Ship Rock
Some paintings reveal themselves slowly.
Others arrive with a kind of certainty—before the artist fully understands what they are seeing.'Ship Rock' was one of those moments.
When I began this small painting, I wasn’t setting out to depict a specific place. I followed the forms as they emerged, responding to shape, weight, and presence. It wasn’t until later—after the painting had resolved itself—that I recognized what had appeared on the canvas: Ship Rock, a place I have never seen in person, and one that holds deep sacred meaning within Navajo tradition.
That discovery stopped me.
At this scale, there is no room for invention layered on top of uncertainty. Every mark has to earn its place. What emerged felt less imagined than uncovered—as though the painting had been waiting to be recognized rather than designed.
Though modest in size, 'Ship Rock' carries a grounded, enduring presence. It isn’t illustrative or explanatory. It doesn’t attempt to tell a story outright. Instead, it holds a quiet gravity—something ancient, steady, and watchful—set against open space and light.
This painting is part of an ongoing experience I’ve had in the studio, where the work occasionally leads rather than follows. Where places, figures, and moments surface without planning, asking only to be seen clearly.
'Ship Rock' is an original work, created through that process of discovery, and intended to be lived with—returned to—over time. This original is 8" x 10" and is available here.
