I’ve been
spending a lot of time recently conducting a private retrospective of my
work. Fortunately I have digital
files of most of my artwork, as well as portfolios filled with drawings and
sketches from the past 50 plus years.
The volume of the work is impressive. Most of it is pretty good, some of it is very good, and some
of it is not so good to awful. I saved everything. Seeing my work evolve has been gratifying, and confronting the
failures has been sobering. The
experience has inspired me to move forward, building on the good while learning
from the bad.
On a recent visit to
family and friends I photographed the elementary school I attended (as did my
father). It opened in 1916 and was
shut down several years ago; residents are now trying to raise the money needed
to save the building for use as a community center and library. It did not take long for me to decide
to paint the building once I returned to my studio.
As often happens, one
thing leads to another, and the next thing I knew I was painting my high school
using photos I took at our 50th reunion 7 years ago.
After that I have a
lifetime of drawing to do.
I love being an artist,
it is a way of life, and he work never ends.
