Although I am sure I had an Etch A Sketch as a child, it wasn’t until I was 30 that I realized I could draw with one.  I had an image in my mind that I wanted to get down and instead of reaching for a pencil I picked up an Etch A Sketch that I happened to have around.  To my surprise the drawing came out pretty good.  I continued to use this medium each time shaking and erasing the previous image.  I was more reluctant to shake and erase as each drawing became more detailed and involved.  It was at this time that I started dissecting Etch A Sketches to figure out how they worked and how to make the images permanent.  What I found is that the Etch A Sketch is simply a piece of glass that is coated with an extremely sticky aluminum powder.  The glass sits on a box that contains a stylus that etches a mark in the powder by turning one or both of the knobs and catches the powder that is scraped off plus some extra.  When you turn the Etch A Sketch over and shake it you are recoating the surface by filling in the marks made by the stylus.  So, I figured, if once you etched your design you were able to remove all the excess powder then the design would be permanent.  Unfortunately I was not able to figure out how to get ALL of the powder out so I contacted the Ohio Art Company (makers of the Etch A Sketch) to see if they could help and indeed, they could! 

It was at this time that I was recognized by Ohio Art as one of their official artists.  And once I was able to guarantee that my work was 100% permanent I was asked to display my work at various galleries in and around Los Angeles and started doing commissioned portraits.

 Artistic expression has always been a necessary component of my life, through dance, sculpting, and drawing I feel as though I get to tap into a mystery that reveals a profound part of myself and, more importantly, our collective humanity. 

I enjoy the challenge of working within the confines of the Etch A Sketch.  The questions that the artist must answer are the same as with any medium but the format of the answer is rigid.  Having only a single line and two knobs to control that line the challenge is to answer the questions just as effectively.  To edit the information in front of me and find the lines and shadows that are necessary and which are superfluous.

 Although I do enjoy the boundaries inherent in this medium, I have recently pushed some of those boundaries back by taking the image out of the little red box.  In my limited edition serigraph prints I use an Etch A Sketch image and add color and work with the size and composition of the piece to create
something new.

 
“Your Etch A Sketch art is incredible and most definitely the best ever Etch A Sketch animal renderings I have ever seen anywhere in the world” – William Killgallon, Chairman of the Board of the Ohio Art Company.