Face to Face with a Bear

There's a deep story to tell of the Native American/Filipino/Puerto Rican/Oregon roots of the folk hiphop musician Nahko Bear. His passion is environmental empowerment. He is a spritual gangster, hip hopping his way into the people's awareness with his musical movment Medicine For The People.

They use music as their language that bridges cultural barriers. Their messages encourage people to stand for their passions, to be a warrior for our Earth to protect and care for it.

A little while ago I found a guitar laying on the street, put out for rubbish. I picked it up and took it to my studio. It sat waiting for the right piece of artwork to come.

On hearing that Nahko and Medicine for the People will be touring the UK, I glanced over to the old guitar and knew what to do.

Here is the stages of creating the pyrographic portrait of Nahko Bear. The original image I was working from was taken by the amazing photographer and life capturer Josué Rivas.