional states. One year the project won grand prize in Paris, France and have won numerous awards in the United States. The newspaper illustrations which reached close to a million readers each week and the books from the series were designed by me including cover design. The images, all under my copyright, were used in a series of children's books in addition to the newspaper series.