As a young child, Jay Griffin suffered head injuries resulting in nerve damage that affects how he senses, thinks and sees.

But it didn’t affect his eye for the aesthetic; from a young age, the painter says he has seen balance and beauty in everyday images.

His older brother gave him a Time magazine, and he was captivated by images in “art articles” that depicted such artists as Jasper Johns, and abstract master Pablo Picasso.

Griffin’s works often reflects on his upbringing in the Gonzales Gardens public housing projects.

“I most often want to paint something serene, something that is readily seen as pleasant and not dangerous. ” Griffin said. “I take the most pleasure in creating a spontaneous image that reflects a childlike imagery.”

Griffin’s own childhood, though, was not always serene.

Born in Columbia in 1949, he and his two siblings were raised by a single mother. His father, an alcoholic who was sometimes in legal trouble, left the family when Griffin was 2.

In the Gardens, you could find 50 children to play with at any given time of the day.” says Griffin, now an artist. “It was fun… but at the same time, it could be dangerous. Often, you would wake up, and the first thing on our mind was, ‘who am I going to have to fight today?’

After serving in the Navy, he studied with Columbia artist Gill Petroff and with sculptor and painter Peter Hayward. He describes his work as Abstract Expressionist. He recently return to Columbia.