About Me
My palms sweated. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I swear I could hear the ticking on the wall clock like a gavel pounding before a ruling is delivered. I was on the cusp of selling my first comic book to an organisation that has worked in 75 countries and with connections to names like Disney. But first, I needed the approval from the director sitting opposite me…
I was 15,028km away from home, but I was even further away from where I had started. As a child, I loved telling epic sagas with my figurines and copious pages of drawings strewn out on the floor. People would stop to marvel or try to work out my “different” way of thinking. But I could not read or write. Not like the other kids. My brain was simply wired differently, and the words and letters would appear as a block of hieroglyphs with no Rosetta Stone.
My worried mother took me to a speech pathologist. The following years were tough, but I worked hard by my mother’s side learning to read and write. Something else happened, too. The “speechie” saw my love of telling stories and challenged me to write a story.
That night I feverishly dictated a crazy story about a monster party, with monster party games like “pass the gas” instead of “pass the parcel”. I had been bitten by the writing bug. I’d spend my childhood and adulthood writing and drawing whenever I could, honing my craft and bringing those crazy ideas strewn out on the floor to life…
I like to do things differently and my way, so when I was ready to share with the world, much of what I released was independent and sometimes hard to find – independently publishing my first novel, The Last King of Shambhala; mainly (not always) selling my art outside the galleries; and releasing books and comics via email or blog. This time, however, I was opposite this director, pitching a comic on the history of his life and organisation…
My “different” (read: weird) thinking was being judged for a “mainstream” audience and about serious topics like social enterprises and micro-financing. Oh, and probably a good time to mention that he didn’t like comics, thought they were for little kids not 80-year-olds like him, and of the long line of failed pitches before me.
Nobody. Was. Crazy. Enough. To. Pitch. A. Comic. Enter me with my crazy ideas…
He pawed through the pages, telling me how he didn’t like comics. But as he read, he became quieter and quieter. Finally, he looked up and smiled. Not only was he now a fan, I was the content creator he needed for the project. My crazy ideas were different, but good different. Ideas to make you think, make you laugh and make you see the world, well, differently…
Now, YOU sit across from me (even if we are on opposite sides of the planet) and I invite you to take the same chance. Explore stories I’ve written and an online gallery of my art. Come be “different” with me.
Exhibitions
- Lancaster Gallery of Modern art (Lancaster, UK) – May 1994
- Black Museum (London, UK) – March 1998
- Modern Art Gallery (San Francisco, USA) – October 2002
- Arthouse (Athens Greece) – March 2014
- Lancaster Gallery of Modern art (Lancaster, UK) – May 1994
- Black Museum (London, UK) – March 1998
- Modern Art Gallery (San Francisco, USA) – October 2002
- Arthouse (Athens Greece) – March 2014
- Lancaster Gallery of Modern art (Lancaster, UK) – May 1994
- Black Museum (London, UK) – March 1998
- Modern Art Gallery (San Francisco, USA) – October 2002
- Arthouse (Athens Greece) – March 2014