Artist's Statement

I'm one of those semi-mysterious figures in the aesthetics biz known as a multi-hyphenate. This is not a designation fostered by design but rather by circumstance. I have always loved reading, and writing my own stories developed at a very early age because of that. Drawing is also something I was precociously good at from quite early on; in fact, before I got serious about poetry (songwriting and guitar playing too), I was hunched over the drafting desk my dad had built for me, drawing cartoons for fanzines and independent publishers before all that was the rage. I was a comic book collector, heavily influenced by the "silver age" of Marvel, and imagined a career as an illustrator—as much as I thought about a job or a "career" at that point.

Yet somewhere along the line I got sidetracked on the drawing. Music continued its ascendancy in personal importance, but rather than skip college (which had been the plan) and plunge straight into some semi-romanticized "blue collar" artist mode, my mom talked me into enrolling at the University of Michigan–Flint the summer after I graduated from high school. There, I was fortunate to take some classes that enhanced my interest in writing and literature, and after a year at home I transferred to UM in Ann Arbor, continuing along the same academic path, albeit in a zigzagging fashion. (I wound up with a Bachelors of General Studies.) My trusty drafting desk made the trip, but once ensconced in such a vivacious undergraduate milieu, I drew less and less, at least in a concentrated fashion, focusing instead on band posters and other gig-specific kinds of graphic design. I eventually gave the desk away to someone who I knew would use it, and needed it.

Today, I probably incorporate that early love of illustration in more pragmatic ways than I realize, but actually sitting down with the intention of drawing is rare for me. One thing I enjoy doing, however, is media-specific sketches. I've been known to leave drawings on bills and receipts for favorite waitpersons, but the problem there is that they couldn't keep them, even if they wanted to; so now I'll draw on napkins. Napkins are great because they have a finite space in which to work, and because they are thought of as disposable, I like to recommission them as canvases. Napkins have delicate surfaces, so I tend to use a lighter touch when sketching on them. Often I simply use the pen the server brings with the bill, but sometimes, if I have my shoulder bag with me, I'll use different colors, or add shading in pencil. Part of the pleasure is working on-the-spot and with restrictions, so I don't labor or think too long when doing these drawings.

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