One of the few lay teachers I had at Holy Spirit grade school was Mrs. Martineau. She was very nice and for whatever reason, anointed me her class artist in the second grade. A few grades later and along with two of my very good friends, I was considered one of the best artists in school. Since I was mostly awful at everything else, I accepted this and from time to time over the years, revisited this notion and herein are contained the product of these now and then inspirations. I have about two-hundred pieces and hopefully, the sixty or so here represent my best.
My impressionist work amounts to what my mind remembers and my level of talent can produce. My abstract creations represents probably the essential marriage of what real talent I have and enough luck to make more astute critics believe I actually have some: talent and luck, that is. My drawings and the advent of colored pens recalls in me the joy of one of our St. Joseph Sisters saying put away your books and take out your crayons.
There were other teachers along the way and I learned something from all of them. And yet, while their influence was soon forgotten, the subliminal message lives on and has guided me ever since. I write mostly, but one day my wife Kathy said that my art was better than my writing and whereas I might have taken offense (well, I did at first), I began to take a second look at what I was doing and with her encouragement, began to view my artwork differently. I began submitting my art to various literary magazines and my wife’s assessment seemed to be shared by others who very generously have published nearly a hundred of my pictures to date. In any case, my wife’s opinion and their generosity inspired this collection.
