I love creating shapes that flow. They’re some of the most fun things to draw and paint for me personally.

When it comes to flow, what could be more natural than water? Hints of, and elements relating to, the ocean show up in my Realm Ethereal universe. Sometimes I can’t help it: I live right by the ocean.

Monterey, California, is my home. I’m a native Californian, born and raised. Growing up, the ocean was only ever about just an hour away at its furthest. In my 20s, I moved a little closer to the ocean by about 30 minutes. And just in the last 10 years or so, I’ve lived 6 blocks away from the ocean. I see it every morning when I awaken, walk by it several times a week, and can see the white caps on it on a windy day. I consider myself lucky to enjoy this.

I’m also fortunate the Monterey Bay Aquarium is only a nice walk away from where I live. It was at the aquarium where I first discovered the magical sea creature called a Leafy Sea Dragon. The moment I saw it, I was inspired to draw or paint it one day. It looked so much like what a magical, fantasy creature should look like.

I took that inspiration and developed the painting, Ethereal Encounter. This painting features Kiana, a character from my Realm Ethereal universe. She is what’s known as a Metaterran. She is half human and part Ethereal. This makes her unique and gives her special abilities. One of those abilities is being able to travel in between different dimensions.

In the first painting of Kiana, shown here, she floats in a realm somewhere in time and space. There, we see what looks like water, flowing all around her. Her arms and legs appear to indicate movement, yet she travels nowhere. She is, in fact, in a state somewhere between the physical world we all experience and the Realm Ethereal.

Kiana is able to will herself in and out of this state. This gives her the ability to travel in between and, in essence, move between different worlds, almost in the blink of an eye. ◈