Art and other worthy diversions

"Art is noble through being useless." So said cultural historian Jacque Barzun, in a series of lectures delivered at the National Gallery in Washington (later reprinted as "The Use and Abuse of Art"). Which begs the question, does its inversion also hold true: Art is useless through being noble."

I spent about 10 years after graduate school painting and being Mr. Mom while my wife toiled away as an attorney. Being immersed in so much domesticity naturally shaped my creative output. My art during this period was largely concerned with domestic life in all its manifestations, including being a caregiver to my two sons.

It was the best job I ever had in my life.

Art is ultimately about language: how we communicate, not just what we communicate. It's what makes a grocery list different from a poem.

I've been interested in communication since I was a kid drawing comic books. I see my drawings and paintings like a series of interrupted narratives, like a single loose page out of a novel. I'm interested in having the viewer finish that novel.