Drawings, Paintings, Music.... Biography

I was born in San Francisco and raised in Los Angeles. In high school I was influenced by the paintings of Sam Francis ...inspired by his work and the graffiti of the Bay Area I began to focus on art in Oakland. I studied painting, film and drawing at the San Francisco Art Institute. After two years I returned to U.C. Berkeley, graduating with a BA in Art. While at UCB I worked at the Berkeley Repertory Theater and studied music at Laney College. I studied poetry with Ishmael Reed at UCB and documentary film with Les Blank. Also interested in music I began studying rhythm with CK Lapzepko and Butch Haynes. Irv Tepper, my sculpture teacher invited me to New York City in 1996. I taught summer school art in Brooklyn and Harlem as well as beginning to draw seriously. A curator I met there, Jim Harithas would later introduce me to Paul Schimmel and Robert Berman. I did my first solo shows with Robert Berman. Rothko, Egon Schiele, Pollack, Frida Kahlo, Klimt, Basquiat, Raymond Pettibon, R. Crumb, Rick Griffin and S. Clay Wilson being my primary inspirations in painting and drawing. My drawings are part of both the Achenbach Museum and LACMA s permanent drawing collections. In the past I have done commission work for Santa Monica Airlines Skate Co., Stray Pets Films and Jeff Ho/Zephyr. Lately I have been hand screening apparel and prints. I like to play electric guitar and sing. I have traveled to surf and am inspired by travel. I am currently represented by the Robert Berman Gallery and by my Self. My collectors include Jim Harithas, Irving Blum, Robert Berman, Tony Converse, Kathryn Bucher, Robert Johnson, Bryan Ray Turcotte, Jackie Dyer, Garrette Morris, Carla Azar, Tom Patchett, J.J. Blair, Meredith Salenger/Patton Oswald and Juliens Auctions.