From Public Stories to Private Portraits

Many people first encounter my work in public spaces — on stage, in libraries, cafés, or through High Light, Human Light, where I paint people live while listening to their stories.

Those moments are shared by design.

They’re meant to invite reflection, recognition, and a sense of shared humanity.

But the heart of the work — the listening — is the same whether it happens in front of an audience or in a quiet, private setting.

Public projects allow me to explore how listening and color can foster empathy at scale. Private commissions allow that same care to be focused inward — on one person, one relationship, one family, one moment that matters deeply.

In both spaces, I’m doing the same thing:

Listening without interruption.

Responding with color.

Letting what’s heard guide what’s made.

Some collectors come to commissions after seeing the public work and realizing they want that experience held more personally. Others arrive having never seen the show at all — simply drawn to the idea of being witnessed with care.

Neither path is more valid than the other.

What connects them is intention: the belief that stories deserve time, attention, and a form that can hold their complexity.

Private commissions aren’t smaller versions of the public work. They’re quieter, more contained — and often more intimate. The scale changes, but the integrity doesn’t.

Whether a portrait is created under stage lights or in a one-on-one conversation, the goal is the same: to translate presence into something lasting.

If you discovered my work through a public project and feel curious about a more personal version of the process, you’re welcome to begin with the intake form. It’s simply a way to explore whether a priva

te commission feels like the right next step.

The intake form takes about five minutes and does not commit you to a commission.