From childhood, I entertained the idea of “being” an artist. But life and full-time employment got in the way. As I got older the reality of that artist fantasy became more and more distant as I acknowledged the distractions. After many years of evening classes, I left SF State a few units shy of a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts just as I was hired at the Division of Highways as a corporate photographer. It offered the comfortable security that I needed. I flew by the seat of my pants and focused on what was required at the spur of the moment. And I got by.
But since retiring, I’ve been able to allow more time and energy to go back and explore the world of art. It’s worth the time. Culture and art are essential in societies. It’s how we learn about each other.
We all want to share and get feedback on what we think is worthwhile in our lives. I’ve exhibited locally and often thought about more public exposure but wasn’t able to build a substantive body of work that justified public interest or exposure. So I want to share this little project that started as an exhibit at the San Pablo Community Center early this year. I became interested in recycling images from my files, some which hadn’t been used before, and adding prose to the images. As I got into it, the project gained momentum. It became a lot of fun and it triggered a lot of potential I hadn’t realized before. Nancy at some point suggested doing a book to incorporate everything. Voila!
So, here’s my exhibit. I hope you enjoy it.