"Ancient Memory" Painting

I picked up a brush again in 2012 after seventeen years away from painting. A single photograph of my young daughter — barefoot in the red African sand, instinctively kicking off her shoes to dance with elderly Batswana women at a cultural festival — stopped me in my tracks. It was a clear reminder of the life I was meant to be living. I quit my IT career shortly after and have never looked back.

I am an American artist based in Boro, on the edge of the Okavango Delta in Botswana — one of the last truly pristine wilderness ecosystems on Earth. The extraordinary light, ancient landscapes, abundant wildlife, and deep cultural rhythms of this place flow directly into every painting I create.
Having first arrived in Botswana in 1995 as a Peace Corps Volunteer to teach Art and English, I have now lived and worked in the country for over twenty years. I speak fluent Setswana and remain deeply embedded in the local community with my wife, where we co-founded Botho Corps Trust, an NGO that currently supports the education of 78 children in our village.

My work is organized in several ongoing series:

The Africa Series — large-format figurative works exploring ancestral memory, feminine strength, and African identity

Road to Boro — intimate landscapes of the mopane woodland road I travel often

Komorebi — paintings of light filtering through trees, created on two continents

Cultural portraits celebrating the dignity and resilience of Botswana’s people

I paint primarily in acrylic and oil on canvas, occasionally incorporating authentic Okavango sand into the grounds and glow-in-the-dark pigments in conservation-themed pieces.

A portion of proceeds from every sale directly supports Botho Corps Trust.

Commissions are warmly welcomed. All original works ship internationally from either Maun, Botswana or Iowa, USA.