A new addition to my Saint Michael studio - currently overseeing my beadwork.

In August of 2015, I lost my father.  Since then I have been focused on making Quilts For Veterans in my father's honor.  Until the terror attacks in France.  Even though we still honor our veterans, terror attacks leave no veterans, only victims.  We all need the Protection of Saint Michael. I will be again drawing my icon-style images of Saint Michael.

June 22, 2015 -
I have said that since I was hit by lightning, that I see in gray colors now in my mind.  Shades of gray.  Having gotten to the point of being a colorist just before getting hit by lightning, this has been difficult.  I have been drawing in graphite and in few colors because now, color actually hurts.

I have also realized something else.  After the lightning strike, there have been a couple of times when it appeared as if I had had a stroke.  The first time, about a year after the lightning, left me not being able to speak or form words in my mind.  It was as if my brain had simply stopped working.  I remember walking around the house, trying to say a word, trying to think.  I made it to the neighbor's house and she brought me to the hospital.  Before I was able to do that though, the only word I could get out was "cat".  My cat had passed away before this, and it was actually the first time in 33 years that I was without a pet.  But I said "cat". Meaning, that I came out with a word that had absolutely nothing to do with my situation at that moment.  "Did you have a stroke?" I ask myself, "cat" is the answer.

One of my videos listed on YouTube is about an abstract bead tapestry and working against your own thinking to keep your mind open to color and shapes.  I think that when I got hit by lightning, my perception of color went away to some extent, my language has completely changed (becoming simpler and non-expressive), and yet I am constantly aware of the vast time and thoughts that are part of our collective existence.  By that I mean everything.  I hear differently now, in all ways, and although psychic for most of my life, I am now, in it.  Not just a psychic, because I'm not psychic like I used to be, but I am in it, all the thoughts, all the colors, all of it.  I have been working on pieces called "Through The Tunnel" that describe my ten minutes of near-death experience.  And I am finding that my tunnel doesn't seem to have closed after the lightning event.  This can be overwhelming, but not really, because it's a true state of where I am.  Do I "see" the other side?  I'm not sure.  I do know I hear it all the time.

I drew an ACEO of Saint Michael in gray.  I believe I "see" and "hear" color in gray now.  There is a gray world out there, a brownish world of thoughts, and a black world.  Someone might call them dimensions, or they might be aspects of thinking or perception.  For me, they are separate from each other now.  I used to dream in color.  Now, not only do I not dream during sleep, I don't seem to reach REM sleep at all,  You could almost say I live in a walking, awake dream.

My latest "problem" has been deciding whether to draw my Saint Michael ACEOs in colors such as red, blue, etc., or gray.  I have seen him in gray.  I have seen him in gray.  The Saint Michael.  Because I have a degree in horticulture, and was a botanical illustrator for so long, I have recently been buying plants again, to draw, trying to get back to a "normal" of the past.  I seem to have stored some words or vocabulary in my ACEOS of Saint Michael- my own language maybe, as I sat and stippled his image for hours.  So, drawing ACEOs of him is next to breathing, and may be where my thinking will always be.  That takes care of a subject - and a language - and I am not sure yet why the question of color is still bothering me.  I always tried to work "from life", and as I said, I have seen him in gray.  If I draw his image as an ACEO in color, am I contributing to his existence at all? Adding color to his life or time? or taking away from it?

Being of a very knowledgeable religious background does not mean I believe everything I am told by a church.  I do believe the Bible is true, and Saint Michael is mentioned at least four times in the Old Testament, so yes I believe in Saint Michael.  If my mind is creating a "safe" image and color range because I got hit by lightning, I'm not sure I (it) would have chosen Saint Michael.  He spends his life battling the worst of the worst, and although I also believe he protects us, on some level we have to acknowledge the horror he sees in order to acknowledge him.

So, here I am.  Surrounded by new plants, green and yellow inks, all ready to draw geraniums and sinningias, orchids and trees.  Transcribing the gray colors I see into other colors. In an open tunnel of a near-death existence. Seeing, not only faces of other souls, but Saint Michael, walking in gray.  Did I mention that at least three times I have both purchased and then thrown away Saint Michael items?  Some that were expensive- his mountain as a statue, an Italian statue of him, books of Mont Saint Michel, medals, etc.  I keep trying to stick him back into a small part of my thinking, and the more I do it, over a month or two, there he is again, walking in gray.  And if my language is also tied up into the ACEO image I designed, well, how exactly am I supposed to get away from him?

Gray, as I see him, or in color, as others see him?

ACEO No. 40, "Saint Michael No. 8" - finished this ACEO recently.  I sometimes have drawings come out a certain way on their own.  I had decided to make his hair brown for this image, but he seems to have a darker tone overall, even though I use consistent ink colors. This was completed on Crescent hot press illustration board.

I have started another one.  This will be on Winsor and Newton hot press 140 lb. watercolor paper.  The absorbancy rate of the watercolor paper is higher than illustration board, so the drawing may come out darker still, as more ink will be absorbed into the paper.

This morning I am working on a Saint Michael ACEO.  In order to fill in the tones of his face, it takes many layers of stippling.

Miniature Pen and Ink Drawings - ACEOS

Art Cards, Editions and Originals

ACEO stands for "Art Cards, Editions and Originals" and the concept behind these miniature works of art is that they are always 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches. 

I offer only one icon-style ACEO design, Saint Michael, Archangel. I have decided to offer original miniatures of the one particular design due to a couple of reasons. One reason is the time consuming format of pen and ink stippling, and the care I take in producing all of my stipple ink work. As with egg tempera icons, working with one "model" or image consistently, improves the results of all the images completed. A second, perhaps more important reason, is that I feel that Saint Michael can guide each of us, and he represents both guidance and safety to me personally. As such, I hope anyone would benefit from owning an original image of Saint Michael.

An ACEO in stippled ink offers an affordable way to own an original stippled piece. Even with their small size (the size of a baseball or trading card), each one takes between 18 and 24 hours to complete. I use professional inks (Rotring Artist Color or FW Acrylic inks ) and now offer them only on genuine sheep or calf skin. These are permanent and original drawings, having light and water resistance to a high degree. Although I recommend each piece be matted and framed by the consumer, each will come in its own protective poly sleeve. ACEOs created on sheep or calf skin are highly recommended to be framed, due to the natural elements of the skin. Humidity and temperature will affect a skin more than any other art surface. 

Please note - these pieces are "only" two and a half inches x three and a half inches in size.

Traditionally, true icons are always created to look the same, using the same "model" icon for each new icon. I consider my icon-style pen work to be just that, and not a true icon. My icon-style artwork will not be signed on the front, as is the tradition with true icons. With religious subjects, it is always hoped that God has worked through the artist, eliminating the need for the artist's signature. However, my ACEOs that are religious in nature will be signed and dated on the back.

Saint Michael Design Available

You may expect that Saint Michael's wings would be a color other than red. At the time I originally designed the "model" for these drawings, I was also working on Orthodox-style religious icons. In iconography, Saint Michael's wings are depicted as red when he is in battle against evil, most especially when done in the Voevoda style. Voevoda is a slavic term that means "leader of warriors". An example of this type of traditional icon may be seen here. My model and design is meant to depict Saint Michael as the triumphant leader of the angels over evil, but to also depict the Light of God reflected in his face. I believe we are always protected by Saint Michael.

On Genuine Sheep or Calf Skin

ACEO " Saint Michael "

2.5 inches x 3.5 inches 

$48.00 each plus $5.80 shipping - on genuine sheep or calf skin 

To Order: 

Please email me to special order a Saint Michael, Archangel ACEO, The time for me to complete a special order is two weeks. Payment method is Paypal and payment must be received prior to my beginning the work.