Two good things happened to me in the summer of 1995. I collected my first social security check and I learned this old dog can still learn a new trick. I took my first art course. It soon became obvious my art passion was charcoal and pastel portraiture – not too surprising, I suppose, since my mother was an esteemed portrait artist.
Ross Myers and Carole Klein helped me learn art fundamentals. Hollis Williford taught me how to draw. Sherrie McGraw helped me improve that ability. Ben Konis specialized in pastel portraiture basics, and I took three of his workshops. Doug Dawson gave me fresh insights into pastel portraiture and Dianna Ponting improved my use of pastels.
I’ve held solo art exhibitions at the Cliff Cottage Gallery in Eureka Springs, Arkansas and several locations in Tulsa including Hillcrest Hospital, Kaiser Rehab Center and the Tulsa County Library. Juried art shows displaying my work include the Centennial Celebration’s 100 Oklahomans by 100 Oklahomans Heros and Outlaws show in Oklahoma City, Mayfest Invitational, Resonance Art for the Soul, and the Gilcrease Art in Miniature exhibit.
My work is owned by Henry Bellmon, two time governor and two term US Senator from Oklahoma; Jim Lehrer, host of the PBS Lehrer Report; and several best-selling authors including Pat Conroy, John Grisham, Anne Lamott, Alexander McCall Smith, and Francis Weaver as well as numerous private collectors.
And, if, for some strange reason, you actually want to know how I got to 1995, here's the rest . . . . . .
My mother, a graduate of the Chicago Art Institute, was a successful portrait painter. She lived the last years of her life in Mexico and is buried in the colonial town of Taxco. My father worked his way through college shoveling coal into sorority house furnaces on cold winter mornings. "Sixty" was his number on the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans when he died in 1993.
For years I was confused by this heritage, and didn't know whether to be a Rembrandt or a Rockefeller so I became a vagabond. Among other things I earned money as a USAF jet pilot, broadcaster, realtor, journalist, banker, peddler, sales trainer, corporate administrator, bootlegger, professional speaker, magician, and country music disc jockey.
This meandering career path qualified me to become a consultant on niche marketing strategy. When you're a consultant you've got to have a book so in 1993 I wrote and published CRACKERJACK POSITIONING : Niche Marketing Strategy For The Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur magazine and the Wall Street Journal recommended the book. The University of Massachusetts and the University of Pennsylvania used it in marketing classes, and Amazon still sells a few copies every year. (See "BOOKS").
By far the smartest decision I ever made was to over-marry in 1990. My years of sales training enabled me to convince Rose Mary Cellino to become my bride and life has been remarkable ever since.
In 1995 I learned that, contrary to popular belief, this old dog could learn a new trick. Business career winding down I went to a student art show, decided to take an art class and haven’t stopped. The process of creating pastel and charcoal portraits awakened the art gene my mother left me and, though it’s often frustrating, I couldn’t be having a better time. This old dog appreciates the opportunity to learn a new trick.
