Tim Conlon is a graffiti artist living and working in Washington. He grew up just south of D.C., and lived in Baltimore and Los Angeles before returning to the District 10 years ago. By day Conlon, 33, is a tech manager for an interactive marketing agency in Bethesda and still does some flash animation and design work from time to time.

What are some of the ideas and themes that you engage with in your work?

The themes in the graffiti I like to do usually revolve around pop-culture icons and sometimes current events. It's definitely a page taken from the early subway writers in New York who would include characters or themes that drew everyday commuters into noticing their pieces on transit. I think it's a brilliant technique that baits people who might overlook the graffiti piece by giving them pause, since the characters or theme is easy to recognize and they end up trying to decipher the piece.

I have an "O" in the middle of my name so it's perfect to swap out that letter from time to time with a character. I'll try and do something that amuses me or something I know will make my friends or the public laugh.

I'm also a color junkie, so sometimes I will throw a bunch of different colors in my bag without even checking to see what they are. I then try to paint something that works visually from a bunch of those random colors. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but I find it fun to see what I can come up with. Either way I think it irritates some of my writing partners, especially when it works.

How long does it take to make a typical piece?

I've been painting larger pieces over the past few years and I am getting faster at producing them. It depends upon the spot and how much detail I've decided to put into the piece or if I'm trying a new outline. On average I'd say between 2-3 hours. It takes much longer if I'm painting with a bunch of friends because I have to take time out to joke around, politic, and properly procrastinate. An entire large, themed production could take as many as a few days.

What do you look for when you're selecting a place to do graffiti?

Visibility is key to a good spot. It's also important for me to be able to get a decent shot with a camera since graffiti is, unfortunately, temporary. Sometimes I luck out.

Was the RECOGNIZE! show at the National Portrait Gallery the first time your art was in a gallery? How does the context (gallery walls versus trains or buildings) change the meaning behind your work?

I participated in a model freight train graffiti show out in Los Angeles a few months before the Smithsonian opening. It had a nice selection of writers from all over the US and I finally met some of the guys from the west coast that I had seen on trains back east in the early 90s. It was really cool to reminisce about what we were seeing on freights back then on both coasts.

I think the actual environment that graffiti is in and proper placement is very important. Your design, size, color, tag, throw-up or piece will all play off the surroundings or environment. Wall, train or gallery. Even how you photograph it in that environment adds another level of consideration to it at times.

How do you respond when people say that graffiti isn't art?

I haven't run into any people that have said that to me outright. I've had quite a few conversations with people about this subject though. For example, when I've been out doing a legal spot I've had observers tell me that what they see me doing is art. At the same time, they will argue if the same thing is done illegally on the street, it isn't art. It's hard to try and change someone's mind when they view art in narrow terms of how it's controlled and regulated. I try and point out that irony and the conversation usually diminishes from there.

When did your interest in graffiti start? What drew you to the art form?

I started when I was in school in Baltimore back in 1993. I was hanging out with friends who skated and were already doing some graffiti. We ran all over the city looking for skate spots and ended up discovering lots of spots with old graffiti pieces. Baltimore has a long history of graffiti and its own style and I quickly became enamored with learning all about it and started to document every old tag and piece I could find. This became an obsession and it was only a matter of time until I tried my hand at it.

What's with all The Simpsons characters in your pieces?

A lot of early and current graffiti writers borrowed from Vaughn Bode's cartoon world of characters, so I thought I'd start a new take on this and use The Simpsons. I've been a big fan of The Simpsons since it was on The Tracey Ullman Show in its early years. The characters are very simple and easy to paint since there is practically no shading involved. I ended up painting a lot of the characters. Other writers noticed, but wrongfully assumed that was just my schtick. I think they believed if they painted Simpsons characters, too, it would look like they were just copying my idea and I'd be mad about it, which was completely not the case! When I ended up painting with other people, they'd want me to do a Simpsons character with them, instead of doing it themselves. Eventually I became known as the writer that did The Simpsons. Anyway, I've now painted a ton of them over the years and still like to put new ones out there from time to time.

Who are some of your artistic inspirations or favorite artists?

I guess I'm kind of a graffiti traditionalist. I have huge respect for the older New York and Baltimore writers that I looked up to as I developed my own style. I like very traditional, readable bar-style graffiti from the mid 80's to mid 90's.

A lot of the guys in my crews are inspirational, especially the younger guys that are coming up. I realize I'm becoming an old guy in the graff scene because I have personal responsibilities that limit what I'm willing to do as a graffiti writer. For this reason I live vicariously through what the younger generation is up to. I remember being younger and looking at the older guys and wondering why they fell off. I wondered about the disgruntled and aloof attitude they held toward younger, new writers. I'm making a serious effort to be cool and accessible to them and not lose perspective that I was once in their shoes. I think graffiti has, unfortunately, lost a lot of the apprenticeship that it once had. That tradition is carried on now largely through the internet -- posting photos, access to information about writing styles, etc. I've seen quite a few writers come and go, so the new guys in the city with a lot of heart are some favorites right now as well. As my old partner Super put it, "It's a young man's game."

As far as non-graff artists, I really dig what my friend Mark Jenkins has going on. He has a perfect street bomber mentality but a different medium. I find that he works that whole mission process and choosing the environment that's going to set something off, parallel to what I have done with graffiti at times. The work he does has a very smart and disturbing humor. He makes me laugh and he's a good guy.

Do you have a favorite art spot or event in D.C.?

My friends at Dissident Display always have something cool going on. We did the Wild Style: The Exhibition show with Charlie Ahern a few months ago at their gallery. Philippa Hughes has been a big supporter for the D.C. art scene, and it was cool working with her on Collector’s Select and Wreckfest at Tiffany’s. She seems to constantly have new art events going on all over the city that I like to check out.

I like the shows at Art Whino over in Alexandria. It's a nice big spot. There are a lot of graffiti influenced artists that make their way through there. Irvine Contemporary on 14th Street has been supportive and has some cool graff-related shows coming up.

What do you see down the road artistically?

I'd like to continue doing gallery shows. I think people are very curious about graffiti. The shows I've done at the Smithsonian, Arlington Arts Center, and Dissident Display have garnered a lot of positive response and opportunities. I think there is more to explore there in terms of new ways to present graffiti to an audience in a gallery setting. I've got a few ideas. As far as some of the opportunities in the city, I've been approached by property owners to do some large productions which I'm looking forward to doing.

I just finished a piece for the 400ml Project which is a book and traveling group show in Europe. I'm involved with a show in Baltimore in early May that's called Foundations of Style Writing. I'm also doing some design work for DC Source on their DC-themed clothing line and just finished collaborating with them on some belt buckles and shirt designs. I've even branched out a bit and just finished some large scale, non-graffiti canvases for a new cigar/wine bar called Haze that's about to open in Arlington.