Defender & Supporter of the Arts

Photography is the gift of freezing time, and of documenting life, good, bad and ugly.

Most artists would love to avoid politics and getting wrapped up in cultural battles, so we can have our time devoted to realizing our visions, but in a world where evil oppressors will take advantage of the poor, the weak and the sleeping, we have to shine our lenses, paint brushes and performances on injustice and those who prey on those who can't defend themselves.

If artists want the freedom to create, we have to use our art to fight against those who want to silence our creative voices, and if we don't, we face censorship and possibly worse.

I often explore free speech and censorship in my work, since I have been attacked by both sides of the political spectrum because they don't like what I do. (One such idiot and her henchmen, have made a funny little game out of harassing my wife and I over our nude photography because they feel like it hurts women. They waged a multi-year campaign that included negative reviews online under aliases, of my photography which led to me losing work in the small community I live in. Some have suggested I ignore the idiot and forget about it, but the damage it did to my reputation was significant enough that my ability to earn an income was infringed and I don't tolerate bullies, so I am pursuing recourse against the individual(s).)

My detailed account of my battle with censoring trolls will be posted soon, but my intention in this post is to address the blending of art & politics in the current conservative cultural climate under our new "president."

It is hard enough for artists to make a living in the age of digital piracy and an over abundance of new artists, but we all find ways of making our work pay even in the smallest ways.

It is typically not a good idea to take a stance politically when you are in business, and art is a business (I sell books of my work, and t-shirts for my company Art Bomb Tees, but not enough to buy a car or house, by any means.)

Though I didn't think Trump's win was a good thing for our country, I was going to remain optimistic until I had reason for concern, but in less than a week, Donald Trump and his cronies gave us all plenty of reason for concern. He attacked the arts, immigration, and women's rights and environmental protections almost instantly, and the nation rose up with a resounding "WTF, dude!?!"

Living in a bubble is proven to produce small-minded, idiotic behavior. We need the cultural cross-pollination that immigrants provide, and locking down the United States so that only Christian whites have a majority voice is against everything that makes this country so amazing.

Donald Trump's Divided States of America takes the slow burning hate and unrest that has been stewing since a black man won office and has turned it into a movement, the tea party part has devolved into the more obvious and revolting alt right movement, which is really just a thinly veiled moniker for the New Nazi Party.

Now, the ultimate weapon against hate is love and education, and artists everywhere need to use their tools to spread that message and bring America to a new level of acceptance and tolerance.

So, for those of you have enjoyed many years of fine art nude photography from me, we will be interrupting the flow of erotic art, nudes and fine art conceptual work to bring you some protests from time to time against oppression.

I might create some graphic and controversial work from time to time, but aside from being an artist who creates work for adults, I wear many other hats, and one of those hats is as a father, and I want my child to grow up in a country that celebrates diversity and that protects the rights and freedoms of all people, regardless of where they were born.

The United States of America has always been an asylum for the rebels, the thinkers, and the freedom fighters, and we must maintain that delicate balance for the potential and protection of our planet's future. There is more at stake here than what can be trusted to a bunch of rich, white dudes whose decisions and actions won't affect them because of their advanced age, but it sure as hell is going to have a dire and dangerous impact on our children.

Don't apologize for your opposing point of view and don't be afraid to let it be known, but be respectful and peaceful. We win by taking the high road, and we win by advocating equality and peace.

Another Year...

So, my 47th birthday is around the corner, and I have been haunted by my ghosts lately.

I have lived in so many places and made so many amazing acquaintances that I am beginning to lose track of them all. I don't want to lose track of all of the people who have shaped me to become the man I am.

Life is sloppy, clumsy and messy, but it is also beautiful, vibrant, and full of meaning. I have been so fortunate to have lived on my own terms. We are nothing without those who have embraced us, loved and hated us. We are nothing without the lessons gleaned from pain and happiness.

Lately, I am inundated by noise and distractions and I have been desperate to have some time to collect my thoughts and slow this ride down, but time doesn't slow down, and so we must learn to appreciate every second while it lasts.

It is interesting to me how the goals I had as a young man weren't goals I failed at reaching, but rather, along the way I changed and what was important to me changed.

When we are young, and facing the end of our childhood and the beginning of adulthood, we see the world in neat little packages. A trail of milestones of achievement that lay in front of us like mirages. As we actually live life, we learn that relationships don't last because we change, and the people we attached ourselves to change, and losing people from your life doesn't have to be sad but rather another chapter of life.

I have loved some exceptional people, and have enjoyed returned love. I have failed in love, and succeeded in love.

The most important thing is that I grew as a person and matured. I learned to live for quality over quantity and to abandon material things in favor of richer life experiences.

I have suffered fools, critics and haters, and they too brought focus to my life, and made my art more dear to me.

The art I create in these last few years has been almost solely out of my love for one woman, my wife Liz La Point. Sparks of lust turn into adoration and deep love, to an intwined life, and then family.

I turned 4o years old in Las Vegas and realized I was not living true to myself and started to reflect on what was missing from the life I was living. I started feeling like I was living in the shadow of someone else's dreams and it made me feel empty. The people I was surrounded by were someone else's friends and not the friends I would have made when I actually knew myself. I got lost.

Around the time I was making some profound realizations about who I was becoming, I met Liz La Point and a mutual passion for work and art exploded and everything became clear.

I wish happiness to all of the people I have known and I am so glad to have lived through some very difficult moments, and to have reached this point in my life where I feel so fortunate to have my own family, a wife who understands me, and more opportunity to create and explore than I have ever known.

Every year my wife asks me what I want for my birthday, and every year I look into her eyes and tell her that I have everything I have ever wanted already.

Life is very, very good.

My new article for Filthy Media!

My new article on The Death of Playboy for Filthy Media. 

Ashleigh

Here are some shots of my friend Ashleigh, who I used to shoot with on a pretty regular basis when I lived in California. She was a wild, free-spirited, self-proclaimed hippy who would call out of the blue to suggest I photograph her friend, or to meet and do a quick shoot.

Ashleigh and I would have great conversations and go on a long drives looking for places to shoot.

She was one of my favorite people from my California days, and I so appreciate my time working with her.

I met my wife Liz La Point through her, inadvertently and am forever grateful.

Get to the Core of Your Work, Because YOU are Your Art

People who don't understand you, or why you do what you do, especially when it comes to art, can be the biggest contributors to distracting you from creating art.

Whether some people are simple, jealous or ignorant, they will often assign their own insecurities on you.

Yes, artists can be fucked up, but more often than not, they are just misunderstood by people trying to label them and over simplify them.

Negative people are generally a cancer to your work. You cannot give credence to those who are not artists, who don't understand or respect creativity, or are just too boring and mediocre to appreciate the work that goes into seeing creative works to fruition.

I have written nearly forty screenplays, made a short film and some music videos, and had a job briefly as a wedding video editor, but I have never made money doing any of those things so one could argue that I haven't found success doing those things, and perhaps I wasted time and resources.

Writing has always been a soul cleansing process for me, and deeply gratifying.

The most fun I have ever had has been working with actors or on film sets. I love movies from beginning to end, and have a rich and endless respect for anyone who is involved in the creation and execution of motion pictures.

My venture into moving making was never a waste of time, because I don't measure my success by how much money I make.

Creating is succeeding, and producing work that finds an appreciative audience is the most satisfying thing there is.

For the past decade, I have been immersed in writing a trilogy of screenplays, working on producing photo books, & producing and filming a YouTube channel for my wife, Model & Writer Liz La Point. 

You know what I else I did during that time? I held down a full time job that I put my all into, spent quality time with my child, and made sure my wife never forgets how much I love, respect, value, and adore her.

The point is that, though I'm far from perfect, I strive to balance my creative endeavors and family, work and relationships. I care about the people who care about me, and I am loyal like a dog.

...And, I never give up! Ever!

Artists, do not EVER stop creating! Ever! Just don't.

It doesn't need to make you rich, and your friends and family don't have to understand you or what you do.

Make art for yourself first, and then try to make some money from it, and grow your audience.

I have been so fueled by my desire to succeed by other people's standards lately that I have neglected the reason I create, and that reason, is because it is my voice, and I have things to say. Perhaps artists sometimes speak without thinking, figuratively and literally. Perhaps I have been talking too much through my work without saying the right things.

It is important to know one's self, and get to know one's self, through your art.

2017 is my quiet year. It is my year to reflect and grow. I am sober, healthy, happy, and motivated, but for the first time in a long time, I just want to process it all. I want to find meaning in the little things and make sure I'm not overlooking the big things.

I want my life to matter as much as my art does.

So, I have healthy new focuses, a ne-newed relationship with nature, and am on a path to living with less and feeling like I have more.

Here are some images from my photo adventure in Hawaii last year.

25 Year Journal Project

So, for the past 25 years I have kept black, hardbound journals.

By keeping them, I mean, I drew, cut and pasted magazines and images into large volumes to serve as a pop culture scrapbook of memories and inspiration. I moved them from coast to coast repeatedly and constantly added to them.

Though the project ended up filling out about a dozen heavy, hardcover books, my intention was always to someday repurpose and self-publish these journals into one book, mixed with my tales of living in NYC and Southern California as a struggling artist.

The books are sometimes personal and intense, perverse and playful, and a reflection of the artists and images that shaped my own artistic aesthetic.

Today, for nearly six hours, I scanned and photographed the pages of the journals and destroyed them. They now live on digitally, but will soon live on as a single, massive volume.

This is my year to disengage from the traditional forms of social media like Facebook and Instagram, to give away or recycle the majority of my belongings, and embark on a journey I consider to be the second chapter of my life. (Check out the Netflix documentary, The Minimalists and their blog for some insight into the direction I am moving in personally.)

I have chosen this blog to replace my regular social media rants, and it has been so liberating.

I am not a religious man, but I feel more connected to nature and the earth than I have in some time, and the pull of the outdoors is calling me. Nature has been my doorway to spirituality and I am longing for the California deserts which became my playgrounds for so many years.

The projects I am working on this year have been stewing and gestating for a very long time and are a celebration of the years I have survived, and the wisdom I have gained from my struggles, pain and joy.

I look forward to sharing my new ventures with you.

Here are some sample pages from my journals.

"Eye of the Beholder"

From the minute I discovered Heavy Metal Magazine as growing boy, My teenage years were spent seeking it out and concealing them from my parents. The mix of science fiction, nudity and erotic fantasy was my teenage drug.

I was particularly a fan of Guido Crepax & Milo Manara and feverishly collected their work throughout adulthood.

My photography has been heavily influenced, not just by other photographers, fashion magazines, and cinema, but also comic books & graphic novels.

I have always been compelled to tell stories with my work, and not just capture beautiful models and landscapes.

For some time I have been working on a photo graphic novel with my muse, Model & Writer Liz La Point, and recently published it.

Unlike my previous photo art books, this is a surreal, erotic story that pays homage to the influences of my youth.

Get yours here.

"Eye of the Beholder" Book

Art & Business: The Making of Art Bomb Tees, LLC - Part One

Quite often friends would see a particular image I had captured and requested a t-shirt featuring said image, and I would shrug it off and think "Yeah, that could be cool" and then move on.

In 2014, during some difficult financial stretches, I picked up a book by Marc Ecko called "Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out" and hungrily devoured it. I was interested in business, and starting a business that was still related to art, and my mind kept racing back to my love of fashion and design, and the requests from friends and acquaintances for shirts.

My wife Liz La Point and I selected three of our favorite images from my work and spent a great deal of money we didn't have, incorporating my LLC and having several hundred shirts printed up to sell.

I literally did EVERYTHING wrong and barely sold any shirts. I was indeed a terrible business person at first, because you don't know what you don't know, but that lesson would pave the way for success.

It took nearly two years of loss and almost giving up on my little LLC before I found a better way to make and sell shirts, but I am finally in a place where the company is growing and I believe in it.

So, the lesson here is not to give up and to learn from your mistakes and keep finding ways of improving and being better at what you believe in.

From time to time I'm going to talk about my growing little apparel company and how the mistakes were so costly, and how valuable they were, and how I am still learning.

Making money from your art is the biggest challenge in an over crowded market where every creative person on the planet is trying to do the same thing, but the key is to focus on what makes your brand and product unique (no one wants to call their art a "product" but in order to profit from it and build your brand, you have to be prepared to see your work as an asset that people want.)

I love wearing t-shirts, and feel like they will never go out of style.

Stay tuned for more updates and Behind the Scenes stories of the building of a business and go get yourself a shirt from Art Bomb Tees, LLC.