STAMP: Introduce yourself (where you are from, name, etc..). What is something you want the world to know about you?
Ron: Ron English, artist, New York

STAMP: When did you become interested in art?
Ron: My mother swallowed crayons and I made murals on the wall of her womb.

STAMP: What is your medium of choice and why?
Ron: Ideas. They are easy to have.

STAMP: Did you study at an art school? If so which one and how was that experience? If not, do you wish you did?
Ron: Yes, training is important for an artist. I would no more want to be operated on by an amateur brain surgeon than work with an untrained artist.

STAMP: How were you able to take your love for art and make it into a career?
Ron: By selling paintings.

STAMP: Can you tell us where the term POPaganda came from? How it started and what it means to you?
Ron: It’s about having a sense of humor about your own convictions. To have success in the marketplace of ideas you have to have a recognizable brand.

STAMP: Have you ever felt limited or trapped by your style? With so much pressure on mainstream art, have you felt peer pressured into conforming?
Ron: No, I pretty much do as I please and contend with the results.

STAMP: Can you remember the first piece you ever did and what inspired you to do it?
Ron: I have always considered everything I do art.

STAMP: Can you tell any interesting stories about specific pieces, artists, or projects that you’ve worked on?
Ron: I think the main reason I am able to get away with so much is that I don’t disclose too much information.

STAMP: What gave you the guts to express yourself over pre-existing billboards? Did that get you into any trouble?
Ron: I never had the sense of doing anything wrong or any overwhelming fear of the consequences.

STAMP: What have been your favorite projects to work on to date? Why?
Ron: I loved painting the giant children’s Guernica at the Station Museum in Houston. I got to go to work everyday in an air conditioned museum and party every night with the director Jim Harathis, Clark Fox and Gibby Haynes.

STAMP: What are your challenges as an artist?
Ron: Time.

STAMP: I see that you use your children a lot as models in your work. What is the significance of using them? And how do you get them to cooperate?
Ron: I paint them because I love them. They cooperate because I pay them.

STAMP: Have you ever created an amazing piece by mistake?
Ron: People always ask me how I got the paint balloon to explode into a heart on the abortion billboard. I wish I could plan something like that but it requires divine intervention.

STAMP: Describe the process behind creating one of your thought provoking pieces?
Ron: Wake up with an idea. Execute idea.

STAMP: What role do you feel the internet has on art? Positive or negative?
Ron: Positive. It has made art more acceptible. Negative. There is nothing that can replace the experience of seeing art in person.

STAMP: Do u feel like your work is evolving?
Ron: Changing.

STAMP: What advice would you give a young artist just starting or trying to get started?
Ron: Be yourself, it’s the one thing no one can do better than you.

STAMP: What can we expect in the future from you?
Ron: Stay tuned.

STAMP: Do you agree with the overall objective of STAMP Magazine? Why or Why Not?
Ron: I wish there had been a stamp magazine when I was a young artist.

When you are not catching his billboards, posters, or paintings all over the world, sit down and visit him on his website at http://www.popaganda.com. Check him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ron-English/125743407473325…. Don’t forget to Subscribe