Process

Q          Where & how do you get your ideas, what's your method for getting from mind to canvas? Do you see a picture flash in your head and decide to paint it, or do you have an idea first and then develop visuals to represent it? What sort of reference do you use and how do you determine the composition?

A          The ideas for my paintings arrive with some assembly required. First I have to identify the component parts. It's like I'm playing with a dolls house, arranging characters in a setting and making up stories about them. Only it's my house and my street, and the characters are real people, or mostly real.
          Moving cut-outs around sparks ideas for me so I make collages with photographs and sketches, sometimes rearranging elements on my computer. I start painting with white on a dark canvas & the images emerge from darkness the same way they do in a dream.  I also always listen to music, particularly soundtracks from spaghetti westerns.

Q          It seems you think about compositions, and that you look at art, or use the past as a tradition out of which to grow.
Is that true?

A          Definitely. I look at art from all periods to learn the best way to build a picture. Photography and movies are also places to see the best way to guide the eye from one thing to another.

Q          How has your working process evolved from
printmaking to painting to tattooing?

A          Different mediums force me to work in different ways. Painting is a solitary activity; tattooing is an experience with another person, often a collaboration. People approach me for tattoos if they like my painting, and I'll draw a design based on their ideas.

Q          What emotions cause you to make your paintings? Can you describe your creative process in terms of your feelings?

A          When I make pictures I forget my emotions entirely and get lost in the picture-making process. If I feel anything at all, it's that I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. Time stops. It's sort of like I'm standing to one side, and watching myself put this thing together from across the room. Basically I disappear for awhile, and when I come back, there's a picture on my easel.

Autobiography | Dreams | Surrealism | Symbols | Process
Materials | Subjects | Stuckism | Stories | Style | Inspiration
Time Travel | Influences | Popularity | Other