​I have been making some smaller pieces as of late with a few friends. We are trying to do one piece a week and then we get together and compare notes and post them for sale on eBay. It has helped my practice immensely. I realize I have been categorizing my thoughts in a way that was not beneficial. With this project, you generally have to work quickly and so thinking and planning too much can get in the way. I've generally been finding images that appeal to me somehow, then I come up with a quick plan of what to do. Then I do it. Not the usual waffling, and setting ideas aside for another day. Also, lately I've started thinking about how these might work larger and what's happened now is they are no longer part of this "small idea" category but legitimate works, ripe for expansion.

The Leaper - 5" x 8.75" x 3.25"

This is from a newspaper file photo of a riot in Richmond, Virginia in 1974. Dubbed the Rock and Roll Riot, the clipping reads: "Richmond, Va. April 27-- The Leaper-- Top of unmarked city vehicle gradually gives way under the onslaught of feet. Other cars were burned and over turned by mobs of rock music fans who rioted in Richmond City Stadium Saturday after drug arrests were made. richmondmagazine.com/news/rock-and-roll-riot-03-30-2011/ 
It is painted on a stack of MDO style plywood. 

Young Girl In Texas - 7.75" x 7.75" x 3"

This is from a photo series commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency to document American life in the 1970s as part of the Documerica project. Photographers traveled to Texas to document the water and air pollution crisis, but also captured life in small towns and local ranches. Teenage drug use just so happened to part of that life. It is also painted on a stack of MDO style plywood. 

Stilts- Hot Mama Long Legs - 5" x 9.75" x 2.25"

This is from a early 1960s fashion photo from artist Hurst P. Hurst. It is painted on MDO style plywood, which just means it has a paper face on it. I designed the piece with the wave patterns in the leg area just to have some fun. 

Two Chicks, Two Smokes, Four Skates - 5" x 7" x 1.25"

This painting was made using a "found photograph" as a reference. It is of two young ladies taking a smoke break after some roller skating and generally being fabulous. I designed the wood form that it is painted on to enhance the feeling of maybe looking through a fashion magazine and spying these two ladies. They are twins but they are not. They each occupy their own "page" or panel but are very similar otherwise. ​

Someone's Parents 5" x 9.75" 
​I saw this picture in my newsfeed one day and had to paint it.
​Turns out they are my friend Vagner Whitehead's parents.

Some Lady - 5.5" x 6.5"

The trim around the top holds the grass inside and has a place for water to drain so it's not just an outside bathtub with books. Work smart!

Carving nearing completion...

12" x 12" x 5"

This is my painting/construction/sculpture of the image on the back cover of the KISS ALIVE! album. The photograph was taken on May 16, 1975 at Detroit's Cobo Hall during KISS' Dressed To Kill tour. I spent many hours as a youth staring at this image among many other LP's. Back when it was fun to look at album artwork and wonder about things. There was something about the vinyl record format, the size, the feel of a double record, the artwork seemed more important back then. In staring at this photo I often wondered what it would be like to be there, to be present for what is now an iconic moment in Detroit's musical history. 

My piece is trying to offer that chance, to be able to stick your face in the piece and simulate an experience that is only a moment in time. The lyric, "I Want To Rock And Roll All Night And Party Every Day", while maybe not a healthy way to live your life, it's at least a plan, an ethos. The fact that this photo was taken so long ago, has given me a lot of time for reflection, I myself have done a lot of meandering in life, and often wished I had a life plan in place. These burnouts holding the sign have at times had life figured out in ways that I had not. I heard that KISS sends a limo for them whenever they play in town. Thats a lot of fame and perks that resulted from a couple of pot smokers drawing and painting on a piece of paper. The power of art.

I designed the form in Autodesk Inventor Professional, a 3-d software program. I based it on a piece I had made a few years earlier that is made from a Chinese food take-out container. 

I cut the piece using a CNC router out of a slab of mdf that I glued up. I finished it off with some cuts on a table saw. It is primed and painted and then clear-coated with a high gloss auto finish. All of this was done before I started painting the image inside. It's a bit like making the frame before you paint the picture. 

This piece is being shown currently through September 12, 2015 at Inner State gallery in Detroit on Gratiot Ave. Unfortunately for anyone with purchasing on their mind, the piece was snapped up pretty quickly before the show even opened. Good news for me.