WHAT WAS YOUR VERY FIRST SOURCE OF INSPIRATION?

I would say that my father was my first source of inspiration he was the one that first got me interested in art and drawing, he also inspired me to be imaginative and creative. He was a comedy writer for television who had the privilege of working from home most days, handcrafting comedy gold with his trusty Bic brand felt-tip pen. During tea breaks (we are English after all) he would hand me and my older brother sheets of paper with amorphous squiggle shapes for us to fill in and make actual drawings from, I couldn’t of been more than 4 years old at the time. That segued into drawing contests, such as, “who can draw the best robot” or “the most impenetrable army base”. It was in this environment of friendly sibling competition that a fire was stoked deep inside of me…From that period forward I had a unquenchable desire to out draw all contenders into a cross-hatched and ever increasingly detailed submission.

WHICH OF YOUR 5 SENSES IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU?

I have pondered on this hypothetical predicament quite often in the past and I have oscillated between sight and hearing as the sense that I would miss most. With the question posed again by you, Seymour, I will say that that touch is my most important sense. After all, the classical composer Ludwig Van Beethoven wrote some of his best work including the majestic 5th symphony after he lost his hearing by feeling the notes and sounds through vibration. To further make my case, the beautiful blind girl from Lionel Ritchie’s “Hello” video created an amazing bust of him in sculpture class without ever laying eyes on his chiseled features and liberally Jerry Curl anointed hair. I mean seriously, who has not wished themselves blind while watching a reality television show or even deaf when listening to a top 40 radio station, it could almost be seen as a blessing nowadays.

As a painter, musician or simply as a mobile, living person, it would be pretty hard to create anything or even get around without touch perception. Go ahead, try laying down some super heavy duty tough wild-style graffiti after your girlfriend took an hour long snooze on your arm on the way to the train yard…Or better still, try shredding some Yngwie Malmsteen licks on your guitar after digging around in an ice cooler for 2 minutes for that last frosty Pabst Blue Ribbon, you’ll understand where I’m coming from, touch is artistically essential.

HOW DO YOU ACCESS YOUR CREATIVITY?

I have an all access pass, all day, every day. It’s stowing it away while I hold down my 9 to 5 that requires the serious concentration. For me, it’s like having artistic Tourettes syndrome…creativity is everywhere to be had, it’s more about directing and controlling the outbursts.

WHAT IS THE FIRST WORD THAT COMES TO YOUR MIND WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS IMAGE?

Why do I get the easy one? It is obviously two garden gnomes wearing beaver costumes stomping a butterfly while high-fiving each other. Very Droogie I must say. I did prefer the previous and less obvious Mindsurfing Rorschach image of Sasquatch riding the Harley chopper while a floating skull rolls a joint in his lap.