David Nakahara at Horizons! Exhibit

My background is video producing and directing.  I’ve had the pleasure and honor of working with people like David Carradine, John Saxon and Kent Wakeford (Kent was the  cinematographer for two Martin Scorsese films.) I primarily enjoy doing realistic oil portraits. My portrait of the Chinese actress “Gong Li” won “Best of Show”in 2019 at the Alameda County Fair.  In 2020 my painting “Edge of Heaven” won best in category (Acrylic) at the Alameda County Fair.  My painting “Ascendance”  won best in show for “Freshworks” in 2021 at the Huntington Gallery in Pleasanton, CA.   I do custom commissioned portrait paintings.  My goal is to capture the soul and inner beauty of a person.  I enjoy all aspects of painting and love to explore and expand my skill set and creativity.  I am fascinated  by the after life, the heavens, the unseen and man’s relationship with the spiritual world.  If there is a theme to my works it would be, “Heaven on Earth.”  I want to capture the moments where the lines between heaven and earth are blurred.  Where does heaven begin and earth end?  When does the beauty of a person become pure heaven?  Is heaven just an appreciation of beauty? Is heaven just gratefulness of what you have?  For me the pure act of painting is heaven.