"Archangel Raphael" Drawing

After 27 years as a high school arts educator, I retired to devote myself fully to the work I love most: charcoal. Today I create expressive charcoal paintings focused on angels, portraits, religious figures, and imaginative anthropomorphic animals—subjects that allow me to explore light, form, and emotion through the rich, tactile medium of charcoal.
Before stepping into the classroom, I spent 15 years as a graphic designer and art director at advertising agencies and studios across South Florida. That commercial foundation shaped the way I still approach composition, visual storytelling, and craft.
In education I taught drawing, photography, and graphic design, and for a time directed the school’s 3-D animation program. Under my guidance, students repeatedly earned Florida state championships in 3-D animation and multiple first-place awards in the SkillsUSA large poster design competition. I was recognized as my school’s Teacher of the Year and listed in Who’s Who in American Education.
Photography has also been a long-standing passion. For many years I led one of the largest photography communities on Instagram and served as a moderator across several photography and art platforms. Those years sharpened my eye and deepened my appreciation for visual communication—skills that continue to inform my charcoal work today.
Whether teaching, designing, photographing, or drawing, my focus has always been the same: helping people see more clearly and feel more deeply through images.