Early Influence: 14,975 Days Ago

"The process of living, for each of us, is pretty much similar. For every gain there is a setback. for every success a failure. For every moment of joy, a time of sadness. For every hope realized, one is dashed."

This ballpoint ink drawing on business envelope measures 2 by 2 inches and was drawn June 9, 1968

The Art of Aging

Since 2003 I have visited (one afternoon each week) with my dear friend, 'Sir John'. At near 92 he is the spunkiest, wittiest, most articulate and determined to 'solve the problems of the world' individual I will ever hope to meet. He generally puts his extreme intellect to solving the political problems of any given the day.

Sir John is funny, feisty and in all ways an amazing human being. He is a a music aficionado with a vast knowledge of opera and symphonic music. His well kept yard is a secret garden, a haven, filled with countless Camillas, all of which have been named, so that when he walks among them he speaks to each of them directly.

Back in 'his day' he was a computer whiz and developed soft ware programs for the Navy. His little home is populated with computers, recording and sound equipment and until recently (before his body went into decline) he would be online most mornings chatting with friends and family via email.

A couple of months ago he asked me to start a blog and a FaceBook account...

In 2007, after I introduced him to video upload technology he said "Let's do that." He received a Flip camera gift from his daughter... and the rest is literally 'his-story'. For the past 18 months, I have the pleasure (and the learning curve) of being his 'hair and make-up', sound and production person as he continuously scripts and sits for me as we tape for YouTube. Here's our most recent entry...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShEbrHlMuPw

A Kind of Summer

"Always maintain a kind of summer even in the middle of winter" Henry David Thoreau

The Winter session of Saturday in the Studio begins tomorrow at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia. These shots are from last summer and they capture where the kids and I invest our time whenever possible. They will have coats on but even tomorrow we may be able to do a bit of exploring...as the sun will be shining and the temp may hit 60 again as it did today.

Children and Nature

Thanks to art teacher Mary Carol Lynch for inviting me to join her 500 students for a week long artist residency...we had a great time at W. T. Cooke Elementary creating art inspired by our connections to the natural world. The student artists all dove into the projects and within our time together they made some grand colors, forms and lines dance across the surface of the paper.