"Plus, Minus, Plus Sharpie" is a direct response to the composition "Sketching Gestures" by my nephew, Zach Dunham. Like so many abstract expressionists, jazz has been an influence in my work. Although the introduction of television, The Beatles and commercialism steared the pop art movement of the sixties, my roots remain in the previous decade with the likes of Pollock, Kerouac, and Thelonious Monk. Pop music and art may have thwarted the progress of expressionism for some but it's alive and well in my studio.