When I first started painting, I learned by copying photographs. Most of the photographs that I would choose as the basis for my paintings were pictures of my favorite singers and actresses and stuff. When it came time to start showing my work in galleries these were the paintings that I would often submit because, well, I had them on hand. Consequently I incidentally developed a reputation for being a “pop artist.” Back then I didn’t love the reputation because it didn’t jibe with what I felt was what art was or should be but now that that period of my life is in the rearview I look back at the period with a certain amount of nostalgia. So in like a ‘bringing it all back home “ type moment, for my first collection coming back from my hiatus I’m going to do a collection of celebrity portraits.