1970's
The Early Years (Art during early childhood and Elementary School)
The Early Years (Art during early childhood and Elementary School)
MY EARLIEST ARTWORKS
These first drawings are the earliest pieces of my artwork that still exist. The first is
a painting of our parakeet Henry. My mother purchased him after her separation from my father
in 1974 when I was 4 years old. Henry was a good bird and he lived with
us for many years. I'm sure it was because of Henry that my art initially centered around birds.
I loved to draw birds.
Acrylic - 'Henry' 1976 (6 Years Old) |
A LOVE OF DRAWING BIRDS
Crayon 1978 (7 Years Old) |
Crayon 1978 (7 Years Old) |
Colored Pencil 1978 (7 Years Old)
I can still remember drawing this cardinal. It was winter and I saw this little fellow while
looking through our dining room window. He was walking on the roof of a bird house that was
hanging in the backyard and then he flew away.
I went and got my colored pencils and paper and drew this picture.
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VISITING THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
After the divorce of my parents things changed drastically at home. Naturally my parents
were adjusting to the change, but my younger brother and I were the ones who were hit the
hardest. One thing that helped us get through those years were the summer vacations
to our grandparents home in Astoria in Queens, New York. My mother would send us there for about
4 to 6 weeks during our school summer vacation. We began
making those trips soon after the divorce and they continued until my brother and I were
both in our teens. Looking back, those summers in New York City were a wonderful and
peaceful time in my life. Today, when the stress of life starts creeping up on me, I sit
back and remember those visits.
It was during those visits that my grandparents or my Aunt Annie would take my brother and I into Manhattan to visit the Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These next drawings are from one of the trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Aunt Annie. I remember on this occasion how we took our time going through the bird exhibits so that I would have time to draw these pictures.
It was during those visits that my grandparents or my Aunt Annie would take my brother and I into Manhattan to visit the Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These next drawings are from one of the trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Aunt Annie. I remember on this occasion how we took our time going through the bird exhibits so that I would have time to draw these pictures.
Colored Pencil 1977 (7 Years Old) |
Colored Pencil 1977 (7 Years Old) |
Colored Pencil 1977 (7 Years Old) |
Colored Pencil 1977 (7 Years Old) |
Pencil 1977 (7 Years Old) |
Here I am outside the museum.
Aunt Annie took these pictures.
DRAWING PEOPLE
Although I loved to draw birds, I did draw other things too. Below are some
portraits. The first portrait is of my grandfather, the second is a family friend named Teddy,
and the third is a picture of Vincent Price that I copied from the cover of a TV Guide.
Pencil - 'Grandpa' 1977 (7 Years Old) |
Pencil - 'Teddy' 1977-78 (7-8 Years Old) |
Pencil - 'Vincent Price' 1977-78 (7-8 Years Old)
I can remember my dad's reaction when he saw this portrait of Vincent Price. He could
not believe that I drew it. He made copies so that he could show them to his friends.
I felt very good inside after seeing how proud he was of me.
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MY LOVE OF DRAWING BIRDS CONTINUES
Here are some more birds. I was getting better at drawing in the details,
which can be seen in the feathers of these next images.
Pencil 1978 (8 Years Old) |
Pencil 1978 (8 Years Old) |
Pencil 1978-79 (8-9 Years Old) |
Pencil 1978-79 (8-9 Years Old) |
Pencil 1979 (9 Years Old) |
Pencil 1979 (9 Years Old) |
PRIVATE ART LESSONS
My parents soon realized that I had a natural artistic ability.
They signed me up for private art lessons with a local artist named Kathy Singer.
Kathy introduced me to landscapes, watercolors, and
hand-made crafts using papier-mache. We usually met at her home
for the lessons but she also took us on field trips. I remember one such trip to a farm that
had an old barn. I have several drawings from that trip but they are badly faded and I could not
produce quality scans for this webpage. Kathy Singer was a good art teacher, and I enjoyed her lessons.
Watercolor 1979-80 (9-10 Years Old) |
Watercolor 1979-80 (9-10 Years Old) |
Watercolor 1979-80 (9-10 Years Old) |
PAINTING IN QUEENS, NEW YORK
My Aunt Annie loved to watch me draw. Here is a painting that I did at her apartment in Queens, New York.
This was my first painting of a landscape using acrylics. It was around
this time in my life that I also began to take an interest in sailing ships.
Acrylic 1980 (10 Years Old) |
My Aunt Annie and her husband (Uncle Joe) used to paint together and they painted maritime and landscape scenes.
Uncle Joe, who died when I was very young, loved to paint and build model ships. I remember
sitting in their living room and staring at a model ship of the 'Cutty Sark' that Uncle Joe built.
It was awesome! I eventually inherited that model but it was severely damaged during the journey
from New York to Connecticut. I could not fix it and sadly it one day went into the garbage.
However, my mother and I have all of the original paintings they created together.
Aunt Annie and Uncle Joe were definitely an inspiration to me.
PAIER COLLEGE OF ART
One day a week I was allowed to leave school early and attend special art classes at the
'Paier College of Art' in New Haven, Connecticut.
This was great because none of the other kids got to do that!
I don't have any of those art projects, but they were all hands on. There was a lot of
sculpting and building using different materials and mediums. The skills I learned opened up
new ways for me to express myself through art. Creating images on paper was no longer
my limit. Below is a castle that I starting building out of cardboard shortly after my experiences
at 'Paier'.
Cardboard 1980-81 (10-11 Years Old) |