That’s what being a part of underground music and art in Los Angeles taught me.

At first I did collages—putting images and words together from the ‘50s thru the ‘80s. Noisy, kid-like, jumbled pieces. Lots of fun. Dusty. Torn photos, pages from books and magazines. Random images. Very L.A.-like.

Coming to Santa Cruz in 2003, I studied ornamental horticulture at Cabrillo College — went in a new direction — Flowers were my new friends.

At first I didn't paint flowers. Not very edgy. Too much of a compromise. But finally I tried some over-sized paintings of flowers, my own way and I liked what happened.
Cut flowers from downtown farmers market. Or exotics I grow in my garden. It doesn’t matter. I like drawing them and going from there. I like the opposites that happened. Intense color and white space. Delicate and bold. Realistic and abstract. Flowery but edgy.

The artists I learn from:
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julian schnabel
andy warhol
peter doig
piet mondrian
elizabeth peyton
jean-michel basquiat
milton avery
marsden hartley
the gao brothers
helen frankenthaler
willem de kooning
evan hecox
richard diebenkorn
yoshitomo nara

shows
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