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.

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 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
$80
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

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