Arriving To The Party - Pen and Ink Drawing, 1979
Arriving to the Party - Digital Art, 2025
Arriving to the Party, Version 2 - Digital Art, 2025
Arriving to the Party, Version 3 - Digital Art, 2025
Left: Arriving to the Party - Pen and Ink Drawing, 1979
Right: Arriving to the Party - three variations, Digital Art, 2025
Self Portrait, Pen and Ink - July 12, 1979
Self Portrait, Pen and Ink, 1979
Androgyny, Self Portrait, Digital Art, 2021
Androgyny, Self Portrait - Pen and Ink, 1979
Right: Androgyny, Self Portrait - Original Drawing, Pen and Ink, 1979
Left: Androgyny, Self Portrait, Digital Art, 2021
Labels, Pen and Ink, 1979
Reading the News, Pencil, 1979
Left: Labels, Pen and Ink, 1979
Right: Reading the News, Pencil, 1979
Androgynous Face, Pen on Paper, 1978
Androgynous Face, Linoleum Print, 1979
Androgynous Face, Digital Art, 2022
Androgynous Face, Linoleum Print, 1979
Androgynous Face, Linoleum Print, 1979
Androgynous Face, Digital Art, 2022
Androgynous Face, Digital Art, 2022
Androgynous Face, Digital Art, 2022
Top Left: Androgynous Face, Pen on Paper, 1978
Top Center: Androgynous Face, Linoleum Print, 1979
Top Right: Androgynous Face, Digital Art, 2022
Middle Left: Androgynous Face, Linoleum Print, 1979
Middle Right: Androgynous Face, Digital Art, 2022
Bottom: Androgynous Face, three versions, Digital Art, 2022
In 1979 I had very little money - not enough for basics like rent, groceries and transportation, so none left over for good quality art supplies. My mother gave me a linoleum cutting tool set and some linoleum pieces for Christmas, so I decided to try making a linoleum cut of my drawing "Androgynous Face." The paper I had around was construction paper and other paper not intended for printing, so the prints were poor quality and I stashed them in a drawer for storage. Thirty three years later I found the artwork in storage and translated it into digital art using Adobe Illustrator. First I used Illustrator for iPad with the Apple Pencil to create a vector drawing that mimicked the look of the print. Then I used the Pathfinder tool ("minus front") to create a stencil from the face and then stamp it onto different backgrounds.
There is a modern assumption about gender that men have mustaches and women don't. However, this is not accurate. There are women who must shave in order to avoid displaying a visible mustache. In 1979 North America there were a number of women who did not conform to that and they were widely mocked and scorned for that, so ultimately it is very rare to now see a woman who identifies as "she" who is allowing a mustache to develop on her face. This "Androgynous Face" artwork includes the mustache but that's not supposed to help you decide, if you feel you need to, what gender this face represents. However, you can rest assured it is a human face.
Moon Fairy, Pen and Ink on Paper, 1979
Moon Fairy, Digital Art, 2022
Left:Moon Fairy, Pen and Ink on Paper, 1979
Right: Moon Fairy, Pen and Ink on Paper, 1979
Toll Ahead, Pen and Ink, Pencil, 1979
Toll Ahead, Digital Art, 2021
Left: Toll Ahead, original drawing, Pen and Ink, Pencil, 1979
Right: Toll Ahead, Digital Art, 2021
Treescape - Digital Art, 2022
Treescape - Digital Art, 2022
Treescape - Digital Art, 2022
Treescape - Digital Art, 2022
Treescape - Digital Art Versions, 2022
Treescape - Linoleum Cut, 1979
Treescape - Linoleum Print, 1979
Left: Treescape, Linoleum Cut, 1979
Right: Treescape, Linoleum Print, 1979
1979: Music is the Muse
In 1979, I had a Kenwood 3500 amplifier running a Heathkit sound system, and a library of mostly new wave and punk rock vinyl records.
At the time, my artwork was sometimes influenced by the news, such as the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Pennsylvania, and the homophobic hate crime assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.
Below is a list of some of the songs spinning on my turntable in 1979:
999 - High Energy Plan
B-52s - Rock Lobster
Blondie - One Way or Another
Buzzcocks - Boredom
Buzzcocks - Noise Annoys
Chaka Khan - A Woman In A Man's World
Cheap Trick - Auf Wiedersehen
Clash - Brand New Cadillac
Dead Boys - I Won't Look Back
Devo - Blockhead
Dickies - She
Diodes - Tennis Again
Edith Nylon - Ma Jolie Famille
Elton John - Ego
Elvis Costello - Moods for Moderns
Flying Lizards - Mandalay Song
Gary Numan and the Tubeway Army - Are Friends Electric
Kleenex - Ain't You
Lene Lovich - Home is Where the Heart Is
Magazine - My Mind Ain't So Open (That Anything Can Fall Right In)
Martha and the Muffins - Suburban Dream
Motors - Airport
Patti Smith - Gloria
Pere Ubu - I Will Wait
Poly Styrene and the X-Ray Spex - Oh Bondage Up Yours
Ramones - It's A Long Way Back
Red Squares - Ottawa Today
Rezillos - Cold Wars
Roky Erickson - Bermuda
Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen
Spherical Objects - Elliptical
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Suburban Relapse
Sparks - Beat the Clock
Specials - Concrete Jungle
Talking Heads - The Good Thing
Television - See No Evil
Tim Curry - Right on the Money
Tom Robinson Band - (Sing If You're) Glad To Be Gay
Tubes - You've Got Yourself A Deal
Wire - French Film Blurred
XTC - Scissor Man
