Portfolio > Hold Me — Climbing Paintings

"Hold Me" is a series painted with tender appreciation for the sports of climbing and bouldering. These careful portraits of individual climbing holds celebrate them as works of art in their own right.

Paintings in this series are on display at The Proving Ground bouldering gym in Bloomington, IL.

A watercolor painting of a bright pink climbing hold. It is a wing-shaped, dual-tex jug with texture across the upper two-thirds and a smooth surface across the lower left third.
Hold Me 01
Watercolor on 100% cotton paper
8x10
2025
$80
A watercolor painting of a highly textured black climbing hold, of the type used in bouldering or indoor top-roping climbing gyms. The hold is pentagonal, with an overall triangular shape like a faceted gem. The hold is black with brown screws and bolt.
Hold Me 02
Watercolor on 100% cotton paper
11x14"
2025
$125
A watercolor painting of a green climbing hold, with three round oval mounds placed next to each other and one small mounded oval along the top.
Hold Me 03
Watercolor
8x10
2025
$80
A watercolor painting of a blue climbing hold. It is a vertically-oriented pinch hold with three central, wavy ridges running vertically.
Hold Me 04
Watercolor on 100% cotton paper
08x10"
2025
A watercolor painting of a bright blue climbing hold in a rounded square shape. It looks like a face: two-thirds down there are two screw holes that look like eyes, with a small textured "smile" below. The impression is of smooth, shiny plastic except for the rough-textured mouth and the screws for eyes.
Hold Me 05
Watercolor on 100% cotton paper
8x8"
2025
$64
A watercolor painting of a green acrylic tag used to mark climbing route difficulties. It is a rich green square with a bolt in the top center. The bottom half of the green square is covered by a white tag with the gym's logo on it and a big V6 in the center. The painting is centered horizontally on the paper and placed slightly higher than centered vertically.
Hold Me 06
Watercolor and gouache on 100% cotton paper
8x10"
2025
$80
A watercolor painting of a bright yellow climbing hold. It has an oval shape with the small sides to the northwest and southeast. There is a small ledge that runs across the center of it, just above the bolt hole. It has a warm and sunny feel.
Hold Me 07
Watercolor on 100% cotton paper
8x10"
2025
$80
A watercolor painting of the words SEND IT in bright yellow and red, like a tie-dye effect
Hold Me 08
Watercolor and gouache on 100% cotton paper
11x14"
2025
$125