So back in February, I reached a milestone as an artist. This was truly a pivotal moment for me, and I never talked about it. Just to put things in perspective, I was invited by my wife's company, the Miami Science Museum, to participate in a galley night style show that featured various local artists from various styles. I have also been designing the fliers for this event series, so guess who was a headliner?

Well,  the event was awesome- at least in my opinion. I was able to put a bunch of my pieces on display for public viewing, which is the equivalent of saying, "Please take a look at all of my hard work and let me know if it's good enough for you." Needless to say, I was a bit nervous. I mean, I've pretty much operated my entire life on the sole principle that I don't give a rat's ass about other people's opinions - so to willingly engage in an activity that pretty much based on people's opinions and reactions was a bit new to me.

But overall, it went well for me. All of my friends showed up to give their support, and so did a few family members. Funny thing about my family is that they never cared about, nor encouraged, my art all of my life, but now that my stuff had generated SOME kind of notoriety, they came out of the woodworks to tell everyone how proud they are. What a load of s**t. Oh well, that only adds to the familial paradox I've tried understanding my whole life. 

There was one person there that has ALWAYS supported my art, and it meant a lot that they showed - my wife. Talk about a person that would always tell me to go for it when everything in my head said not to. Well, I didn't go for it, but it's worked out so far.

Back to the night, there were at least 10 artists being showcased that night, each of them was really talented - although I have to say, just because you're 50 years old and you teach an art class, doesn't mean you're required to offer your opinion on everything on display. Seriously - some people should be hung upside down until they realize what a nuisance they are to others. 

Aside from that, I actually partook in something that I never realized would be so terrifying - a live collaboration. I have seen them done, but I never realized how distracting a large crowd of people can be, on top of your heart pounding so hard. I wasn't very pleased with what I added to the piece, but considering I came up with it on the spot, I think it turned out alright (Angel in the top right corner).

But overall, everyone seemed to dig the art, I got a lot of great feedback from people, and I even ended up selling one of my pieces. I tried to soak it up as much as possible, along with about 6 or 7 scotches, only because I know this won't come along any time soon considering I'm no in the position to fly somewhere on a whim to have my stuff featured. 

So, for me, it was a good night.

And here I am......

Being my first post, I guess I should explain myself and department M. I'm a 26 year old amateur artist from Miami, where I have lived my whole life. I wish I could say something like ' I only get inspired while I shoot up heroine and imagine what it would be like to drown a prostitute,' but my persona is no where near that cool. I draw what I think about, in the way I think about it. I don't have many sources for inspiration except for a few sites, books, cartoons, and my wife. The worst part about being an amateur artist is, you're usually something else most of the time.

Me? I'm in Public Relations (PR). For those not familiar with PR, it's a lot more than just having a list of vips at the front door of a club - regardless, it's a field that has taught me to never believe what I see in the media, and pretty much be suspicious of everything. 

So that's me - at night, I'm a heavy drinking, overly-sarcastic, artist, and by day, I'm a suit. It's a living.

As for department M, this is pretty much the name I have established for where I want to take my art. I'm very scattered between comic art, street/urban style, and graphic, and dept M is pretty much the universe my head lives in when it comes to developing my skill, and trying out new styles. Some artist go by their real name, some create new ones, and me - I'm  an enterprise.  

Now this blog is just a place for me to be able to chronicle the development of a bunch of ideas i have, and it'll be a testament to my successes and failures. It's also a place I want to chronicle the other journey - life - fortunately for me, that's not a trip on going on alone.