I just recieved my copy of the "n-visn-n" newsletter from UCLA Extension program. I am featured with an interview. I am currently teaching Mixed Media + Collage at UCLA Extensions. Please read...



1. How did you get into art?
Like most boys, I loved drawing muscle cars, monsters, and super heroes. My parents were very supportive in pursuing an education in art, so was my high school art teacher. She was “eccentric” compared to most teacher”s methods because she spoke from the heart and was very sincere about art-making. I went to 3 different high schools in two different cities and this was my first there and my last year of high school, I wonder what I would’ve done if I hadn’t met her or how long it would have taken me to realize my “calling”.

2. What do you notice about any differences between your art and design students?
If I understand correctly, the question is “what do I notice about differences between students at UCLA Extensions?” To be general, the younger students seem to be not as “focused” as the more mature students. A lot of the mature students are in class because the really want to be there and they want to get the “most” out of class. The younger students are taking more chances with experimentation and are tuned into current trends. I identify with the students that take chances with their work, embracing accidents and then “pulling-it-off” like some rehearsed magic trick. It seems that designers and art students like to work with limitations or constraints, as if it creates a “comfortable place”.
People with “life-experience” and who have had some hardship generally make great art and design students, they have been seasoned to bring depth into their work.

3. How do you encourage people to take risks when creating their work?
I say, that accidents are welcome, the more the better. We learn from accidents, the classroom is that “safe-place” where things are tried. There is nothing to fear in the classroom, and no “bad clients” asking you to make lame changes. When faced with students who are trying new things, and have unexpected results (“accidents”), I always say that …the first time an “accident” is an “accident” and the next time it is a “technique”.
Also, I encourage them to work on two versions of each assignment. As you might know, Handmade Design and Collage is a hand-made process-oriented class. My point is that when we work digitally, we usually Save As versions of a project. So, when we work on two versions of a project, side-by-side, we can work them both as copies of each other. The reason is two fold. First, this allows us to master our techniques, relieving the stress factor of “what if I mess this up?” Second reason is to depart from our “safe” or “ideal” version and allow the other version of the assignment be the one that we make experiments with. I always work this way and very often I like the alternate version. My imagination just cannot conceive what wonderful possibilities there are waiting to be discovered.


How do you get them to ask the questions to go deeper?
I tell them, directly, “I think that it can be improved upon” and I give some ideas of how and why. I might say that we are missing the “wow factor”, And, I ask the question: “what can we do to make this dazzling?”

4. What do you think the role of an art teacher and artist is?
The teacher is a guide. Each student is unique and has a unique background and unique aspirations. Students should look at each other’s work as their own while being critical of what is “working” and what can be improved upon, this is what is magic about being in class during critique. The critique is a great opportunity for this type of discussion. There is something to be said about critique, be swift (if they are too long we detatch), don’t take it personal, and humor goes a long way.
5. What makes good art and design?
Good art and design may be described as successful if it communicates an idea and if it is aware of it’s place in this world/history, with an idea that is explicable and is not dependent of that explanation. And if you have to like it for it to be good. We are redesigning and customizing our gadgets, clothing, sound, and beverages. Now, more than ever, we want to be different and unique. Good art and design should stimulate more good ideas.

6. What kind of ruts do you think are most common, and what are the cures?
The biggest problem is being content with mediocrity. Turn off the T.V., turn on the stereo, do something fun, get out, drive, walk, ride your bike….Don’t sit around thinking about solutions; the studio is for executing work not coming up with ideas. Don’t spend too much time thinking about your work, GET INSPIRED. Creativity is a reactive activity, so you need to do something to get it going. Don’t be a “wallflower”, be a “dancer” and get your groove on.

7. How do the other elements of your life – family, hobbies, and history – inform your work?
Living with children has given me the perspective of what it is like to discover drawing for the first time, along with the creativity and free associations that come along with it. My first trip to Europe (France) helped reinforce a greater sense of being connected to people, family and friends. I have discovered how “quality of life” is reflected in how you eat and live life. This has given me different perspective on my upbringing and where I am from.
On another note, I collect (casually) all sorts of wrappers, labels, and drawings that I like and for the longest time I didn’t know what to do with them. Putting these pieces into my art is a way of saving (or savoring) these experiences.

What do you like about teaching at Extension? The students?
I like the diversity of age and background from the students at UCLA Extensions. There are young students with fresh perspectives, returning students with experience, and enthusiastic adults who seek to expand on their creative process.

8. We promote your class as an “Advanced Design Elective” which meets a requirement for the DCA certificate. We do so because we think it’s a conceptual creative class that can really break designers out of a formula they may be following. Can you speak to this?
I believe that the computer is a great tool that allows designers to design and layout with great ease and flexibility. This ease of use has “streamlined” the creative process. I mean “streamlined” in a negative way because it put the designer in a comfortable place choosing this font or that, this image or that, this effect or that. This is not creative; it is “multiple choice”. I want to empower designers to create their own illustrations, integrate their photography with illustration and to make up their own type treatments. Designers are image-makers and may desire to make their mark and stand out in a crowd of designers. Our individual fingerprints should be reason enough to be unique designers.