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Artistic expression has been an important part of my life since I was a child. I would try to draw pictures of movie characters, monsters, cartoon characters, and people I knew. This went on through my late teens. When I was about 20, I tried taking my first and only art class while I was attending community college. I learned real quick that I wasn't cut out to create art this way. I didn't do well with deadlines and wasn't interested in still lifes. Not only did I fail that class, I became discouraged because I felt it was my fault for lack of ambition. I quit drawing from that moment on and began to focus on creative writing.
It was only after visiting the Chicano Visions exhibit in San Francisco in 2006 that I feel I was given 'permission' again to re-explore art. The exhibit at the de Young brought back to me so many childhood memories, which were some tough times, but also good times. The vivid subject matter and the figures contained in the paintings definitely gave me something to identify with and gave me the courage to try again. I went home that very night and completed my first piece using a paint set my wife had bought me as a Christmas gift the year before. I'd found the motivation I needed so long ago.
