The religious art that were created during the Medieval and Renaissance times inspire me very much. I love the works of Giotto, Martini, Michaelangelo, Botticelli, Da Vinci and Raphael, to name a few. I love visiting Italy and seeing their works in person. I feel a certain affinity with these artists. It is probably why I gravitate towards creating religious art myself, even just by trying to replicate the works of these great artists, in order to study them.
I believe my interest was also influenced by my father who painted a number of Last Supper scenes sometimes featuring likeness of family members as saints. He also painted and sculptured Agony in the Garden scenes, especially after someone close to him died, a way to deal with his grief.
I started painting Madonna and Child subjects and decided to send them to friends and family as my Christmas Cards. It was so well received that folks started collecting them. I painted these Madonnas in different styles but my favorites are those where I interpreted in watercolor Medieval and Renaissance Madonna and Child paintings.
This was the painting I used for my 2009 Christmas card. It is based on the work of Raphael entitled Madonna and Child with Book that I saw at the Norton Art Museum in Pasadena, California.
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Below is my painting inspired by Nardo di Cione's work entitled Madonna and Child which is my favorite work at the Milwaukee Art Museum in Wisconsin. I used gold leafing on the background.

I love Sandro Botticelli and this is a painting I did based on his work entitled Madonna della Loggia that I admired at the Uffizzi Gallery in Florence, Italy.