"Cali or Bust" oil on enameled panel 2005. This is homage to two old friends from Alabama, tho I made this living in Seattle at the time. Parago my now southern German friend had went to LA yet hated it so she moved back. I took this photo of her before leaving. Little did I know I'd go to Cali and never come back. Hollywood always irked me, when deciding where I wanted to live for a city I declined LA at first and went to Seattle. Once three years passed in the cold damp northwest I decided it was time to nurture my photo career. I decided LA would I conquer. Before I moved across country my friend Parago gave me two books: The Alchemist and Photographs of Ron Galella. "The Alchemist" changed my life and introduced me to very like minded people like a buddy from Egypt who went onto being drummer to Seal. One book helped me meet the right people to realize this journey. The other taught me about the need for iconic photos but not at the style Id ever go about. Now after shooting major awards ceremonies and seeing the emotion after, I surrender back to my own talent: my art. The more art I do year after year I understand my personal legend I've created. I've always noticed my art competes with my photography and both embrace each other. I've realized once I accomplish something, I need not to repeat it so I move onto the next. Im moving onto the next and it's the imaginative calling me. I look back at these two books and I see irony in who I am. I don't think I'll ever stop taking pictures but now I just want to shoot what inspires me. Making art after 30 years has placed me in the ultimate realm of spirituality yet the rebellion in me needs the real raw truth. To balance these worlds I'm learning to cater and nurture. I want more from life, I want to inspire more in it. I love this balance I've made of how to charm the finest of status quo verses the need to love the simpler life. Maybe it's the Alabama in me but I find fancy parties a bore and would rather the chill and cozy. I like talking intellectually,philosophically, and finding a solution to all this dismay. I never stop bleeding this heart of mine. I wanna stay true to me.