In 2022 I received a long overdue ADHD diagnosis.
Strangely it wasn't even something that was on my radar for most of my life even though the signs have been flashing away like a darkened highway construction zone for years.

One of my longtime coping methods has been listening to music while I do any kind of work. I listen to music when I drive or clean the house so I don't regularly crash the car or forget that I'm tidying a room. It effectively distracts my overactive brain so I am able to focus on a given task for an extended period of time.

I have always listened to music while I make art but somehow only recently made the connection that it is not only what inspires my work, it's what calms my brain so that I can actually CREATE the work.

The last 20 years or so I've been painting what the music looks and feels like. Lately though it seems my paintings have become a pretty accurate representation of how it feels in my head.

It's beautiful chaos.

This piece was inspired by Aimee Mann’s "The King of the Jailhouse" - a hauntingly gorgeous tune that pulls at my heartstrings on every listen.

"Baby there's something wrong with me that I can't see..."

Now I have a name for it. And a diagnosis.