p0ps

Born and raised in southeast Los Angeles, always an artist. Liked to draw with colored chalk on sidewalks and with a driftwood stick in wet sand at the beach. Ran away from my South Gate home at age 8, pedaling my bike through Watts, discovered the Watts Towers, could not believe it, too cool. Went back to my neighborhood to tell people, they didn't care. Tried to hang with Beats at age 12, they told me to surf instead. I hung in LA County Museum of Art when it was next to the Coliseum, liked the big AbEx paintings from New York. A couple of years later foam surfboards were made and I got one. Hated school and everybody until my junior year of High School when I discovered the Drama Department. Not much of an actor, I art directed, designed sets, lighting, stage managed. Joined the Navy, went to Asia, afterwards protested the war in college. Had a son, raised him on my own in rural Sonoma County. Ran a community art gallery, was Development Director for a bi-lingual NPR radio station and was a Punk Rock radio DJ for a FM rock station. When my son was 12, we moved to San Francisco. I mostly worked there as a restaurant chef. Lived for a year in early '80s East Village, New York, a year in Sierra foothills, the rest of the time, I was in San Francisco being Rock n' Roll Dad while my son played in Metal bands. Married sculptor and performance artist, Ruth Parson in '90, we lived and made art in Bodega (town, not Bay) and San Francisco until '97 when we moved to Little Italy, NYC. We're in the LES now, we paint on Sundays.