Warner had to have a look and the result is a painting called “The Boys”—three mature gents shooting the breeze and a big dog sprawled comfily around a Starbucks table. Today, that painting is perched above the condiments at the same location.

“Some artists are called to portray more sophisticated or classic subjects, but I guess the everyday images of a normal life take precedence for me,” Warner says. “If we take the time to take a look, these can truly be our little slices of heaven.”

The oil painting artist’s passions are people, scenes from his travels, and the Southern California lifestyle, especially in La Jolla. He was inspired by the La Jolla coastline, in particular, and began to paint it in his teens. Striking views, arresting colors, and an emotional contact draw both the artist and the collector. He enjoys limiting his color palette, so that “there’s not such a mishmash” on the canvas.

Warner is a San Diego native, but he also lived in many other parts of the U.S. in the West, on the East Coast, and also in the Philippines. His life experiences in his younger days in those varied locations whet his appetite for the adventure of travel.

He obtained a degree in art and design from San Diego State and taught high school fine art for seven years. He next turned his attention to the business of graphic art design, founding Warner Design Associates. For 28 years his firm produced marketing literature, magazine design, and catalogs, among other applications, for clients as diverse as Sony, Callaway Golf, Chevrolet, and the San Diego Zoological Society.

Sometimes he had as many as 12 or 14 employees and, based on the problems he sometimes had managing them, he wrote the book All Hands on Deck, which is available on Amazon. The book uses a nautical theme to describe different types of employees (“the navigator,” “the first mate,” “stowaways,” etc.) and how to work best with each type.

“I could see that there was a need for the book by entrepreneurs who were expanding their businesses and had no human resources training or skills,” Warner says.

In 2006, Warner phased out of graphic arts and returned to his first love—painting. You can see more of his work at www.richardswarner.com (note the “s” in the middle).

Jacqueline Shannon is a San Diego-based journalist and author whose books include Raising a Star (St. Martin’s Press).