I’ve always loved to draw. It’s the ultimate escape. All through elementary and high school,  I was constantly being called on the carpet for one repeat offense: drawing all over my desk.

The first thing I remember drawing was the Jupiter 2 spaceship from “Lost in Space.” Then I graduated to drawing the various bugs and things I found in my neighbor’s overgrown yard on Cleveland’s east side. I especially loved preying mantises and cicadas— I loved how alien and malevolent they looked, like the aliens in my favorite movies, like Star Wars and Alien (which became my next drawing obsession).  My greatest achievement was putting all these things together in tableaus in which Godzilla-size, bug-like aliens came and laid waste to Cleveland (a fantasy which I am still waiting to come to fruition).

One thing I find endlessly engrossing  (and constantly challenging) is taking a photo of a face and trying to recreate it — a simple-but-tricky puzzle that has fascinated artists for centuries. And the response from people whose faces I’ve drawn has been very enthusiastic — so much so that I’ve decided to share them and offer to draw portraits for people- and pets. I don’t discriminate.