Who is Codefreespirit?

John Glock - Artist, Illustrator, Aesthetic Philosopher, Possible Muppet

Hey there. Name’s John. I live in the USA. I’m pushing fifty even though my Muppet version doesn’t look a day over thirty. You could call me an artist, writer, and professional overthinker. I scribble with pens, take pics with my phone, tap at a keyboard, and feel way more than my therapist says is reasonable. Even ChatGPT says I think too much. Which is a compliment. I think.

Usually I’m just trying to turn all that into something worth sharing. Dreaming up things, it’s the only way I know how to stay connected to myself, to others, to the part of the universe that still believes there’s something meaningful behind all the noise. What you’ll find here isn’t always polished. It isn’t perfect. It’s real. It’s what happens when I finally decide to come out of hiding.

Consider this site my workshop, an occasional confession booth, but mostly a storefront. I might believe in an eternal dream, but I still gotta wake up and make money. My body and good faith don’t quite cut it anymore.

I’ve never pretended to know what the right path is or have it all figured out. What I am good at is getting quiet. Quiet enough to really really listen. What I hear is our stories, our humanity, and the dreams we weave between our souls. This becomes my visual narrative. That’s what my site is about. Not a brand. Not a pitch. Just a way to share my voice through your eyes.

My voice started in a small mountain town with a small mountain school. Over my lifetime, I’ve worked in the mental health care field, illustration, design, picture framing, print, and film.

If I’m not already pretentious enough for you, I have a BA with Honors in Philosophy focused on film, aesthetics, and psychology. If I’m not grounded enough for you, I worked several years as a lowly retail monkey as well.

In 2001, this website was home to what’s become my most known work, The Eternal Dream Tarot. It is still part of the collection of the Museo Internazionale Dei Tarrochi (Museum of Tarot), and I was honored to be selected as one of the artists for their inaugural tarot deck, The Literatarot. I still am. No, I didn’t use tarot to talk to spirits or predict the future. I love that style of art, and if ever there existed a medium more suited to the meaningful connection of random images, tarot was it.

It seems a lifetime ago now, and if there’s one thing I’m fully aware of about myself is I have avoided my past. Some on purpose. Some from shame. Some because it was just time to move forward. I only hope that I haven’t moved past my prime yet.

As previously stated, I don’t have a perfectly polished “brand,” and I don’t really want one. If I had to describe my art, I’d say it’s the adopted latch key kid of Edward Gorey and David Lynch who just fell in love with the works of William Blake. It’s about finding the questions rather than selling the answers. All while injecting a little fun and humor along the way.

I care deeply about what you’ll find in my work. Probably too much. And I want it to mean something. If anything here speaks to you, awakens something, or just helps you feel a little less alone, then I’ve done what I came to do. Thanks for being here, and be excellent to each other.