“An Ocean of Concrete” (2011) – the drawing for this painting came out between the inspiration for, and the painting of, “Return of the Boy Genius” (2011). I’ve always been fascinated by how it happened. I was doing the dishes and suddenly “Return of the Boy Genius” came to me all at once. I ran from the kitchen sink to my iPad to start drawing while it was still fresh in my head, but ”An Ocean of Concrete” came out. It was my subconscious mind and body at work. I didn’t really understand what each was about until later. When I did, the order made perfect sense. “An Ocean of Concrete” is about the feeling of being stuck and powerless. “Return of the Boy Genius” is about moving on from that feeling and returning to your roots — to who you are and who you have always been deep down, even if it’s hard and scary and you’re not sure you are capable.

If you’re coming from that place of “stuckness”, it must be acknowledged and recognized before you can move to someplace closer to where you want to be.