This is our first year with the Scribble Festival. It is part of the Scrawl Arts Festival. It used to be called Urban Scrawl. All of these canvasses are donated to the district. They are auctioned off. All that money goes back into the district. The patrons at the art festival can vote on their favorites. The winner gets an automatic spot in the next festival.

The media is mixed media. I use acrylics, charcoal, inks and pencils. I use iron and copper in an acrylic medium. I oxidize it so copper turns blue. Iron turns rust and red. It is an organic thing that I can control; but, only a bit. That little bit of not having control helps define the process.

I have synesthesia which means my senses are all tangled up. For example, when I listen to music I experience sound as color, shape and texture. I was trying to show people what a song looks like. I sketched it out with paint. They wanted to keep it. That inspired me to keep painting. I originally started painting music; but, I have branched out from there.

Hot Times is one of the golden treasures of Columbus. It serves as a cultural bridge in our community. It is so important as everything changes in our city. It is so important to hold on to the cultures of the different communities. That is what Hot Times is about.

I grew up in New York on Long Island. Me and my friends would get into trouble and spray paint on whatever we could. We didn’t have trains in my neighborhood; so, we painted on warehouses, eighteen wheelers, or whatever we could. I developed from there.

Most of the time, I am trying not to stick in a certain theme. Most of the time, I will do letters. I will take the same letters and put them in different orders, different styles, change the way I do a 3D (dimensional), change the color, change the heights, change the widths, change the thickness, change the way they pop out.

I love this event! Even though I missed the opportunity to experience the art being creating live and only talked to one artist, I still enjoyed the art. The experience brought back fond memories of years past, being able to watch the artist create live, interact with the artists, and interact with those enjoying the art.