Art was always there – since I was born. The first art I remember doing was making wire men out of radio wire and aluminum foil. I had no toys, so I made my own. I had an uncle who drew portraits, and I took ideas from his drawings. I didn’t learn how to do shading until sixth grade when my math teacher Mr. Kessler showed me how to shade as a way of getting me to sit down and do my schoolwork. He was the start of everything.

In junior high school, I liked using black and white, and I still do because it gives more life, more emotion. It’s like you’re right there.

I do art because it’s a challenge. It’s like being able to beat the person you used to be, a competition between the “old” me and the “new” me. The new me is winning because I keep getting better, I need to do art to feel complete. Once I finish drawing, I sit back and feel, “Now I can rest.”

I want to see the A-TEAM artists become something. If we keep turning out good art, eventually somebody is going to like something. If we work hard enough, we will succeed.