New Woodcut Responding to Norman Rockwell’s “Freedom from want” 1943

1. How It Started:

  • This started from a 30-year observation from living with families who were poor/struggling coupled with 20 years of teaching in lower-socio-economic communities. There was always a gross disparity between rich and poor that bugs me.

2. How I Determined the Narrative Focus:

  • After weeks of planning and months of reviewing artworks used as propaganda to manipulate people through false messaging, Norman Rockwell’s 1943 work titled “Freedom from Want” of the “Four Freedoms” series inspired by FDR’s Four Freedoms speech had to be addressed. Initially pitched to the War Department and Office of War Information (rejected) and done for the 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘵, this work was used by the media and the Federal Government to push a false narrative to the public whose lives don’t, won’t, and in some cases can’t look like this. In 1943, the media and US Gov’t wanted to sell us a false reality of what life for people could, and will look like. And, since Trump’s second term, this reality has become even further from attainable.

3. So the questions became:

  • How do I convey the message of where we are heading under the 2025 administration?
  • How do I create a work that operates as a clear response to his work while at the same time operating as a prediction of what’s to come under this leadership?

4. How it Became a Drawing:

  • I knew I had to keep the propaganda poster in tact with the same wording.
  • I knew I wanted treat this as a post American-Moral-Apocalypse piece so gas-masks were necessary, especially since the genocide of Palestine is being supported/fueled by the American government.
  • The year I am predicting is like Huxley in Brave New World – about 109 years into the future. But in my case, I am predicting 50 years of so. So my future year is 2075.
  • Kids would not be affordable to have – so I removed them.
  • The elderly don’t live past mid 60’s so they are removed as well.
  • The rich would have had to sell their fancy art to survive, so the art is removed from the wall.
  • The fine glassware stays, but just water. No food. Now even the rich are living on military rations, but not enough for everyone.

The Challenges:

  • Rockwell’s piece plays with masterful work in the white tones, so I’m trying to respect that work and represent it in a woodcut
  • Keeping the semblance of light passing through thin linens
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New Woodcut Addressing Women’s Reproductive Rights

1. How It Started:

  • This started from a Resistance call from Planned Parenthood.

2. How I Determined the Narrative Focus:

  • I did a lot of research into current legal issues, laws, circumstances regarding female reproductive rights in the U.S.A. today. I also read the book Policing the Womb by Michele Goodwin.
  • As I came upon a massive amount of information I had to narrow it down to what I wanted to express. For me, the piece had to be about resisting current governmental policies, legal decisions/actions, and definitely holding hospitals accountable for their part in the issues.
  • As time went on for the next 3 months I determined the work would have the following aspects: Pregnant woman as center point, hospital that denied a woman critical care in California, a resist fist, the 9 star American flag, drones, and a title I was not clear on.
  • So, the questions that came to mind were:
    • Do I go with what I felt was needed and be aggressive in my messaging, or do I play it safer and try to make this more marketable?
    • How do I push and advance myself with this?

 3. How it Became a Drawing:

  • Pregnant Women= I had to sketch a woman in a new way that completely put the focal point on the baby she was carrying. She had to appear distressed.
  • I took a picture of the Providence St. Joseph Catholic Hospital in Ca where they refused to help a woman and gave her a bucket and towels instead. I had to position it so it reflected that the woman was just denied care there as she stood lost out front.
  • I wanted to add foreboding clouds in the background but I wanted to do them in a more abstract way. Purely representational.
  • The American Flag with 9 stars would hold the word “RESIST” to highlight the need to not only resist what is happening, but so too the Confederate attitude Trump is pushing (9 star flag represents the 9 original states to secede).
  • The drones would be my vision of where we are heading. The drones now monitor pregnant woman. Total loss of privacy and control.
  • THE BANNER hanging from the building would also be a vision into the future where there are things I am forecasting to exist such as:
    • H.A.R.R.T = Hospital Against Reproductive Rights & Treatment
    • F.P.A. = Fetal Protection Agency

The rest of the text would be laws that exist or have been pushed that are pivotal laws restricting women’s rights to reproductive rights/choice.

4. 𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒:

a) Shattered glass cut style (over 1,000 cuts in one window)

b) 1/3 of block cut in my style “Free Cutting” (no drawing to guide me)

c) Stucco texture created through intentional pick-up cut style

d) New representational cloud style

5. 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗧𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗶𝗻:

– Chatter cut – hold handle looser and let blade chatter as it cuts

– Glancing cut – hold tight on handle, keep pressure light and barely touching the block, and quickly glance the blade across the block.

– Grazing cut – hold handle tight, very focused, set line depth light, and firmly cut.

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁: This RESIST print addresses current issues regarding women’s reproductive rights as well as my prediction of the future if we do not resist now. The woman is being forced to carry her pregnancy. Her every step is policed by drones. Her body criminalized. If we do not resist with like strength and fortitude, I predict a world where Hospitals will support H.A.R.R.T. & F.P.A. (Hospitals Against Reproductive Rights & Treatment and the Fertilization Protection Agency) where they refuse treatment and enforce Ca, Texas, and Louisiana bills such as SB 8, Act 548, HB 813, Trap Laws and more that force women to keep children against their will. We MUST RESIST now!!

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New Woodcut for 2025

“Lost” Woodcut printed on Washi. 17.5″ inches x 17.5″ inches

1. How It Started:

  • I had taken a photo of an infinity mirrored dodecahedron at a friend’s house. To gaze into that object was captivating and filled me with a feeling of emptiness.

2. How I Determined the Narrative Focus:

  • I knew that I wanted to use the image, but I was unsure if I wanted to go the route of “searching for morality” where I would involve other images, or if I wanted to just try to capture the feeling of being lost.
  • As time went on for the next 2 years and the world of America changed, I found myself watching people perpetually feel increasingly more unsure of their place in this world. Unsure of the future. Unsure of tomorrow, and tomorrow’s tomorrow.
  • So, the questions that came to mind were:
    • Which imagery to use?
    • How do I express the idea and not be derivative in my work?
    • How do I push and advance myself with this?

 3. How it Became a Drawing:

  • DOCECAHEDRON= I had to try to sketch the image from my phone that I had taken some years before. And, I had to try to keep my style of sketching with sharpie’s directly on the block.
  • Then, I had to figure out what would be in the middle. I investigated using scuba-divers, or spelunkers, and then I decided on a hiker – packing for a long journey.
  • The hiker peered into the distance and stood unsure, almost captivated by the endless choices.
  • I decided to include nothing else.
  • THE VIEWER’S JOB: I also decided to make it so the viewer has to search for him while fighting the feeling of being overwhelmed by the endless void in front of them.
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NEW “Rooster – Art Deity” WOODCUT FOR 2023/2024 – INCEPTION TO DRAWING EXPLAINED

1. How It Started:

  • My art colleague Calvin at M Street were having a simple conversation and chose to take one of the top selling images in the world, the rooster, and do a work incorporating that image into it.

2. How I Determined the Narrative Focus:

  • I knew that I wanted to express the public’s obsession with the rooster as the “deification of the rooster.”
  • I referred back to biblical iconography of the past and my experiences in churches around all of Europe that I have been too. At that point, I knew I had a concept. To put the rooster into some sort of Christian biblical iconography.
  • So, the questions that came to mind were:
    • Which imagery to use?
    • How do I express the idea and not be derivative in my work?

 3. How it Became a Drawing:

  • ROOSTER = First, I had to determine which rooster I wanted to use in the work. For me, I like to educate the public whenever possible so I chose the Barbu D’Uccle rooster – a Belgian breed of bearded bantam chicken.
  • Then, I had to figure out what surrounding imagery to incorporate. I knew I wanted to try a mylar balloon since artists in Asia have been doing works with them for a few years and I loved the look and the challenge of doing something new and not common in American works.
  • Once I had the rooster floating as an image on a mylar balloon I knew it had to be flying in the heavens to really bring about that biblical feel. This would put the rooster, a false god and impermanent image at that, in the same position we see Christ as the public deifies the rooster.
  • The clouds, the background was to be the challenge. I strive to not do imagery that other printmakers do. So, the clouds had to be my own design and something new to printmaking. I found numerous references to dramatic skies and decided to use those to render my own design that pushes the rooster balloon forward and feels biblically dramatic. I draw on the block loosely so it is drawn in just like a rough sketch, AND THE CHALLENGE is to cut that and render it with strong tonal values and drama with dark and light.
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New “A Whale’s Song” Woodcut for 2023 – Inception to Drawing Explained

1. How It Started:

  • I have always loved whales and I have studied whale songs and their dynamics to some degree. I knew I wanted to do a piece on Humpback whales and their songs. But the question was – what narrative do I want to tell and how can I design it?

2. How I Determined the Narrative Focus:

  • I did a lot of research into current whale issues (threats to them and data on what is happening with them – deaths attributed to bycatch, long-line fishing, noise pollution, military impact on whales, cargo ship strikes, etc. ) and knew I wanted to tell a story about whale songs and how they use them to communicate to each other. But what do they communicate to each other? That was what I was searching for. Over time and after about 50 hours of outlining things they may say, I watched a series of documentaries on their age and it hit me – what if whales were stewards of history? What if they were the keepers of Earth’s history? I HAD IT!
  • This led me to research what exactly whales might hold as historical knowledge. I thought of ocean history, land history, animal extinctions, human impacts, and more. But, I wanted the history they keep to be as big and important as they were – MOUNTAINS. That was the key. So, the questions that came to mind were:
    • Which mountains or mountain ranges?
    • Why those if more than 1?

 3. How it Became a Drawing:

  • First, I had to get the image of the humpback I wanted. I wanted a side view. I wanted it clear but not so covered by water sun ripples that the whale was not very dynamic. I watched whale footage and would stop the footage at spots looking for the perfect still. After a long while, maybe 300 photos and 6 documentaries, I managed to stop a video just as I got what I needed. I sketched the image.
  • After, I had to pic what mountains. The first that came to me was actually fast – El Capitan. As I live near Yosemite, I have always wanted to find a NEW way to involve El Capitan into a work. But, I wanted the whale to be a steward of more than 1 thing, and since whales traverse massive spans of the globe, I decided this whale would hold the history for a not-so-well-known mountain Ama Dablam in the Himalayas. This mountain is often over-looked by most people, but it is well known as one of the “mountaineering dreams” in the Himalayas. It has dramatic and unique features such as one knife-edge walk where there is a 600 meter drop on either side as one walks along a narrow beam of snow/rock called mushroom ridge. This whale will be the story-teller of the history of these 2 mountains. I decided that the whale would inhabit these 2 mountains in him – symbolizing carrying their history with him forever.
  • I had to now find a way to build a narrative involving whale songs too. But how?

4. How did I create the sheet music of the whale song of the mountains?

  • I had done a lot of research into whale songs and I stumbled across the article written by Maris Fessenden published on the Smithsonian Magazine website (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-whale-songs-look-sheet-music-180956813/) where they explain how a team of people broke down humpback whale songs and actually drafted sheet music for their sounds. DONE! I now had it. I would merge the musical notations with sheet music paper and my whale with the mountains and construct the final narrative image.
  • Once I drew the images onto the block, I seal it with a spray varnish and make changes as I cut from there on out.

SEE THE IMAGE FOR WHAT THE BLOCK LOOKS LIKE ABOUT 75% CUT! You can see hand drawn in changes and how it is taking shape.

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New Woodblock Print Draft Completed

The newest woodcut has been completed and the edition is under way. This edition will be small because as of 2023, Barbick is now only doing editions of fewer than 5 prints in each edition. The woodcut took over 120 hours to cut over 4 months and multiple years to conceive.

Title: “Hiding in Plain Sight”

Image Size = 13.4″ x 21.4″

Paper Size = 17.5″ x 24″

Edition Size: 3 (2 for sale)

Price: $1500.00 (unframed)

Woodcut hand printed on Washi paper. No press used.

About This Work: Imagine you are peering across the way into the next building. Act as a voyeur and snoop looking deeply and carefully into the windows. You are supposed to discover what is going on in the next building. Hopefully, once you have an idea of what is happening, you’ll ask the question – why? What are we doing to cause this? And, what can be done to stop this?

Side Note: The building was designed so that all through it, it is off a bit. The building is designed to distract you, occupy your mind, and upon examination, the building shouldn’t make sense either. The building is a metaphor for the absurdity held within.

Detail images below. Please check out the close-ups

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New Woodcut for 2023 – Inception to Drawing Explained

This woodcut started in 2022 has been the labor of 4 years to get to this point.

1. How It Started:

  • At start I knew the issue (the erosion of teen wellness in society) I wanted to address, but the question was – How do I address it in a new way that is dynamic? And, how do I narrow this down.

2. How I Narrowed the Focus:

  • Over 3 years of concept drawings and idea discussions, I just could not figure out what to focus on. How to illustrate it. How to get across the specific problem and connect it to the public’s experience. BUT, after months of researching I narrowed the focus – mental health in teens + the explosion of therapy needed for teens based on how many ACES kids met. So, the questions that came to mind were:
    • How many kids do need therapy? How bad is this problem?How much therapy options and services are being provided in schools nationwide?
    • How much does the public know about this?
  • These questions led to the answer that the public has no real clue how bad the problem is and how far out of control society has gotten. Parents and community members have no idea of the scope and scale. So, the question was  – why? How do they miss it?

 3. How it Became a Drawing:

  • After the 4 years of research and thought and finally deriving answers to those questions above, I got it. We as a society are pumping out kids who are damaged meeting so many ACES that astounding numbers of kids need therapy. And, therapy is now more important in more schools, than teaching the subjects. Money and resources are boundless and it just keeps compounding. BUT, unless people look, ask questions, or pay close attention they do not see how bad the problem is. So, in essence I discovered that America has become a factory of sort – quietly pumping out therapy couches and damaged kids while nobody asks why? Or what is so wrong with our communities and families that this is the case. Hence, the drawing over 3 – 4 months came to be. (examine the image above)

4. How does it become Dynamic in a new way?

  • I figured out once I knew it was a factory, that I needed to show kids and therapy couches being made in a way that mimics cars (assembly-line method). Once, I had that concept, I had to find a way for people to miss it. You heard right. They need to miss it when they see the print. So, I housed the factor floors in a very elaborate and absurd building that is purposefully incongruous, mal-aligned, and wrong in many ways. This compliments the absurdity of creating damaged kids and therapy couches in mass production.  The HOPE! That people will have to closely examine each window as if snooping or peeping to discover the problem. Just like real life.
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Recent Completed Editions

Winter 2022

Title: “Coffin load of 9 left behind”
Edition size: 2 (only 1 available)
Proofs for sale: 1 Artist Proof framed
Image size: 15 inches x 29 inches
Paper size: 21.5 inches x 35 inches
Paper: Kozo
Hand rubbed woodcuts by the artist.

Summer 2021

“Inhibitory Control”
Edition size: 12
Medium: woodcut hand rubbed onto Kozo paper.
Paper Size: 11.25″ x 14.25″
Image Size: 10.75″ x 13.75″
Price: NFS
“United Against the Tide of Inhumanity”
Edition size: 7 (already only 5 available)
Medium: woodcut hand rubbed onto Kozo paper.
Paper Size: 20″ x 24″
Image Size: 19″ x 16″
Price: $500 (unframed)
“Justified Violence”
Edition size: 1
Medium: woodcut hand rubbed onto Kozo paper.
Paper Size: 20″ x 24″
Image Size: 16.5″ x 20.5″
Price: $1200 (unframed)

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Woodcut – Addressing Consent – This woodcut has been a labor of love and one of immense importance. Consent has been shifting in the current lexicon and more and more is not being addressed or discussed.

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