People sometimes smile when I tell them I painted three feet. Then they stand in front of the three paintings together, and the smile changes. They go quiet. Because the Feet series is not really about feet. It is about the journey every one of us is on — where we started, what we learned along the way, and where we are walking now. It is one project, one story, told in three paintings.
Why a foot?
Think about what a foot does. It carries your whole weight. It takes the first step into a new place and the last step out of an old one. A foot touches the ground — it is humble, it works, it gets dusty — but without it, nobody goes anywhere.
For me the foot symbolizes growth, confidence, and evolution. It is the transition from one stage of life to a superior one. Every step forward is a small act of courage. I wanted to paint that idea in a way you could follow across thousands of years, so I painted the same subject three times, in three different ages of the world.
The first step: Foot in Sandal
The journey begins in ancient Egypt. Foot in Sandal is copied from a Pharaonic inscription dating back 4,366 years, depicting King Kagemni of the Sixth Dynasty, in the Saqqara region, during the era of the Old Kingdom.
When I first saw that carved foot, I could not forget it. A craftsman in stone, more than four thousand years ago, paid attention to a king's foot in its sandal — the toes, the straps, the stance of a man standing on his own ground. I painted it in oil to bring it back to life in color, the way it might have looked when it was new. This is the root. This is where we come from.
The second step: Mosaic Foot
The second painting jumps forward to the Renaissance. Mosaic Foot is copied from an artistic sketch by the hand of Michelangelo, from the 15th century.
Michelangelo studied the human body like nobody before or since. His foot is drawn with knowledge — muscle, bone, weight, balance. When I painted it, I felt the distance between the two works. The Egyptian foot is symbol and ceremony. Michelangelo's foot is study and science. Human beings had learned to look closer, to understand the body from the inside. That is growth, painted.
Together, these first two paintings honor the masters who carried art forward, step by step, century by century. I am not copying them to hide behind them. I am standing next to them, learning in public, and saying thank you.
The third step: Golden Foot
The third painting is my own foot, in 2026, painted in a contemporary style and lit by what I call the "sun" of modernity.
This was the hardest one to paint, and the most honest. Pharaohs and Michelangelo are safe — they belong to history. My own foot is me, here, now, a living artist in Riverside, California, still walking, still learning, still stepping forward. I painted it in gold because gold, in my work, is the color of light and value — the same gold I use in Golden Face and in Three Fishes, my 48 by 48 inch oil on wood. Gold says this moment matters too. Our time is not less than the old times. We are the third step.
One story on your wall
These three paintings belong together. Hung in a row, they walk across your wall and across 4,366 years — Egypt, the Renaissance, and today — and they ask a simple question: where are you in your journey, and what is your next step?
That is why collectors respond to them. Almost everyone is in a transition: a new home, a new business, a new chapter after a hard one. The Feet series does not preach. It just walks with you, and reminds you that moving forward is the oldest human story there is.
I am a living artist, painting now, for the homes and lives of people living now. If these three walk into your home, I hope they give you confidence every morning: your next stage can be better than your last, and your own feet will take you there.
Looking for the right piece for your wall? Write to me at [email protected] — tell me about your room and I will help you find the painting that belongs there, and tell you the story behind it.