Pigtails

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

I am a survivor of Childhood Sexual Abuse, which deeply impacted my sensibility and sense of self. One positive thing that came out of it was that it made me more sensitive to the suffering of others. And it made me more acutely appreciative of our ability as humans to transcend the paradigms and stories that tend to limit what is possible. I believe we all have it within us to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles. As a portrait painter my work is not superficial. The viewer comes away with a sense of the subject. This is the result of a deep humility that is somehow baked into my process; I don’t let my ego get in the way of a person’s truest, best self emerging as I work. I think of my job as basically to simply get out of the way and let my subject emerge.

Emergence

There were other obstacles along the way, of course. For instance, the day my father told me Detroit wasn’t big enough for the both of us. But this push prompted me to seek my fortunes in New York City and beyond. In a way, my success was forged out of a series of life failures. One can only fail when one stops trying. And there came a point in my music career that I realized I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life with a clarinet stuck in my mouth. As much as I loved making music, I failed at it, meaning I realized on a deep level it wasn’t for me. Similarly with acting, I realized putting my soul on the line for mostly hostile strangers was not what I enjoyed. I still love music and acting but now they inspire my art.

Collaborations make me sane

Today, I am an active participant in the Charleston and Summerville artist community, but I do coaching and workshops all over the country. I am developing an online coaching program which will soon be available for individuals and small groups internationally, via Zoom. Details to follow. I create portraits throughout North America. I consider the portrait process an intimate collaboration between myself and my sitter. I also create other paintings from people’s travel photos or capture events with live event paintings. I am available as a quick sketch artist at special events like weddings and corporate gatherings. I do public speaking and demonstrations about my career and the creative process, focused on our selves as the ultimate work of art we are put on Earth to create. And finally, I am always looking for multimedia collaborations with film makers, directors, other performance art creatives and like minded artists.