As a writer, I am always curious how text works in a collage. At first, I stayed away from using text or words at all. I wanted to convey things strictly in a visual manner. Slowly, however, the words and letters began appearing on their own. When I began studying Ray Johnson's work in earnest, the flood gates opened. 

Usually, I let the words pop up on their own, making moves as I go to accommodate or deepen the textual references on the image. Below are two examples. In "Woodshedding at the 3 Deuces" when I found an ad that used the phrase "3 Deuces" I knew I had to put it on top of this collage of a redneck diner. The image of Illinois Jacquet soon followed. All that was left for me to do was find a small woodshed image. In jazz, "woodshedding" means you're stepping off the stage and concentrating on your work in private. This concept of "woodshedding" joined with the "3 Deuces" phrase to create both an image and a title for that image. My hope is to make a joke on, and a direct comment on, the often racist world we live in, and even a little something about what a Black jazz artist had to go through working back in the day, playing gigs on the Chitlin circuit. 

"New Man Inside" was titled after the fact, only when I realized what words popped up in the work of gluing. I flipped the image in the JPEG process, hiding in plain sight a message I hope stayed somewhat subliminal. The images all come from old Life magazines from the early 60s.