when I grow up...

In life, very few people end up pursuing their childhood " what'dya wanna be when you grow up?". It's hard to become that fireman or police woman. And it just may not have the same shine it held in our mind's eye, as one grows toward maturity...to say nothing of the odds of becoming an Astronaut...or President. 

I am part of, what I suspect is a minority. I have arrived at a place I vaguely imagined and even romanticized as a young boy. I became an Artist. A painter to be exact. Ever since the first grade, when I won a ribbon for my 'stunning' portrait of Dracula I never really looked back or veered too far off course....I may not have become specifically an animator or comic book illustrator, but I have and continue to pursue my craft in depth and with certitude.

Today I had a moment of serendipity. In a part of the outlying area to my fair city, an area I am not in often, I ran into the man who may be in large measure responsible for my having gone on to pursue drawing and painting. There were many who encouraged my interest in art as a young man, but this man taught me how to see. He taught me how to use my eyes and how to think about what I see. He was the first to open my awareness to the fact that the result of two-dimensional work of art is always inherently abstract. And that no matter how illusory, naturalistic or "real" an image appears, it is first a series of decisions about color, value and shape. Adorned and articulated by some arrangement of marks and material on the surface of a substrate. This man's name is Roger Gifford, and to him I owe a great deal of gratitude.

Mid-summer note:

At this point in the summer of 2009 I have been to Maine and back with my family, with a few stops along the way and a bit of riding in new places. I have missed out on some rides I had planned on . Weather has played a role, but getting my health under control became paramount. Living with a 5, 4 & 2 year old leaves my antibodies on high alert. This past winter I was overrun. Though, I am happy to report that in recent weeks I have come full circle and manged a wonderful solo bicycle/camping adventure and have begun some new drawings from the field. I hope to touch on all these topics, and others in the coming weeks...