Warning: this was written with no forethought or preparation, or AI, as if I was writing a letter to a friend. (you are that friend). Screw AI - stop using it to help you write. If I can write like a dummy so can u.

Welcome to American $%@#& (Pronounced ‘Uh merican SLANG’), my new website. I’ll be listing my art and all creative enterprises here. My name is Caleb Joshua Mannan, but you can just call me Caleb. I sign my art ‘CJM’ because when I was a boy, my mom told me I should sign my art, so, like any kid, I chose my initials as my signature. Sadly, it’s too late to go back now. But, in all honesty, the little boy initials sincerely reflect the art and spirit of American Slang - the naive silly joy of a child creating just because they love to create. Oh, American $%@#& is just a fancy name I made up (ie, stole) to poetically express my art style and identity. I was born in Portland, Oregon (dad Joke alert: I say they could have kept Portland weird by keeping me there), a bicentennial baby delivered unto this earth and country on Memorial Day, 1976. I was born to the daughter of southern migrants who settled in Oregon during the Dust bowl drift, and to a Vietnam vet who was just a few years out of his service as a Navy Corpsman. I was raised on 80’s cartoons, endless explorations in nature, church and family, a homeschooled kid who was so weird I became cool (is that a thing). In the 90’s, I grew my hair long, wore thrifted 70’s clothes, wrote poetry, drew and painted badly, and read the Beatniks. I rode the Greyhound bus, I saw all but two of the American States, I got punched in the face, nearly got robbed at a train station, slept in rest stops, failed at hitchhiking, toured with a band and played music on stage to crowds I could not fathom and did not deserve (the band wasn’t mine). In those days I met so many people I’ve forgotten that their lost memories give me anxiety and FOMO sometimes in the middle of the night. At twenty four, my best friend and I moved to Nashville so I could see about a girl, a killer musician girl, the most beautiful girl I have ever known (she still is). By twenty five, I married this girl, and now we have a bunch of kids who are awesome, and are better artists than me. All this time, I never stopped drawing and arting and trying to write the Great American Novel which still alludes me because it does not exist but that doesn’t stop me from trying to find/write it. Since I cannot write the Great American Novel, I try to paint it (This has proven to be impossible, for a novel is meant to be read).

I like to say that I am a self taught artist, because I am, and also, it’s just a good tagline. Most people nowadays are self taught, or, most artists are self taught in some way because of their curiosity and Youtube. But I guess I also say that because I see myself in Outsider artists and Folk Artists - their prolific, almost manic output, their independent spirit, their will to create and express themselves regardless of what people think of them, their need to reflect their Creator by creating. I get this honest, as my mom’s dad, my Grandpa Jones, was in this same ilk. He was a singer songwriter poet who created wildly until the day he died. In this spirit, I create so many pieces that I can’t seem to give them away. So, this site was born to help me show you what’s laying around the house, or jammed into the basement. Or, better yet, going home with you.

I have created pieces for offices, homes, bedrooms, bathrooms (my fave), and even some murals. I have shown my art in local galleries like Terrain, Spokane Art School, The Artist’s Cooperative, and local community art shows and art markets.

Ok, I am bored of this letter, you know how that goes, so you will probably forgive me. Anyhow, that’s me. Feel free to email me or check out my Instagram if you need me. I am working on getting the shop page up so you can buy an original Skeletor Insert Sick Burn Here painting, or whatever floats your boat.

Ok, love you, CJM.