ARTIST'S STATEMENT

"Was born in Los Angeles when Hollywood was still glamorous and smog was at an all time high. Inherited good art genes from my mother,and never wanted to do anything else. Went to Cal State University at Long Beach and majored in printmaking, but always harbored a secret desire to be an underground cartoonist.

First solo work was a 32 page publication called HOODOO (1988), a tribute to the writer Zora Neale Hurston. Her folk tales inspired me to write my own, so I began doing autobiographical stories, and the best of these were collected in a book, LIFE OF THE PARTY (1994). My comics have appeared in many anthologies, and magazines.

Comix lead me into the world of illustration and painting. It was natural to combine the sequential format of comix on a painted canvas, and incorporate my 'cubismo' style of drawing to create eye-popping energy using vibrant acrylics, especially making use of opposite primary colors.

Three years ago I discovered the velvet paintings of Leetag of Tahiti. I bought ten yards of black velvet, a set of oil paints, and encountered an entirely new genre, and have been hooked ever since. The color energy I am attracted to seems even more pronounced with the soft, plush background of black velvet, and many of the pieces appeared to be fluorescent. Additional shading technique, something I avoided altogether with acrylic work, makes my 'cubismo' drawing style undulate and creates a mystery totally open to interpretation.

As a semi professional musician, I am fascinated by the world of performance and consider music lyrics to be as powerful as conventional poetry. My comix background offers the perfect opportunity to interpret songs in a sequential format on the canvas, and doing this without words allows anyone, regardless of language, to 'read' the images of a particular song. I also like to paint the musicians themselves. The postures and antics of players go perfectly with kinetic nature of my 'cubismo' work."