Time Is Something

So very lonely

Black sharpie on paper

Los Angeles 2016

De Kooning once said, "In order for art to work the finished piece needs to at least look better than the original blank canvas."

I think de Kooning said that.

Maybe I imagined it.

In that case I said it.

I don't know.

The Rolling Stones- 2000 Lightyears from home

Just between you and me

colored pencil watercolor and pen

Monrovia, CA, 1995

In 1995 I was living in Monrovia, CA, and, on the advice of a judge, I stopped drinking alcohol.

Not being drunk all the time came as a shock to me. I suddenly had all this time to kill. I decided to work on large, time cosuming projects. The drawing above was my first. It took a couple of weeks to complete. And then I did another.

I drew. I drew in the middle of a life completely shattered. I drew, and I dreamed of a future. A future far away where I could be new.

Years later, in 2011, when I first landed in the Philippines, the first thing I noticed was the smell. Manila smells like an overwhelming mixture of cooked pork, motorcycle exhaust and BO.

As I walked down the tarmac I was still in Monrovia and I was still dreaming.

Calbayog City, Philippines, 2025

Akae Beka - Rebellion Running

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Sleep

watercolor, los angeles, 2016

When I can't sleep I close my eyes and visualize drawing. Sometimes I visualize drawing with the pencil. Other times I see the brush laying down pigments. At some point my mind becomes interested in the drawing and I begin to dream...

watercolor, los angeles, 2016

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The 90s Song Ever - Quarterfinals 1

As usual, listen to both songs before voting, and define "better" any way you wish! (Although by now, you've probably heard all these songs many times over.)

Infinite Ovum

black sharpie

Los Angeles 2013

Did you know that the ovum that went on to become you was quietly resting in your mother's overy when your mother was a fetus inside your grandmothers womb?

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Youth and innocence

pencil drawing

Culver City 1977

This is an old one. 1977.

I can still remember drawing it. I was living at the time, with someone special, in an apartment in Culver City, with a big double bed. When she came home that night she loved it.

I stlll have this drawing tucked away in one of my drawers.

And I still have my memories tucked away in my mind.

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Black sharpie in my moleskin

Earwax cafe Chicago, 2000

Is the Earwax cafe still open? Anyone in Chicago? I used to go there and drink esspresso coffee and doodle in my moleskin.

Sipping a warm cup of coffee while just outside there'd be a raging cold midwestern blizzard. I loved Chicago.

Earwax Cafe, Chicago

from my moleskine

Earwax Cafe, Chicago 2000

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Here's another one.

I should maybe do more of these.

Untitled

red and black sharpies on manila paper

Los Angeles 2018

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New Mexico

red and black sharpie

Somewhere in New Mexico 2010

In 2010 I moved from Miami Florida to Los Angeles California. It was a great trip. I packed all my stuff in my Honda and took two months off to drive across the country.

I wound up spending most of my time camping out in the mountains of New Mexico. I was traveling by mysef and let me tell you, sleeping alone in the pitch black darkness of the New Mexican wilderness was .... creepy.

Whoa.

I remember one day I decided to go for a hike. I walked up a mountain trail following a small creek into the wilderness. After I had wandered for a few miles I found, growing by the water, a wild cherry tree covered with cherries. The cherries were ripe and almost black and so sweet.

So I sat down by the creek and made a lunch of wild cherries and cool mountain stream water. In the middle of the wilderness. No one there except for me and God.

Me, somewhere in Nevada. 2010

During my trip I drew in my moleskine a lot. It was during that trip that I hit upon drawing with red and black sharpies. The above drawing is from my moleskine. I was feeling deep into the colors and imagery of the American Southwest.

I've returned to this motif several times since then. Here is one I did around 2016.

Arizona

red and black sharpie on manila paper

Los Angeles 2016

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ballpoint pen on paper

UCLA 1976

Here's a real old one. I never give out personal demographics just for safety reasons however, I drew this little drawing in 1976 while sitting in the back row half listening to my college chemistry professor. Do the math.

Soul Syndicate Band

Soul Syndicate Band feat. Tony Tuff

From the movie: Words, Sound and Power

Soul Syndicate Band

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