Like a Rainbow in the Dark

Ronnie James Dio

July 10, 1942 –
May 16, 2010

One of the Gods of Heavy Metal passed from our company recently. I felt compelled to pay tribute.

In Portsmouth, NH, they had no idea back in the 50's that the innocent little Italian kid playing the trumpet and french horn would be an arena-destroying force of Metal 20-30 years later. Raised Roman Catholic, Dio made the 'devil horns' famous during his career shooting them on stage to his legions of loyal thrashing metal heads, which they picked up and ran with- creating the everlasting symbol of METAL! I took this along with elements from such songs as "Holy Diver" to create the tribute you see here.

Click HERE to Order an Artist's Print of this Illustration!

Portrait of My Grandfather

My Grandfather passed away just before Christmas three years ago. As a gift this year for my grandmother, I illustrated a portrait of him. This is the first time I've drawn someone really close to me in this fashion... it was like I was hanging out with him as he came across in the initial sketch. I could feel him smiling through the paper with warm and healing acceptance of my rendering.


Thomas Joseph Hardin
1928-2006
inks on paper / 2009

The infinity symbol is made of grapevine. My grandfather would gather grapevine from the nearby woods of our farm and he would weave wreaths and baskets with just the vine and his hands. Sometimes, my grandmother would decorate them with ceramic animals and flowers and they would sell them at flea markets and my father's convenience store. My grandparents provided a crafty atmosphere in there home and always gave me projects to do as a child. This probably played an important role in my early interest in the arts as well as my creative development.