EN: From an early age I always had an interest in drawing. My dad had this old comic book collection from when he was a kid. It was sort of “off limits” because some of the books were valuable, but I’d sneak one or two and spend hours looking at the pictures trying to copy them. When I was through with them, I’d carefully put them back and “borrow” a couple more. I had sort of a sheltered home-schooled Christian upbringing and didn’t have a lot of access to “high art”. It wasn’t until community college at the age of 19 when I discovered artists like Basquiat, de Kooning, and Picasso for the first time. I remember seeing this particular Basquiat painting, and it just rattled me to my core. I had no idea that sort of thing was an option, or that it was possible to actually be an artist as a career choice. I guess you could say that’s where I “caught the bug.” But it wasn’t until 5 years later after dealing with a nasty breakup that I decided to really buckle down and become an artist. After my partner and I split, something just snapped in me, and I spent all hours of the day painting and drawing in my old apartment where I lived alone. Weeks went by, and I remember having this moment in my kitchen, where it was as if the dust had settled. I looked around and paintings and drawings were everywhere. On the stove, table, countertops, walls, ceiling, etc.Every square inch of the place was covered. I knew then that I wanted to be an artist, and that once I made that choice there was no going back. You were either in all the way or you weren’t in at all.