1990, 60 x 30 inches, acrylic on canvas. Livonia, Michigan Studio.

This is a part of a two painting set entitled “Violent America.” This is the first of two paintings that were accepted into the first juried exhibit I ever entered—leading to me leaving a hefty paycheck and corporate advertising executive position that I had held for 12 years to jump into creating art full time. It was in the Detroit Artists Market’s juried exhibit in November 1990. Both pieces addressed the murder rate in the City of Detroit—4th highest in country—during the dark time of the city’s plummeting population in what was referred to as “white flight,” with many folks relocating to the suburbs, as Detroit’s first black mayor serving from 1974, (until, it turned out, 1994). I had both worked and lived in the city for 15 years, and my studio was there as well.

Original artwork is in a private collection. If interested in purchasing a custom print, please feel free to reach out to me, here.