Although the idea behind The Jungle: Episode 1 came about during my stay in French Polynesia, I did not have a chance to begin painting it until I got back to Paris a few months later. Even then, I never hadn time to finish it, so the inspiration behind it continued to grow and change with every new experience I had. I finally managed to put on its finishing touches when I arrived back in the United States in October 2003 –over a year after I had begun! Although The Jungle: Episode 1's place of conception had had the most visually apparent influence on it, I feel it is, in addition, a product of all the myriad people and cultures I have since experienced.