1.Tell us a little about yourself i.e. where you are from, how long you have been a Janet fan and why you became and remain a fan.
I'm originally from Detroit, MI, I currently live near San Francisco, CA. I've always loved Janet since I first saw her on Fame, but I became a die-hard fan during the Rhythm Nation era. There was something so special about the way Janet presented her message of music, dance and unity to end the problems of the world that you couldn't help but want to be part of the "Nation." Janet also represented to me a strong, sexy woman who didn't feel the need to show it off, she just WAS. She was someone I wanted to grow up to be like, and I hope that I have come close. ;-)
I remain a Janet fan today because Janet's music is powerful and relevant still today. Her messages are positive and she's a friggin treasure to this world. I can't even begin to tell you all the ways Janet both personally and through her talents have enriched and inspired my life and my work.
If I may share one example: In 2007 I was at the height of my career, and I sustained a serious injury which left me unable to use my drawing hand. As an artist, you might understand how devastating that was, but it was Janet's song "Enjoy" that inspired me to push ahead to continue my creative career somehow. Over the next few years I had to retrain my brain and my whole artistic process. You'll probably notice a pretty big shift in my style after 2007. My hand will never function again as it once did, but I am so SO grateful for Janet and her messages of positivity, hope and love.
2. When and how did you start creating Janet cartoons?
The 1st Janet cartoon was created for a contest for the "Friends of Janet" fanclub back in '94 or '95. I did a watercolour cartoon of Janet and her dog Puffy. I won an autographed copy of Design of a Decade. After that, they were just so much fun, I did a few more of some of Janet's most iconic songs or outfits and created a really bad website to share them with other "FOJ" members and also penpals. (Yes, we actually sent snail mail back then.)
3.What do you use for your inspiration and ideas?
Janet herself was of course the biggest inspiration, but it was the "Jackson 5" cartoon that was a big influence in my drawing style at that time. I thought, "How fun would it be to put Janet in her own cartoon world?" Over time, it was just fun to create cartoons of Janet's latest music video, outfit, etc. It was just my little tribute to the artist that I loved so much.