Your home, upstate New York, is a major influence on your work. Compared to the inspiration of New York state's nature, how do you find inspiration in Los Angeles?
I have been leaving the New York memories in a pile on the floor next to the garbage can. I think I have used that theme and pile of thoughts enough. I love Los Angeles and i find a lot of inspiration here . It's so bright and my home is here now....and having a comfortable safe place to call home makes me feel very inspired. I can go to the ocean and sit there for hours and just look out and feel good. I am sick of feeling bad when I paint trying to tap into some sad memory from who knows when, fuck all that . Don't get me wrong I will still do landscapes and trees and dramatic skies but they will be from just ideas or things I make up in my head, not one particular place really.
Do you get back to New York often to gaze on your inspiration ? Tell me more about back secret and how it came to be such a powerful place for you.
I was just in New York for a month or so . I had a good time , some bad times, and some sad ones as well. I don't get back much but when I do I like to spend time with family. They Inspire me more than anything . they are great, so funny to watch and interact with. Back secret is a memory, thats all i can say about it anymore. It's so diluted from everything I have been through and seen over the years that I just use it when I want to smile or think of my childhood.
I am a big fan of the desert in Southern California. I know that you tend to find inspirations in the woodlands, but have the deserts of this area also provided inspiration for you?
The desert is a great place. The openness and vastness of it all. I have never used it in my work and probably never will but I love going there. I have even started a little cactus garden in my house.
When and how did you end up getting started in this field?
I don't really know anymore. It just sort of happened. I wanted to paint all the time and I did. I guess some things are just supposed to be. Or I just made that my reality and stuck with it until it was my reality.
When did you first discover your creative talents?
It's something that happens so gradually and slow that decades can go by and one day you just feel like you can express whatever you want, in whatever form you want. It's liberating and enslaving at the same time. I seen some signs of it early on but I would say I just realized it fully only recently.
How would you describe your style?
I don't know. It comes off like I am saying more than I actually intended . Am I a landscape painter. I just don't know. I would really like to find out.
Have you done any collaborative pieces?
I would like to but I think the other artists would get sick of me real quick because i have to have things a certain way. otherwise I just can't get into it.
You mention on your blog that black and white photography is something that you enjoy. Do you use it as an outlet if you are having a block with your painting?
Not really, I just like the way it looks. I like the female form in black and white. It feels like I am looking at marble, Or a winter day.
What challenges have you had to deal with most over the years as an artist?
Testing how much you love something and seeing what it turns into when it just won't go away.
One article I read about you mentions that you changed your style at one point. When was this ? How did you change your work ? And what caused you to make such a change?
I felt like I was doing something that wasn't me. I was doing it for everyone else. It could have worked but then whats the point of that. It was years ago and I was still playing with what I had in my head testing how much I could do and how far I could take it . I was just seeing when it would break and then I would hold back until it got strong.
I have seen some live painting, where artists and musicians play back and forth with one another, do you prefer there to be live music to groove with or do you find this distracting?
I like the live painting to an extent. I usually start it off a little before hand and then finish it there. I like to listen to my ipod and pretend I'm alone and let people see what I do.
I noticed you have done a lot of pieces for friends. Have you met all the people who have bought pieces from you?
It's not so much that they are my friends , I just kind of form a bond with people that by my stuff. I have only met a small percentage of the people that have bought my work. I have no idea where some of it went. I tell people to send me pictures of it hanging but I understand if they don't. Its theirs now and the mystery of not knowing makes it better. For them and me.
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