Black Rock Portrait Project Paintings

"Welcome Home: the Black Rock Portrait Project," now in its 14th year. "Welcome Home." These are the first words you hear when you arrive at the gates of Burning Man. It is a home like no other, transporting its eager participants into a world incomprehensible to outsiders. Participants are liberated from the constraints of their daily lives to create, play, and thrive. They are free to express themselves in creative, bizarre, and joyful ways. The experience of Burning Man can be life-changing for many and is profoundly extraordinary for most. Imagine the incredible art and outrageous experiences created in this temporary city, literally in the middle of nowhere, amidst the dust, wind, and heat. However, the heart of this event lies in the people. Burning Man, at its core, is an event shaped by its participants—remarkable individuals willing to endure the harshest conditions to bring their unique forms of creation and expression to the community. They embrace the opportunity to reinvent themselves and share an experience that can be found nowhere else on the planet. It is these participants, engaged in a glorious act of communal creation, that inspired me to develop "Welcome Home: the Black Rock Portrait Project," a collection of Burning Man portraits captured in the spirit of this vibrant event. Through my figurative oil paintings at Vlasic Studio, I strive to honor their creativity and the transformative magic of Burning Man.