Memoriam

In honor of my mom, I'm reposting this memory from my first week of posts from a year and a half ago:

I remember clearly when my love of images began, all those many years ago.

I was four years old and in the throes of entering a newspaper Christmas coloring contest (for the Columbus Dispatch), and frustrated by the task. My mother, in sympathy and for inspiration, pulled out an envelope with some colored drawings, spreading them over the table. They were magical gems, glowing mystically (as I recall). They were copies of comic book covers that she and my father had created together in their first year of marriage. All these years later I am astounded with the drawings themselves, but especially the idea of my father and mother collaborating, peacefully, at the kitchen table—having newlywed fun of drawing and painting together. My mother and father were already separated by the time I was four, although he was no stranger to me.

I was enchanted by the drawings/paintings, and studied them thoroughly. At the tender age of preschool I became hooked on comics and images. These paintings have survived all these years and even a few of the comics they were based on. This is the starting place of my visual journey, and, as I will relate, youth did not hinder me from the quest I set for myself—to surround and immerse myself with the magic of pictorial images.

By the way, I came in 1st place in the coloring contest, and won a nifty silver dollar, which I have to this day as well.

This is one my mom did alone. From what I can tell, she didn't trace the image. It was drawn at a slightly different size from the comic and some elements don't line up exactly. The paint is still vibrant. She once told me she was tempted to go to California and try for a job in the paint department with the Disney Studio, but marriage and family came first, and that dream went away.

Thanks mom. Rest in peace.