About

ABOUT JONATHAN ANDREW (ANDY) WATKINS

Growing up in New Jersey from the late 1960s to mid 1980s, Andy displayed a strong combination of curiosity and imagination. He developed love for a wide range of music, and wrote his first verse of poetry in grade school. As a senior at Tenafly High School, Andy wrote his first sonnets. Earlier in high school his love for geometry became apparent.

After high school, experimentation with psychedelic drugs led to an ongoing relationship with the music and subculture of the Grateful Dead. That relationship serves as a teacher of many things, including the importance of not putting people (including himself) on a pedestal. At that time he also fell in love with colorful geometric designs (mandalas, paisleys, taijitu/yin-yangs), with tie-dyes and with being part of the space where music happens.

In 1989, Andy moved to the west coast of the United States, and eventually settled in San Francisco (for six years). The next 31 years included: heavy addiction/self-medication; chasing “peak” experiences; solitude and introspection; 25 years working in financial services; financial bankruptcy; marriage; and relocation to Colorado, Arizona, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Texas.

In 2017, Andy left financial services. During an embodiment and self-work course in autumn 2020, he rediscovered his love for poetry. Writing poetry is an integral part of that work. Drawing and color-filling geometric designs is another part. Using those designs with text prompts (driven by experience and embodiment work, including poetry) to generate artwork helps him work on a long-standing aversion to technology without becoming overly reliant on it.* 

Andy currently lives in east Texas with his wife, Elizabeth, and their two Jack Russell terriers.

*Disclosure: artificial intelligence at nightcafe.studio is used as one of the tools to create the shirt and poster artwork offered.