Avocations and Hobbies

Saturday, my son and I went to see three speakers at the Schultz Cartoon Museum in Santa Rosa. One was the author of the syndicated cartoon Mutz, one a collaborator at Pixar Studios and one a published author of fiction. They compared their style in creating fictional characters in each ones media. It brought me back to my creative endeavors. My remaining creative endeavor is right here as I write, but I only consider it an outlet. Most of the central outlets of my life I have set aside, because of this cruel years overwhelming duties.

I anticipate the day where I can throw myself into my many hobbies and interests again. Part of the problem is my own lack of discipline, but nothing helps more than having large chunks of time. I have dropped my Italian class because I am just too tired after school to sit through a class. Perhaps if it were more active conversation, I would have stayed.

I authored a cartoon diary for about ten years, until, probably because of overwhelming workloads, I stopped. It does not take a great deal of time to draw a cartoon. I've been drawing them for more than 25 years. It does take some quiet time for the ideas to filter in. I ordinarily take an event from my daily life and twist it a bit. I have collected about 10 books full of cartoons over the years and have thought about publishing some of them, but I would rather start fresh. So an easy way to start I thought may be to make characatures of my students. Why not. They are sitting right here- fresh and ready to go.

Then my serious art I set aside- well serious is not the proper word, but when I work, I work in a more intense way that any other thing that I do. I studied with a great artist in Oakland almost fifteen years ago. He captured a style that made my knees weak. My father, an amateur artist, raised me going to museums and loving the artists of the Renaissance. Something in David's drawing style reminded me of the sensitivity of Da Vinci's and Rafael. I learned that this style was classical realism. I studied with David Hardy once a week for about three years. Then I would try to take advantage of a week or two's workshops in Taos, New Mexico, Florence, Italy and Toronto Canada. But my practice of realistic painting was always dependent on the workshops that I took during the summer.

And music... Since I started playing the guitar at age fifteen, music had been my easy escape. I am blessed with a good voice and a great love for music. I have played and dabbled in many musical instruments, but guitar remains my great love. At present I am studying and practicing what people refer to as Gypsy Jazz or Django style. My son and musician, Joey, says to me, "Dad, you need to be practicing those arpeggios." And indeed I must, but I do not put in the hours of time necessary to become really good. I took a summer jazz improvisation class two years ago and daily had to practice two to three hours a day just to keep up. I retain some of the skills and knowledge but am extremely rusty on the instrument. I have a wish to record some tunes and play with other- but all are now in the background while I work this demanding job- but just for six more months.

So let us see if at least I can begin with a few characatures to liven this blog.