An Art-Filled Life

JFo sitting next to Troll Heart canvas painting.

About JFo

I can’t remember a time that I wasn’t drawing, sketching or doodling. Drawing was always my escape, and throughout my life I’ve used it as my safe space—a place to go and feel calm.   I’ve never had schooling of any kind for art, so I can’t begin to imagine all that I’m “doing wrong,” but that never seemed to matter to me.  How I feel when I create & how it affects others is all that I care about.

I spent the first forty years of my life driven by fear & anger, unknowingly trapped in a victim mentality, self-medicating and working hard just to get through each day.  And then, with a string of surgeries and through a decade of chronic pain, I’ve grown and transformed. I’ve come to understand genuine compassion & forgiveness, and that we’re all from the same Source. I’ve embraced my sensitivities & nurtured my intuitive nature. I’ve become more of my True Self, and I am dedicated to choosing love over fear in each moment. I now see the pain as my greatest gift.

JFo kayaking on a body of water.

My art reflects this journey from fear to love. For those first forty years of my life, I felt surrounded by monsters, trapped and victimized and often coerced for the sake of survival. And as I began to heal my own inner monster, I started to understand that all the monsters of my world were just hurt people hurting people. The compassion & forgiveness I gave to myself was a gift I couldn’t help but share. I see now how the healing of the world begins within each of us.

"Art has been a lifeline for me—it’s how I heal, manage my emotions, and calm my mind. I create with the hope that my work can help others process their own grief and find comfort, just as it has done for me."

JFo painting a pink wooden alien in their studio.

This spiritual awakening and my fascination with death and near-death-experiences (NDEs) prepared me in a way I never could have planned for, for my mother’s passing in 2023. With the transition of my beloved mother, Theresa, everything changed. It evoked a realization that I was not creating what truly sparked joy; and that began my newest embarkation of Cryptid Art. I’ve also been creating entries in an illustrated grief journal which I’ve called Grief Monster. My grief monster was born on the day my mother passed, and I’ve been charting our journey together through drawings ever since. I can now say that I am on this planet doing what I came here to do, and loving the journey & loving my monster.

And today, I find myself living in paradise with my incredible wife who has been my Spiritual Partner for nearly fifteen years. We live in our beautiful home in the magical Pennsylvania countryside with our adorable & loving dogs, and together, we are committed to living an expansive, creative, and above all loving life.

All of my creations are made with Love, in joy, with a sprinkle of good humor.

My Journey with the Grief Monster

My Grief Monster was born the day that my mother, Theresa, passed away in 2023. It was a pain I didn’t know existed, and to make it even more painful and isolating, it was mostly invisible to others. My grief monster is an outlet for this deep & lonely pain. Grief, just like my Grief Monster, is messy & ugly & scary & unpredictable, and once it’s been born, it is here to stay. I once heard that grief is the most patient of emotions, it will wait until you are able to face it. My grief monster holds a teacup in each picture, because more than anything it wants to have tea with me—it wants to talk about my mother.  It wants to ask and answer questions, and experience itself as grief. It wants to express all of its memories of pain and joy, so that we can move through all of it and find meaning & healing & love on the other side. I am grateful to have a gift that allows me to express my pain and sadness over my mother’s transition. Grief is something most people don’t want to talk about, but it’s not something we can avoid.  My hope is that by sharing my pain through my drawings it may help others express and experience their own. Being the most patient of emotions, our grief is always waiting to be witnessed, and we must be the first to do so for the healing to begin.