One of my favorite things in this world is to surprise a friend with a painting as a present. Especially a close friend. Especially a close friend who does awesome things. This awesome friend Barak is not only a scientist who ensures Camp Pendleton's habitat is preserved, but is also an epic mountain climber. Before you can eat half of your Cliff bar, he has scaled an entire route.

It seemed only natural that I paint Barak a portrait of his natural playground: rocks. I had heard of Joshua Tree National Park's legendary routes and picked it immediately. I had to paint it quickly in time for his birthday, but had so much fun creating an imaginary rock pile in a place that I have never been.

Check out Barak's Yoga & Mountain Climbing retreats at www.summittoseayoga.com

Welcome art mongers! This digital portfolio is for your tired eyeballs to recover from our disgustingly sales-oriented world with nature landscapes and abstract portraits that give you a view into my dreams.

This Blog, Bear Blog is where I will share my upcoming works and thought processes - a digital sketchbook. Please be a part of my process and throw in your 2 cents on my posts - I value every opinion. Welcome to my creative cave.

JwB

The Bear is a symbol of California, the inspiration behind most of my work. The bear prefers peace and tranquility, which calls for harmony and balance. She hibernates with her ideas and projects until a better time presents itself. At least this bear does.