J.T. Yost - The Manimal Behind the Mask

      J.T. Yost was born on the mean streets of Roswell, Georgia. He came out swinging, determined to escape the one-horse town. He realized quickly that he could either work at the Waffle House off the exit-ramp of interstate 400 like the other 147 residents, slowly pickling his liver and descending into madness, or he could learn a valuable skill-set and be tethered by nothing other than his ambition.

       After his dad caught him buying a case of Miller High-Life from the night baker at Dunkin' Donuts (thus thwarting his attempt at pickling his liver), he picked up a pencil and stabbed his brother. When it turned out that pencil manufacturers had long ago replaced deadly lead with fairly harmless graphite, the charges of attempted manslaughter were dropped, and  J.T. once again picked up a pencil. This time, he vowed, he would use its powers for the good of mankind.

      While sketching the family cat, he was distracted by a passing vegan tamale truck. When he returned, the sleeping cat had been replaced by his father reading the newspaper. The end result was a rather disturbing drawing of a cat-headed human reading the Atlanta Journal & Constitution...and thus, "Peculiar Pet Portraits" were born!

       The next ten years was a whirlwind of hobnobbing with the bourgeouise of Richmond, Virginia and Austin, Texas (for some reason). Growing tired of The High Life (not obtained from the night baker of Dunkin' Donuts, this time),  J.T. decided to 'slum it' among the junkies and transvestites of the Lower East Side in New York City. He hoped he might learn something from society's castaways, something he couldn't learn from the upper-crust of our great nation.

      A kindly band of traveling carnies (who dubbed themselves "The Silver-Men" took  J.T. under their wing and taught him to paint with oils like the Old Masters. But again,  J.T. couldn't help but pervert the teachings to suit his own needs...and thus, "Traditional Oil Pet Portraits" were born!