The transition from sharing my artwork online for three decades to seeing it packaged in a gorgeous physical book you can hold in your hands and enjoy feels truly surreal. I hope it finds a beloved home on your shelves or in your classrooms, lasting for generations to come.
This beautiful hardcover collection is a must-have for your coffee table or the perfect gift for the art lovers, music fans, and educators in your life who are looking for joyful imagery and a truer reflection of pop culture.
Get your copy today at portraitsofexcellence.c… and be sure to spread the word and leave a review so others can find it too!
When I lost access to my own physical capabilities as a professional artist, a result of focal dystonia, a neuromuscular disorder, roller skating provided a valuable creative outlet for me. I’m so very happy that all these years later, my worlds have collided and I have the opportunity to celebrate San Francisco’s 6th Avenue Skatin Place through a new roller skating mural in partnership with with David Miles Jr., the San Francisco Godfather of Skate and the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department.
With community input, we spent months working through design concepts and I believe I we’ve landed on a fun design that celebrates San Francisco roller skating and checks all the functional requirements for park installation, safety, and maintenance.
As a longtime skater at 6th Avenue, my first instinct about doing the mural project was that it was important to acknowledge that it is the people, the skaters, who truly bring all the color and great energy to the space. (Just look at this adorable lil girl!!!)
Photo: San Francisco Recreation and Park Department
So as the artist, I didn’t want to mess with that or compete with it. But I also know that this space has had a number of incidents of being vandalized or otherwise not being treated with respect.
My hope in putting this mural on the center oval at Skatin’ place is to celebrate the legacy of San Francisco roller skaters past, present, and future, and that it also serves to claim this space for roller skaters, so when they all go home, their vibrant colors and lively spirits remain as a symbol to others to have some reverence for this space.
As of February, 2022 we have now received all the necessary local approvals and I look forward to sharing more progress as the mural is installed in the Spring/Summer of 2022!
