src="http://www.woostercollective.com/images/burgerman1.gif" ALIGN="left"
HSPACE="10">  The first time we came across the whimsical characters of Jon
Burgerman was in the recent Booth-Clibborn book STICK ‘EM UP. Seeing Jon’s
characters can’t help but make you smile. So when we received an email from Jon
the other day we were delighted.  Checking out his "http://www.jonburgerman.com">website, we were pleased to see that he had
put his characters to good use, making a statement against a now seemingly
inevitable war in Iraq.  Jon was kind enough to answer a few questions for
us.

Wooster: How did you get started in creating art for the
street?

Jon: I got started whilst studying art at university.
It just seemed a natural progression for my work. It also meant more people
would get to see my drawings if they were scattered all over the city than would
if my work was stuck in a damp studio somewhere. It was a dual desire of wanting
my work to gain recognition and to get out of the studio and explore the
city.

Wooster: What originally inspired you to draw all of the
characters?

Jon: Television, magazines, comics, computer
games etc.. all the usual stuff everyone mentions. What else is there to inspire
you when you are a child ? Later I became aware of more and more people doing
the kind of work that I really liked and thought I’d try my hand at it. I’m not
really sure where a lot of my drawings come from -the end of my pen I
suppose.

Wooster: What other street artists do you most admire and why?

Jon: I’m a big fan of street performance, especially mime artists. Their concentration and determination to make people believe they are trapped inside a box is something I find particularly asperational.

Wooster: What’s your favorite city, neighborhood, or block, to post and/or to see street art?

Jon: It’s always great to see new stuff around where I live [Nottingham, UK] and when I go down to London I always keep my eyes peeled around the East End, along Old Street and Brick Lane.  New stickers seem grow out of cracks in the walls all the time. They are invading… I went to New York a couple of years ago and thought some of the street art there was great. It was interesting to see the different stuff people get up to and that some of the work is similar to what’s going on over here.

Wooster:  What inspires you now?

Jon: Paying the heating bill inspires me to work, it’s cold over here. Lots of stuff is really beginning to kick off so I’m just looking forward to making more work and meeting fellow sticker artists. Currently I’m liking ZEEL’s stickers, Lunartik, Evil Design and loads of other stuff. Aside from stickers, I’m making new works with a bunch of CZW [commercially zoned works] artists who I also find inspiring, if not a little worrying.

If you like Jon’s stuff, check out his site, send him a s.a.e. or some of your own stickers and Jon will hook you up with some of his.