The Man from the Paper

This was done a few years ago, in 2003.... We had been quite intense at building our house & I guess I just needed a bit of a break, doing something completely different from hammering shingles, building cupboards, devising ways to incorporate our old salvaged finds, ordering materials, making jewelry, taking orders & shipping jewelry, etc... the list was unending & so was the workload. Go till you drop then get up & do the same the next day.

We knew that this particular day had to have some "down time". Down Time was not in our vocabulary at that point in our lives.... this house was already taking too long to build..... No time to play.... Just head down & nose to the grindstone. It felt like we had set ourselves up with a never ending project......

Anyway.... downtime....

At first it seemed rather strange not being actively engaged in necessary work of some kind.... As a matter of fact, it took till 4:00 in the afternoon for my mind to let go & feel free....
It was then, that this fellow looked out at me from the newspaper & after staring at him for a while I nervously found a pencil & some paper & began to draw. Once I started I couldn't stop. Then I added some washes. I was so totally absorbed that a few hours went by in a flash & when I looked up it was dark out...... I only wish I had used a heavier paper as the painting buckled when it dried. Just the same.......................... What a release!!!!!!

I keep this pinned to my studio wall....... To this day when I look at him I still feel revitalized..... and I don't even know his name.

approx. 16" x 20" unfortunately on cartridge paper