I've always felt that if I worked hard enough and continued to refine my craft, while staying curious about our times and our world, I just might have something to contribute.

I want kids to understand that making pictures is similar to making music; there are so many instruments and so many tunes that the possibilities for how you play are truly limitless.

I wanted to show that an African-American artist could make it in this country on a national level in the graphic arts. I want to be a strong role model for my family and for other African Americans.

I never demonstrate how art should be made or what the outcome should look like. Instead, give kids the tools and the materials to make their own art. Have them experience the process.

Make it all about the work. Everything else will follow.

If you do the best work you can, the reward is ultimately your self-satisfaction - the sense that you have done the best you can. And then there's that piece of how others respond.

I feel the calmest when I'm drawing or when I'm creating images. I love connecting the mind with the hand and producing something - that is very comforting and centering for me.

We live in a time when there is an abundance of ways we can express ourselves.

African American writers and artists, by the very nature of what they do, will actually enhance or bring together people in a way that might be very, very healthy.

I try not to respond with a pep talk, such as, "Everyone has talent, just try, you'll see." I skirt those kinds of answers.

I have to believe that when I finish a project, that I will not only grow as an artist, but as a person.

I have come to see that exploration is not a practice of the unfaithful, but rather is exactly what being a follower of Christ is actually all about.

One shot is all anyone needs if they back themselves and do it right.

I turned into a swamp of inactivity, and because of this no one was able to see the gems in my depths.

The most influential and frequent voice you hear is your inner-voice. It can work in your favor or against you, depending on what you listen to and act upon.

The power of community to create health is far greater than any physician, clinic or hospital.

I grew up mostly in Schenectady, N.Y. From an early age, building and creating things was a real passion for me.

We can't win friends with a scowling face and an upbraiding voice.

If you make a determination that [story of Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac] is not historical, do you throw it away? I don't think we can say whether it's precisely, scientifically historical.

When the mind is calm, how quickly, how smoothly, how beautifully you will perceive everything.

I think Darth Maul has been on a vicious cycle, he's been on a merry go round. In some way he's begging for Obi-Wan Kenobi to take him off that ride.