First of all, let it be known that I might have the best wife on the planet. She made
this web site for me. I also have the best daughters on the planet. I probably even
have the best cat on the planet, when he isn’t puking on our carpet.
Personal Background:
As a spray paint artist, you might want to hear how I slunk about dark alleys in the
late 1980’s leaving my “tags”. How I braved sub zero weather at 3:00 AM in
Northern Wisconsin train yards creating guerrilla masterpieces. Alas… in those
years I was committed to the pencil and ball point pen, beautifying the toilet stalls
of my high school and creating full-wall masterpieces in campground outhouses
across the Northeastern USA.
Instead, I can tell you that I “discovered” a personal love for the spray paint
medium while creating group wall murals with alternative high school kids over
the last few years. Stenciling emerged as the obvious way to ensure that all of the
kids were involved with the production.
I am currently a high school ecology, anthropology, and art teacher at an
alternative high school in the Portland area. This combination has allowed me the
opportunity to constantly be exploring art history, world cultures, and natural
history. It also allows me a constant connection to art production through my
students.
My experience before teaching includes working with wildlife and conducting bug
research in old growth forests with land management agencies and local
universities. In my spare time I continue to work on a contractual basis as a local
expert on old growth forest bug identification and ecology.
The subject material of my artwork is influenced by my experience as a father,
teacher, and story teller, my passion for ecology and evolution, and my passion for
cultures and people.
My Process of Creating a Spray Paint Stencil Painting:
1. I redraw and expand on a doodle, making it the size I want my final painting to be.
2. I modify the picture so the lines are interconnected. This way sections can be cut
out in a single piece as a detailed stencil.
3. I ink the picture and make several photocopies. These will be destroyed in the
process.
4. I glue the photocopy to wood over which I place transparent mylar.
5. With an Exacto knife I cut out sections of the picture between the drawn lines.
Only the portion of the picture that I will color in the first spray is cut out. This
creates the first stencil.
6. I repeat this process for the rest of the stencils (up to 9 layers) until I have a
stencil for every color I plan to spray. This is the longest part of the process.
7. I spray paint a board black.
8. Spray adhesive onto the back of my first stencil and stick it to the black board.
9. spray my first layer of color, let it dry, and carefully peel the stencil off. They
are very fragile in the finished state.
10. I place my second stencil, being careful to line it up precisely. This can be
difficult once they've been used, because now they are opaque.
11. Continue the remaining layers of stencils until the painting is complete.
When looking at one of my finished paintings, all black you see in the finished pieces
are portions of the painting that were completely covered by stencil in every layer.
These black lines allow me to maintain the illustrative quality of the work. They still
look like drawings. The process of layering colors and the black outlined figures in
these pieces are somewhat reminiscent of traditional Japanese wood block printing.
Certain spray paints (ex: Belton Molotow spray paints) offer a surprisingly vibrant
color quality. Spray paint, though it can be controlled to some degree with various
can tips and spray techniques, usually produces unexpected and interesting
“accidental” textures. These “surprises”, mainly produced by using a large and
unwieldy source of pigment for such small compositions, helps me to “let go”
of my inclination to control the minute details of my work.
Several of the pieces in this collection insinuate that there is a story to be told
within the picture. I have a lot of stories floating around in my head. Tapping into
these stories as a source for subjects has made this process a lot more fun for me. I
hope you enjoy looking at it.