Commissioned — Kobe Bryant
November 2023- Kenosha, WI
There are athletes and then there are icons. And then there is Kobe.
The request was specific from the start. Kobe going up for a dunk, but with a halo. That one detail changes everything about what the painting is saying. It's not just a sports piece. It's a tribute. A way of keeping someone in the room who should still be here.
That's a different kind of commission to take on. The technical execution matters, the likeness, the movement, the energy of the moment. But the halo asks the painting to carry something heavier than athleticism. It asks it to hold grief and celebration at the same time. To feel like honoring someone rather than just depicting them.
I wanted to get that balance right.
The piece was made for a home, specifically for the moments when people gather. Game nights, cookouts, the kind of evenings where the living room fills up and conversations run long. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, someone is going to glance up at that wall and feel something. Maybe say his name. Maybe just nod.
That's what this painting was built for. Not to hang quietly in a corner but to be part of the room when the room is full. A presence. A reminder that the people who inspired us don't really leave, they just change where they live.
