Here is a sketch I worked on for a larger oil painting in progress. Almost every major composer in music history has done tributes to Roma (incorrectly called Gypsy) music. Here is a clip of Roma music by violinist Sandra Layman who studied, 'muzica lautareasca', with Roma in Bucuresti some years ago. Roma have often become used in literature and common language as a symbol of wander lust, rootless peoples, and adventure seeking. In reality this was historically the lot of a people running from slavery. In Romania there are more Roma than anywhere else, mainly because they were enslaved for a couple centuries. For more good information on Romani people check out the Roma scholar Ian Hancock's book, 'We are the Romani People' Rather than being a symbol of wandering adventurers, Roma are becoming for me an example of cultural identity and rootedness in the midst of an uprooted world and its prevailing mono culture. Also, see more recently posted on the Word Made Flesh site my 'Reflections on Rootlessness'

This was part of a series of paintings I did a few years ago. We were doing drawing sessions with a few artists in our community at the time and this yeang man had been off the streets and off of drugs for a few months. He was an imortant voice in our community. I liked how the bookshelves in the back became unnamed compartments, like the un discifered letters, pointing to the mystery of who we are. I appreciate the moments when I have been able to directly draw or paint people who never saw themselves as worthy subjects.

In the armpit of a building I set the camera to shoot long exposures and gave a couple of the guys living on the streets the flashlight. There is some startling truth in the shadowy, hazy, presence with this streak of light. There is a beauty which remains in these tortured faces though they hardly exist for the society, and sometimes for their own families. They seem to spend much of their time trying to not feel their own existence. They huff shoe glue till they get sores on their mouths depriving their brain from oxygen and numbing their emotional pain. They are the physical sign in the world of our own rootlessness, few have any sense of connection to our past generations or the future ones. We live for today and for ourselves.

This is a trial run of a project with marginalized kids doodling in sand. There images appear and dissapear. I hope to make a longer smoother version as I work with these young kids more. I just took another 1000+ frames to work with. Where we live kids are told they have no talent early on. This is a very non threatening way for them to play with lines and shapes. Any ideas on a story line that could go along with these images? I am thinking of having the kids develope some ideas.