Brian Fallon once shared that the phrase—“Diamond Sinatras”—was really just an image that came to him. It didn’t fully make sense, but it was something he needed at the time. That’s what every painting in this series is.

The process is intuitive. I don’t map things out in advance. I uncover the story as I go—responding to the colors and textures, the lyrics, the mood, the moment. The paintings tell me what they want to be, and each panel tells its own four-sided tale.

Music is inspiration and co-creator. I play the canvas like a washboard at a kitchen party. The music decides the brushstrokes—paint pens become shaker eggs, and palette knives tap an extra layer to the beat as it mixes.

Most of the characters in this series emerged from lyrics, especially from the music of Brian Fallon and The Gaslight Anthem—though others echo through the layers too. As I paint, the lyrics speak and the story unfolds—not only as fiction, but as something strangely real. It mirrors my own life in uncanny ways. The story becomes layered, meta, reflective. It changes as I do. Everything is in progress and can change anytime.

Sometimes I isolate sections of the canvas with painter’s tape, carving out cinematic panels—individual frames that live within the larger painting. Each panel is its own world, revealing stories that may connect to the main narrative or diverge completely. Some are magnifications of moments too big for the canvas to hold. Others are windows into past and future lives, memories, or alternate versions of reality. They’re movies within the movie, plays within the play. Sometimes they’re wildly active; sometimes, they simply hold something quiet and true that needed to be seen on its own.

I am self-taught, and nothing is too precious to paint over. The layers create the depth. The process is messy, slow, and emotional—but deeply alive. Some paintings take years to finish; some announce themselves as part of the series long after they were momentarily forgotten. I’ve learned not to question it.

The series is called Diamond Sinatras. It means many things. One of them is the idea that diamonds form under pressure. Another is the invisible thread between artists who may never meet but still find each other—across songs, across canvases, across time. That thread is music. That thread is love.

At its core, this project is about the connection with creative energy—the force that heals if we let it. It’s about the way music and art can reach through chaos and bring you back to yourself. It’s about being present. Conscious. Awake. Moving with love and joy as the only way through. Even when you’re standing in the fire.

I’m grateful to the musicians who give me the music—and to the source that gives it to them, and the art to me.

These are the stories I see; what you see depends on you.

Art heals. Music saves. And it’s all connected.

To read the stories visit https://medium.com/@djlovesyou