Booth 506
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About the Artist
I was originally schooled in sculpture at UCLA many years ago, and had the honor to be shown as a very, very minor member of Minimalist sculpture movement in Los Angeles in the 60’s, under the mentorship of John McCracken. At the same time, I worked as an animating cartoonist for Saturday morning cartoons, and was a layout artist for Superman, Batman, Fantastic Voyage, and Archie television shows. But my main artistic interest at that time was sculpture, sometimes working in minimalist abstract shapes, and sometimes modeling constructions after the human figure. In the 5 years I studied sculpture with John, I was very dedicated and quite serious about sculpture. However, after military service during the Viet Nam era, the experience took my attention in a different direction and I left off work in the arts. I pursued a career in emergency services training for 40 years, and didn’t return to artwork until after my retirement a few years ago. It has been wonderful for me to return to art, but my fascination today is not on sculpture at all but rather is just on drawing. The subjects of my drawings are people (and occasionally animals), and my focus is often on the humorous and/or interesting twists of human nature that we all see and experience. I like to think of my work today as attempting to capture a small part of the broader human comedy (and animal comedy) and life’s up and down experiences. The drawing in my samples entitled "Key West Iguana" came from a recent trip to Florida where the iguanas were falling out of trees in a cold snap. I felt they deserved a better time in the spirit of the place- hence the picture. The drawing in my samples entitled "Going Downhill" captures something I am learning as I get older- the importance of looking for fun and silliness regardless of age or handicap. Anyway, I confess to having become very retro in my artistic tastes now, I am transported in my work by simple things like people’s facial and body posture expressions, and my art heroes today are really from the past. I am especially awed and enamored (and both inspired and fully humbled in the drawing work I am doing now) by the wonderful work done in the golden age of illustration, and by the many great talents – both artists and cartoonists- who flourished during that era. Their work is both inspiring, and also a lot of fun to chase.
