Paper, charcoal, acrylic paint, and oil paint on canvas. 49” x 37” x 2”. 2019.

This piece began as a poem screen-printed on a red, white and blue collage.

America, I am . . . American, I am.

I can, I am, I am.

I am Freedom.

Free I am, I am.

I am America.

I felt that Martin Luther King Jr. embodied the spirit of the poem and so I began working on his portrait initially in charcoal, then in acrylic, and finally with oil.