Hi!  I'm Caleb.

I have been drawing and painting since I was old enough to hold a crayon between my chubby little baby fingers.  In my early years, my scribbling was a way to keep my hands busy as my imagination grew.  In high school, I spent more time in the studio than anywhere else.  I devoured as many new mediums as I could, formed special bonds with the other art kids, and developed a unique love for the two art teachers, Mrs. Sy and Mr. Brooks.  I remember one of them telling our class that in a world where you can produce millions of identical pieces of something, it's the one with a flaw or imperfection or difference that sets itself apart and can be called 'art'.  

That idea fits in a great way with my personal mantra of "It's Always Something", the former namesake of this site and the tattoo that adorns my right arm.  It serves as a reminder that even though you can strive for perfection, sometimes Life throws other things at you and you need to be able to roll with it.  You need to be able to find the humor in things, find the beauty...

In more recent times, my art has taken on a new level of importance.  It's become a form of therapy for me, a way to soothe away the anger and doubt and sadness and uncertainty that are part of living with anxiety, depression, and borderline personality disorder.  There are periods - sometimes days, sometimes months and months - where my life gets rocked with the crippling effects of these mental disorders.  During those times, some of my only moments of peace and clarity come from the simple motion of putting a brush to paper or canvas.

 My art tends to range from colorful attempts at realism to cartoonish illustrations, though I'm itching to get into some new mediums in the coming year.  I've been a nature lover since birth and use many animals in my work, but you'll also see me post a lot of portraits and body studies, too.  I am body/sex positive and all-gender friendly and try to have different body types and genders when models are available.

For now, this site is a work-in-progress.  I guess I'm keeping it for a number of reasons:

1. I want a place to write again. I used to write all the time, about the most random things. In a lot of ways, adult life has kinda zapped my creative juices. But, I hope to change that and get things flowing again.

2. I want a place to talk openly about mental illness: my experiences with it, my ways of coping, resources that I feel might benefit others. I've known too many people like myself who've felt alone and overwhelmed in their thoughts, and too many who lost the fight and are no longer with us.

3. I want a place to sell my art! I've talked about having prints of my work available forever and I've finally done it. Ten percent of each sale will go to Mental Health Awareness organizations and Queer Youth GoFundMe pages.

I hope that you find some joy or comfort or inspiration in my words and art.