In 1985, I crowded into a movie theater with a gang of Seattle punk rockers, delinquents, and beautiful weirdos to watch Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. I was a teenage emerging artist, and it cracked me open — here was proof that the weird, the playful, and the boldly strange had a place in the world. Me and my work had a place in the world.

Then drugs came, which I survived. And then just life.

Last year I heard Paul Reubens say all he ever wanted was to bring glee to people. That's my whole artistic mission in four words since I started painting again in 2022.

Acrylic and Posca on a cereal box and canvas. Measures 12” x 16”.