I do not consider myself an artist even though I have sold my work. 

I have no formal training other than taking art in middle school, although I have been drawing, painting, and making “art” pieces my whole life as inspiration and drive have pushed me. I consider myself an Outside Artist creating pieces that result from a need to express myself. Art as therapy. Curiosity. The getting out of the thing that is in me. That is my nature but that part of me was put to the side as I began a family and a career as a tradesman in floor covering, in which I was able to express, to a small degree, my creative side by making custom inlaid, hand carved area rugs.

Then I blew out my knee and found myself home and bored and along with other stresses felt the need to see a therapist. He asked what I did when I felt life was good. I drew and made things I said. He suggested I start up again, “but stick to the abstract because you’re too hard on yourself when you make mistakes…”

 So I’m off work, just got an iPad, on Facebook, (it’s 2011), I offend my mother with a Facebook post, my daughter tells me about Twitter, which is better suited to my twisted sense of humor and I become interested in how this electronic medium, Twitter, reveals or creates a “collective conscience” and wonder at its effects on our collective humanity. Then in 2012 an app called Paper by Fifty-Three comes out. I’ve tried other art apps but don’t like them but Paper was like having a sketch pad only I used my finger. I was making “art” but it wasn’t real, it was digital (pun not intended but appreciated) like Twitter and Facebook. 

The thought of something digital becoming tangible fascinated me. I posted them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Ok but unfulfilling. I tried printing my pieces through an app. They looked horrible. I tried going to Walgreens so I could oversee the format. Crap. Then I joined a local Artisans Guild and found Tony at Berkeley Giclée. SUCCESS! My work was tangible! It was beautiful! (At least I think so) It was what I imagined they looked like while I was creating them! The Digital is becoming real. 

 What does collective consciousness have to do with this? I make the digital tangible then show it on a digital platform that reaches the individuals of the collective who can be touched to think or feel positively in a way that could never happen given typical avenues for “art”

So Outside Art or Art Brut or Naïve Art describes art by nobodies who have no training. But what is “training”? Why are people who create as a natural, inborn expression outside of the “professional artist” field? 

Were ancient humans painting on cave walls or sculpting outside? No. Art school does not teach one to be an artist. It simply tells us what others have done. Societies of artists exist to promote its members' works, not create them. The individuals in this collective consciousness are the artists. Art is the visual manifestation of the heart of the individual. It is what we do to be whole. Or heal. Or grow. Or simply survive. Or be remembered.

When I decide to create a piece I most often have no idea what I’m going to make. I open my page and start, looking forward, with curiosity, to see what happens. Sometimes I start with an idea, as with “Balloons Over Napa” or “Happy Thanksgiving”. Those turn out less abstract but most of the time I am surprised at what results from my effort. I will come to a point where I say to myself “that is enough” and at that point I will try to figure out what the piece means to me. After I figure out the meaning I will name it.