Into the Wild
This piece began as nothing more than a doodle while I was spending time at my wife’s apartment when we were still dating. She has always loved sunflowers, so I created this for her, which is how it came to be titled. What I did not realize at the time was that this small act of making something for her would become the beginning of what I now think of as the sunflower era in my work. The response to this painting was so warm and encouraging that I felt drawn to explore the theme further. Since then, I have created many sunflower pieces for friends, family, and others who connect with the subject, and each one carries its own story.
The work actually began with the blue background, which had already been sitting in my sketchbook for some time before I added the sunflower. I have always had the habit of making use of leftover paint rather than letting it go to waste. When I am working on a painting, I often spread out sketchbooks and sheets of paper across the floor to catch the extra paint. These pages eventually become the foundations for other works or transform into stand-alone pieces of their own. This sunflower emerged from one of those repurposed backgrounds, and because of that, it carries with it a sense of continuation and memory that feels important to me.
I created the piece using acrylic paint along with black, gold, and silver Sharpies. My artistic approach has always been influenced by my surroundings, and growing up I was fortunate to be around many extremely talented graffiti artists. Their creativity and energy left a lasting impression on me, and I see their influence reflected in the way I handle line work, detail, and composition. Another personal detail that makes this painting significant is that it is one of the rare occasions when I signed and dated the front of a work. At the time, it felt meaningful enough to mark, and now it stands as a reminder of both a personal memory and an important turning point in my creative journey.