I used to think I wanted to be a famous artist who made tons of money from their art... But over the years I've learned chasing dollars and playing the game called capitalism is a bunch of bullshit... and what really makes me happy is teaching, creating, and sharing art. In fact it makes me so happy that I've willingly lost/spent money every year of my life doing it and I plan to keep doing so. When you factor in all the costs for supplies, publishing, printing, marketing, art classes, taxes, and more, art is quite an expensive pursuit... But it makes me happy and believe that you should invest in your sanity, and I'm  going all in...
     And luckily for me, I've worked my way up to a point where I can now earn a living teaching art. I want my motivation to create and share art to be free from financial aspirations so I'm now changing my business name to "Non-Prophet".  As a "Non-Prophet" artist I'm committing myself to paying it forward by initiating a policy where I will donate 100% of the proceeds from my art toward various charities. My focus will be on supporting the environment, the homeless/poor, and other humanitarian causes. I still believe my art is worth money (in fact, it's worth more than money!) and it is valuable in many ways however I already have much more than I need and giving back to the community is a constant reminder of that. Let's make the world a better place, peace y'all!

In the 2021 Spring edition of the "Moorpark Review" my art "Still Evolving" was featured as the only full-page image! Publishing was delayed as was the shipment so I just received it today. 

While going for a light jog up in Bellingham, WA I noticed out of the corner of my eye what I thought was a 4-leaf clover... I gave it a second look and sure enough, 'twas! I briefly browsed the surrounding clovers and quickly noticed there were about 6 or 7 other 4-leaf clovers very nearby! I left the other clovers and returned home. Then I told my brother I thought I had found a lucky, big money patch and so our Mom drove us back there later that day... Within 20 minutes we had scoured that approximately 2x8' patch of grass and found 74 4-leaf clovers (2 of which actually had 5 leaves).  I made a peace sign with the clovers for our Mom and we gave the rest away to friends and others :) My previous similar record was in 2012 in Everett, WA when I found 72 4-leaf clovers in 10 minutes, and those were all picked myself. 

Many famous artists have painted self-portraits throughout time... If they had lived today, would they have considered selfies to be as worthy of such artistic prestige? What is the difference between a selfie and a self-portrait? I explored that idea recently by first taking many different selfies. I tried to be thoughtful about composition, perspective, lighting, and considered what I was trying to portray. I think most selfies generally are taken quickly and simply meant to let others know when/where you were at a certain time. Because of this, I think the main difference between selfies and self portraits is in the intention. A self-portrait takes a lot of time to make and because of that, more thought goes into each detail. There's nothing wrong with selfies, but I don't think most selfies are equivalent artistically to self-portraits. Regardless, my selfie exploration led to this painting... For this painting I limited myself to a zorn palette - meaning I only used 2 colors from the color wheel (yellow ochre and cadmium red), while also using black and white. I originally planned to paint the chess pieces, however after spending almost 15 hours on this painting, I was running out of time to submit this piece for my class... Then I had an idea... What if I titled the painting "Playin' Mindgames" and showed a player visualizing the game? And thus, a cool/new idea was created out of necessity and a creative/flexible mindset. There are already enough paintings of people playing chess, but I don't think there are many of people imagining playing chess ;)

“Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.” ~ Bruce Lee

This quote was the inspiration for this project. The goal was to explore the meaning of this quote through the creation of larger-than-life size drawing of Bruce Lee. I drew Bruce on poster board and painted him with ink wash and water color. After adding reinforcements and cutting him out I planned to take him to the ocean so he could become one with the water. Along the way I realized some opportunities to take this idea a little further. Embracing the four elements, I took helped Bruce experience Earth: "If you go in the sand, you become the beach" and Air: "If you go in the air, you become the sky" and Water: "If you go in the water, you become the ocean", and finally, Fire: "If you play with fire, you become the fire".  To see the full creative process, check out this youtube link: ​Be Water, My Friend - A journey of discovery and expression - YouTube

I designed, built, and tested a prototype for a floating art studio. The purpose of the unit was to serve as a one person occupancy space where an artist could relax, create, and feel inspired. With a glass domed ceiling and see through glass floor, their was a balanced perspective and an easy view to look up into the sky or down deep into the water below. With only a small resting space, a few drawers, a boombox, and a small table, this unit isn't for parties or gatherings, it exists only as a personal art studio. With no engine or sails it must be tethered to shore (I used fishing line) and float in calm waters such as in lakes or ponds. The maiden voyage of the S.S. Peapod (named after Bob Ross' squirrel) was a great success thanks to some floatation pouches made of ziploc bags which were placed underneath the craft. It floated all around the pond at Alice Keck Park in Santa Barbara, CA. The true test was seeing if it would float without the floatation bags, and unfortunately it did not. As Bob Ross would say, the sinking was not a mistake, it was a happy accident. And even though the Peapod didn't survive its second sail, it was a learning experience and fun project. Maybe someday an investor will sponsor this vessel and I can create my own art within a floating studio such as this! :) 

What is it? Why does it need to be anything? The goal here was to explore materials and structure to create a complex, undefinable piece of art. My art teacher told me to create something that would really upset a carpenter so I started by using hot glue to connect random wood scraps I had. Then I spray painted the structure with multiple colors of paint. Next I wrapped and weaved yarn and different fabrics in and around the structure. At this point I was intending to be done but I hated how it looked so I tried another layer of paint, this time gold to cover the whole thing. I really liked how the paint looked on some of the material and it added some uniformity to the whole piece. 

​Inspired by artist Erwin Wurm and his one minute sculptures I created a series of interesting temporary sculptures myself. While most are just meant to create an interesting composition and juxtaposition, some focus on the use points, lines, and planes (such as the window blinds). The piece with the government figures on the toilet lid is a commentary on our current state of politics (a.k.a. shitshow)... Notice the hand in the sandal (handal?) in the window! Also I included some concept sketches as well. It was challenging to think of ideas for this at first but once I got going, it was really fun.

This year we had planned to participate in Santa Barbara's Imadonnari Street Painting Festival... BUT due to coronavirus and the 'stay-at-home' order, the festival has literally gone to the streets. Instead of being at the Santa Barbara Mission, this year artists were encouraged to chalk their driveways and the streets in their neighborhood before submitting their art online. I made the Pooh Bear chalk art and my wife did the other one. As we were chalking some people walk/rode by and cheered us on saying "yea! Imadonnari!" - It wasn't the same as being next to other artists all day creating but it was cool knowing other people were chalking up their neighborhoods.