Jesse has done paintings, ink drawings, and photography for Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains, Blind Melon. He moved to Seattle in 1989 and took up fantasizing with other developing artists --musicians from whom he felt the most passion. Through the 90's he visually translated a variety of their early morning inspirations. His Rock art can be seen on the internet here.

After a Shakespearian decade of riding shotgun, he was ready for his next challenge, to find his own way. He went into the dark for a week, covering his windows with aluminum foil and removing the light bulb from the microwave. "I have always had this idea that all of us are artists, creating something from nothing in our lives. To proclaim this and prove it, an artist should be able to sit naked in a dark room with nothing and create something. I had to try." This experience alone in the dark was particularly difficult for Jesse as he is a quadriplegic in a wheelchair without the use of his hands, injured in a car accident when he was a teenager. "Whenever I come up against something formidable I think of myself as a prisoner in walls which might be years thick, but I have my spoon for digging --an incredible amount is possible with patience. We all have problems in our lives, things we're up against and maybe we can't change them but these things are solid and navigable on the physical landscape. The real struggle is taking place in each of us, where we are each the greatest hero fighting the greatest adversary, ourselves, in an epic battle in every split second to dare to be alive and open."

"I wanted to know what it was like to be blind, what would eventually happen to my mind and reality without the visual stimulation I had based my life on." He explains how his art was forever changed by the awareness of his movements in the dark. "I suppose it was important for me to learn how to draw everything but since being in the dark my priority hasn't been to control a medium or force a concept but to move with paint, with nature to reveal it's workings, my workings." His new paintings are poured from a mixture of water and colored mica flakes which shine in an opalescent sheen when dry. While they are abstract, and appear to be a complete departure from the narrative style of his rock work, Jesse doesn't see it that way. "I think everything I've learned from Rock is in these. It's all about being daring, tearing yourself open and failing, and failing, and failing until a miracle happens." You can see his new works here-- http://www.alluviumart.com

"To me this image [for Heart] is about freedom, of idealism. It takes bravery to fly but in the moments we do it's heaven on earth. Heart shows us this, I'm just an interpreter. For me doing this kind of work is like pouring a little wine out for the Gods. They have been my peers and idols who taught me how to kiss a stranger."