Milwaukee Imagined is a statement and vision of a diverse, equitable, healthy, sustainable and vibrant city of beautiful gardens, bike lanes, rapid transit lines and high quality affordable housing. In approximately 60 panels the city’s surface lots are replaced by the beautiful and stately buildings that once filled the city. In vacant store fronts and lots throughout the redlined environ are bustling businesses and apartment buildings filled with families. Sprawling and overbuilt highways replaced by metro lines and bikeways. Imagine such a city with me. Envision a place where saying no to a better and more beautiful future is ignored and scorned.

Since I was able to hold a pen, I have enjoyed drawing imagined cities and their environs. Among the projects I am most proud of are major series detailing the envisioned landscapes Damascus, Tamaulipas, Milwaukee, Southeastern Europe and Turkey. Sizes range from 8” x 11” to 24” x 36”.

The drawing process often entails extensive study of a city’s history, namely its architecture and culture, followed by mapping it out in pencil. I trace over the laid out grids with masses of buildings and then go over those in black fine point pen. Once I’ve completed the tracing, I draw the edges of buildings and then fill them in with architectural details. The last stage of the process entails making them alive with vibrant rich watercolors - often warm toned.