Thatcher “TJ” Lightburn (b. 1985) is a multidisciplinary artist originally from Denver, Colorado, now living and working in Portland, Oregon. A self-professed left-handed renaissance man, TJ explores a wide range of media including welding, illustration, ceramics, and painting, each offering a distinct path into his layered, imaginative world. His work draws deeply from vibrant imagery: blooming flowers, dreamscapes and nightmares, the shifting moods of the ocean, and the rich visual language of 1960s and 70s psychedelia. These inspirations echo the dynamic workings of his mind; colorful, surreal, and constantly in motion.

Recently, TJ has turned his attention to a playful and strangely poignant recreation of Star Wars starring the Pickle Man, a human-pickle hybrid who stumbles into epic adventures across the galaxy. First brought to life through expressive ceramic sculptures, this unlikely hero has found new form in a series of comics, a retelling of the Star Wars saga through the lens of TJ’s imagination. Rendered in rich layers of colored pencil and infused with both absurdity and affection, the Pickle Man’s journey bridges humor and myth, inviting viewers into a world that is at once strange, familiar, and endlessly surprising.