I remember the first time he walked into the bar years ago, and ordered a drink. You never knew what you were going to have to concoct for him. His artistic temperment would sometimes get the better of him and he would start making things up. "Give me a rum, and put a splash of beer in it………"

Another time, he decided to have a drink made consisting of a couple of drops of every bottle behind the bar! He would then proceed to make a gloriously huge mess by spreading out straws, napkins, and lime garnishes along the bar, taking up the space of several customers. Of course this was cause for some annoyance at first, but John always remedied the situation by leaving a bigger than average gratuity.

It seemed as though he couldn't stop creating, whether it was smearing abstracts in part of an accidentally spilled drink, or drawing on bar napkins. In fact, I've come to learn that he can't stop creating -he's literally drawing to save his life!

I remember one time he asked me to go into a local art store to help out with the selection of supplies, ( Kind of strange if you know John; he prefers to use 'found' paint that he collects in the alleyways around his loft) and proceeded to cover most of one of his hands and arm with 'flesh' colored paint. I wasn't sure if he was trying to paint himself to fit in to the world better, or if he was simply testing the hue of the paint. You could practically hear the sound of the store clerk's jaw hitting the floor when John appeared at the cash to pay for the paint, muttering cryptically that the manufacturers of said product might one day find themselves facing litigation for misleading customers.

Contrary to what most artists would think, John derives secret pleasure from some of the rough criticism he occasionally recieves for his work. "That's the whole point" he would say, upon hearing that someone at one of his shows remarked that "My five year old could have done this." "Anyone could do this" John loves to say. "I don't understand why more people aren't. To that end John is constantly encouraging everyone to join in and draw with him. Art and creativity has been a very powerful antidote to the many ills that have befallen him, and I think he feels that it's his duty to spread the 'medicine' around.