About
I am a 2 dimensional artist and am presently exhibiting at The Whitney Building in Detroit, Om of Medicine in Ann Arbor, Ledge Craft Lane in Grand Ledge, Clinton County Arts in St. John, and NAMI Center City Art Display in East Lansing.
My art skills developed, as I did, after having served over half of a parable life sentence in Michigan prisons. Over 45 years to be exact. As a self taught artist I use multiple mediums including charcoal, watercolor, pastels, and oils. My eclectic body of work includes wildlife, social issues, portraits of both pets and people, and, Pudgies.
Pudgies are a signature style I developed in 1998, when a relief organization asked me to help with a fundraising event. This came at the heels of a friend’s encouragement to develop a personal style. She said that although my work was good, it was all over the place and I should paint a series of pieces that weren’t so diverse. I didn’t fully understand what she meant but when asked to donate art to help victims of Hurricane Mitch, I produced a number of rudimentary works to provide an idea of what the completed pieces would look like. Those fun little sketches were so warmly received, they asked if I would just donate them instead! I agreed, and those pieces became so popular that I eventually had to name them so people would stop referring to them as “those fat people you paint.” This encouraged the “style,” and Pudgies evolved in name and in shape as a result. Devoid of racial, ethnic, religious, political, or sexual orientation, Pudgies are universal figures that convey basic human feelings and actions common to us all, and I believe that’s what makes them so popular.
One of my favorite pieces is in charcoal. It’s one of my best because of where it is. It’s a maze of endless, twisting staircases, and pitfalls depicting my journey in life and it was presented to USSCJ Sonia Sotomayor by the University of Michigan’s Prison Creative Arts Project in 2017 (PCAP).
As a newly appointed Curator for PCAP, which I have been a part of for 25 years, I helped facilitate a Virtual Art class at the Thumb Correctional Facility this COVID fall of 2020. I have taught art classes in Lansing and in my home, and hope to start teaching virtual classes online. Although technology is a new beast to me, I’m slowly learning to tame it to a manageable level. Emphasis on “SLOWLY”.
I have spoken at various events at Churches, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and for two years now, have been a guest lecturer at English For Speakers Of Other Languages at the University of Oakland, in California.
