Well, I really consider myself an artistic vacuum. I suck all the art, politics, you-name-it into my miniscule brain and then take that and fingerpaint my miserable little stabs at the electronic canvas. And part of what I do is attempt to steal all the best things I see from the people I admire. Yes I do imitate most of those people mentioned. The thing is, when I try to imitate someone, something strange happens...I screw it up and it comes out as just me instead, LOL. I think it would be difficult to look at anything in my gallery and say ah...there's Tjohn imitating so-and-so. And it would probably be embarassing to so-and-so as well. :^) Many thousands of years ago, a man or woman picked up a stick and jammed it in some wet clay and repeatedly smeared it on a cave wall until the pattern of marks resembled an animal being hunted by some men. That was the one and only original painting. Everything since then has been imitation, in the sense that it builds on what has come before. The trick is to determine who you are, the emotions you want your art to convey. I like to laugh, so I like to explore the light and dark side of that through satire and parody. I also have serious flirtation with just about any other genre that exists, LOL. I like to think that even though my art is derivative, my ideas are my own. John P.S. I view Hyperborea's work the same way I view non-representational sculpture, looking at the shapes and textures of the objects. Personally I dig 'em. I actually relax when I look at the art of Hyperborea, it has a very real calmative effect on me. I like that.

This is not my "second childhood". I'm not finished with the first one yet.

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

"I'd like to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather....not screaming in terror like the passengers on his bus." - Jack Handy