!? Drawing

Born in 1963 in Washington D.C. I am a self-taught artist. My art "career" began with doodling during class in high school -- doodling which at one point I started to value and take seriously as a means of self-expression. Over the years I've gone from lined notebook paper to heavy artists paper; from regular No. 2 pencils to colored felt-tip pens to Rapidograph technical pens. I've gone from stashing my favorite drawings in a special folder to look at every once in a while to exhibiting my favorites at galleries. The drawings themselves have changed much, too. My early drawings were mostly extremely simplified flat faces that express an assortment of anxieties and torments. They were drawn in a flash of frenzied activity and generally complete within a minute or two. They have gradually become more and more elaborate, so that now it is not unusual for me to work on a single drawing for several months. But still, I mostly start out my drawings the way I always have -- I pick up my pen and without any particular ideas, start drawing lines and watch attentively to see what emerges.Even with all their strangeness, I hope it is clear that my drawings are primarily about people. People that are lonely; that love each other, but rarely can get along; that strive endlessly for something which they can never quite reach; that seek solace in power over others; that look at animals and wish they didn't have to think so hard about everything; that look at birds and wish they could fly; that suffer, that know they are going to die; and that are inexplicably driven to draw pictures of themselves.