Judson Michael Agla

The truth about me is that I am the hunted, hunted by the Beast that rules in my mind. I know that sounds a bit to poetic but when one describes mental illness they can only make sense of it in their own way, in their own words. The Beast comes in many forms, you can call it bi-polar disorder, o.c.d., depression, whatever you want, but it's still a Beast and it's always there.
My artwork and my writing are tools to fight, they're my swords, my guns, my fire and my walls.

%99 of my work is drawn on 17 by 14 inch paper as listed, however the actual image size is smaller than that to provide a trim around the image for framing, also a lot of my work done with a technical pen has a blueish background, the originals have a white background. Regardless, I can be contacted for any specifics you happen to desire.

My Art education started off early as my Father was an artist, wood working was his specialty and he was damn good at it, he was a sign painter by trade.
Then in the high school years I went to Wexford C.I. which was a school devoted to the arts; drama, music and the visual arts, thank goodness because if it weren't I'd never get out of there.
The next step was Chef school at George Brown where I mostly succeeded save for the fact that I dropped out about 3 weeks before I finished; I was young and foolish and wanted to be an Artist.
Which leads us to the Ontario College of Art where I only spent one year; it was foundation year and the word was at the time that they were moving the money to the subjects that would graduate employable persons, so the fine arts department was going to suffer , and seeing as that was my ambition I left never to return.
The next step in this crazy tale was quite a few years later in Vancouver when I applied and was accepted into the Capilano College Classical Animation Program. Ironically this would be the only post secondary school that I graduated from and the only profession I would never seek. I don't know what I was thinking; I had no interest in animation, I hated being there save for my clas...

I've got countless exhibitions under my belt; I've been hacking it out in bars and restaurants since I've been 18, it's grueling work, dealing with the owners, dealing with the walls, can I put nails in them ? do I have to hang them on wires ? Can you move this piano so I can get to the wall ? Then when you go to check the place out during open hours you find a piece on the floor and another one stolen. I have had a few "real" gallery shows but despite the hassles the simple truth is that more people move through bars and restaurants than galleries, so if you want to sell, sometimes you've got to dance with the devil to achieve your goals