I have to speak vaguely about this but there was a morning in 2002 in Chicago when I finally got to do something that I had been dreaming about doing for my entire like. It was a lovely fall morning. When I got in the car and started driving this song came on the radio.
As I drove, tears ran down my face.
Never give up my friends.
By the way, I based this drawing on a photo of the lovely Jing Yu. Instagram @yuki_injo
Egon Schiele was the bad boy of European art but he drew like an angel. Redrawing his art is a double edged sword. I learn so much from his drawing but I am forever humbled by his genius. He created masterpieces while still in his teens. He gave us nearly 4000 works of art and then he died tragically at 28. Damn.
I lived in Miami for a few years. I rented a small apartment right on the bay about two blocks from the ocean. Iguanas and land crabs used to wander around the yard. Beat that!
Bay Harbor beach
Miami has some of the most lovely beaches on earth. White sands and tropical blue water. I used to hang out at beach cafes sipping esspresso coffee while watching lovely people walk by.
A friend of mine once told me that at any given moment we are everything that we have ever been, plus that little bit of what we are at that moment.
I think about that often.
End of the Night - The Doors
Take the highway to the end of the night
End of the night, end of the night
Take a journey to the bright midnight
End of the night, end of the night
Realms of bliss, realms of light
Some are born to sweet delight
Some are born to sweet delight
Some are born to the endless night
End of the night, end of the night
Is the Earwax cafe still open? Anyone in Chicago? I used to go there and drink esspresso coffee and doodle in my moleskin. Sipping a warm cup of coffee while just outside the window there'd be a roaring cold midwestern blizzard. I loved Chicago.
I drew this drawing what seems like a lifetime ago in 1996. At the time I was one year free from alcohol. I had no idea what the future held for me but I can remember the relief I felt as I drew seeing that my hand had once again become steady. Tears of joy in my eyes.
I met my wife ten years later.
Today we live on an island in a big old two story building that we bought. Downstairs, we run a store that gives us our daily bread. We sleep upstairs, my wife, our two kids, and myself, all of us piled together on a big bed. Filipino style. It's fun.
Red and black pen, blue watercolor, on manila paper
Los Angeles 2014
When I was a boy my older brother taught me how to make pancakes. We used to wake up early Sunday mornings and make pancakes while my parents slept. In Los Angeles California.
Now, a life time later, I fix pancakes for my kids. Every Sunday. On a small island in the Philippines. On the orher side of the Earth.