"Blue Miles"

Cool ass Prince of Jazz

Free, funk, musical genius

He’s my kind of blue

This portrait of Miles Davis is a part of my “Textures of Jazz” series of portraits of jazz’ greats. All of the artwork in the series were created using acrylic paint and palette knives. It is my partner’s love for Miles and the kindling of mine that inspired this piece. While the portrait is from a popular photo of Miles Davis, the colors in this piece are intensified as was my experience of listening to “Sketches of Spain” on repeat while creating it. The relationship of color in this piece reminds me of Miles in that however it is put together, it just works.

“Tribute to Dick Gregory”

Leading with laughter

Our social action hero

Lift him up with thanks

This tribute captures the many aspects of the work Dick Gregory has done not only for African-Americans during the civil rights movement, but all people. The fists represent all of H-U-M-A-N-I-T-Y Mr. Gregory has led in his fight for human rights. His hard work benefited everyone; from marching to desegregate schools in America, to exposing the maltreatment and torture of people in other countries during the war.  Dick Gregory encourages us to take care of the planet and often speaks of universal, natural laws as noted in this excerpt from his  “Human Rights & Property Rights” speech:

Understand young folks


When you put property rights ahead of human rights


Understand you’re tampering with nature


That’s right. You see, property rights is controlled by man


And human rights, is controlled by nature

I’ve had the honor of sitting at his feet and getting the science, nutrition, and history lessons first hand. He gets us to laugh at the injustices of the world in ingenious ways while motivating change. Dick Gregory is an amazing, courageous man who is a shining example of living on purpose and loving fearlessly.

“Critical Breakdown”

Know where you’ve come from

Brother put back on your crown

Dig deep and dream high

I was inspired to create a piece to lift up young black boys in my community. It is part of a series of collages that speak to the experience of many young black males in America. Too often we view their experience as a dreadful, self-destructive, journey through “thug life”, when there is so much more that lies beneath. The shadow with the purple outline and crown represents their past. They are descendants of African kings and queens whose crown is now replaced with a cap and bodies of collage pieces of black women, black rappers and other black men. 

With all of the conflicting messages in the media, as depicted in the distorted brick walls of newspaper and magazine clippings and sand paper, one would think it is next to impossible to dream. Their dreams may be up against a brick wall, but they exist. This piece represents the realization behind the shift from despair to a place of hope. I celebrate the young black men in my life, their strength, and their dreams.