Sometimes I still fall into the trap of romanticizing my idea of being an “artist.” Living from mindblowing inspiration to inspiration. Getting struck by an idea, sitting down, and cranking it out. It's all so magical and effortless in my mind.

My bag of childhood memories mainly consists of the typical variety…a few heartbreaks, a couple key successes, failures, a bunch of “firsts” (first kiss, first love, etc.) and a few outliers. As I was working on new art for my “Overthrow the Quo” exhibit, one of those outliers popped into mind as particularly relevant.

I studied Buddhism when I was younger and was always fascinated by the Buddhist koans. Short poems made to short circuit the logical mind and open an opportunity to experience an enlightened state. Much of my interest in music and art stems from this same idea.

There’s something missing
This isn’t right
Something feels off
I need to fix this

Common thoughts
Annoying, yes.
But it’s missing pieces
That fuel my ambition
To move forward

I created this piece of art as a tribute to one of my favorite comedians, and host of two of my favorite shows, "The Colbert Report" and "Late Night with Stephen Colbert."

My birthday is over
My special day
Passed
Signed off
And filed in a drawer
With the others

I keep catching myself thinking
I want nothing wrong
I want days with smooth edges
And no complications

Life is smart
It beats me up just enough
To expose what’s under my skin
So I can see better

Most of our lives are spent in the moments
Between the moments
The large swaths of time
Sandwiched between memories

Have you ever believed something
That turned out wasn’t true?
Belief is malleable
Fallable

I don’t know what to say
Sometimes I feel so much
It’s overwhelming
And inspiring

Time has a way of traveling
Downhill
And uphill
At the same time
It’s a trickster

I gotta go back
Back before I wasn’t sure
Before disappointment got me down
Back before I had questions
And got all confused