Caleb "Sheesh" Morris

A 28 year old Gulf Coast native, Caleb "Sheesh" Morris has been exhibiting his work in the streets and galleries of North America for the past 3 years. In addition to showing in galleries around the United States, Canada, and Europe, his work can be seen in international magazines, various clothing lines, and books, including: Design Wire's "Design Annual 2007" and ISM Quarterly's "Untitled Love Project".

When not fighting insomnia or deadlines, Sheesh can be found planning his next scheme to travel across the country and record it in his sketchbook.

What's up let everybody know your name and what you do.
Hey, what's up, I'm Caleb Morris aka SHEESH and I'm an illustrator, Mardi Gras float builder and an insomniac.

Where did you grow up and what was the environment like as a young kid, teenager and young adult?
I grew up on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, when I was a kid there was nothing there, then came casinos and it blew up, then came Hurricane Katrina and it went back to nothing. The best part about growing up there was living in the country and hanging out in the woods, checking out all the animals. I appreciate it a lot more now that I'm grown up and live in an apartment.

How did you get started? Did you start doodling at a young age and it just stuck or was there a different artistic trajectory for you?
I started drawing since before I can remember, my parents always used to buy me notebooks to draw in and tons of comics, etc. I stopped around 14 or 15 when I get into music really heavy and doodled off and on till I was living in L.A. around 2004 when my band broke up and there was tons of nice graffiti everywhere and that kind of got me started re-learning how to draw and I've been hard at it ever since.

"It's always weird when people check out my sketchbook, you never know what they're going to think."

If a random person were to open your sketchbook, what drawing would be most puzzling to them?
It's always weird when people check out my sketchbook, you never know what they're going to think. People are usually puzzled by all of it, the siamese twins, kids w/ branches growing out of their heads, etc but most of them laugh which I guess is the point.

What’s the greatest compliment anyone’s ever paid you and your work?
Whenever someone connects to a painting for their own reasons or is willing to spend their hard earned money on a piece, those are huge compliments, even if someone spends the the time to tell me they hate it, at least it caused them to feel something..

What’s your preferred medium? What best suits you?
Acrylics for the most part, I'm always changing things and I'm crazy impatient, so it works the best for me.

Do you listen to music while you work? If so, what music moves you?
Yeah, I wish I could say I have real eclectic taste in music but honestly I stay between stuff like Big Pun, P.O.S. Rhymefest and Gaslight Anthem, Hot Water Music, and Latterman.

What challenges you as an artist?
Every painting is a challenge, I try to never paint the same thing twice so I'm always having to figure out new stuff. Ideas are the biggest challenge, I don't like repeating myself or feeling like I'm getting stale so I spend a lot of time working on ideas and making sure people aren't going to think they're lame.

"I'm getting stale so I spend a lot of time working on ideas and making sure people aren't going to think they're lame."


What’s the longest time you’ve spent on a single piece? Have you ever begun something and had to walk away from it and come back again later? Have you ever abandoned something all together, never to return?
Last September I started a piece that took me till December to finish..that was the longest, tons of changes and problems but it worked out. I have to walk away from every painting, I get frustrated easily because I want them to be perfect and if the're not, I have to pull up and breathe for a minute. Yeah, I just abandoned a piece about 10 minutes ago that I'd been working on all weekend, you win some, you lose some, I guess.

Is there a reason in particular that you draw lots of characters?
The characters are a way to get across whatever it is that I'm trying to say with out being too literal about it and it's a way for people to get out of the paintings what they want and make it mean something to them personally.

†What is your most recent work of art?
I haven't stopped painting for the past month and a half, I think the most recent finished piece is "Wayfarer", I finished that up a couple days ago but I'm hoping to have another one done by the end of the week, all my pieces sold this past weekend at a show so I'm back to being sold out, I've got to try to get the inventory built back up.

What are your plans for the near future?
The next month is booked with commissions and trying to get a body of work built back up. I've got shirts coming out w/ XXXVII Apparel and I'm working on some things with a couple of other clothing lines that should see the light of day by the end of summer. I'm working on a piece for a show in January at Gallery 1988 in L.A. and the rest of the year is filling in quick.

Any last† words?
Thanks to My Swag Mag for hooking up the interview and to everybody that took the time to read it.

More on Sheesh vist myspace.com/akacaleb