Am I An Artist?

Well, no, said my inner voice. Back in 2001, just before 9/11, I took early retirement from the telephone company. I was (and still am) a “techie”. With my time off, I thought “what would I like to do that I know nothing about?” That led me to my first real exploration in art. I took several human figure drawing and painting classes at the Art Students League of Denver. One of my first teachers was a pretty famous local artist, Tony Ortega.

The first many drawings were pretty lousy. Then one day, Tony graciously said something like “that is your best one yet”. Which was a kind way to say “that was the first one that looks like anything.” Just enough confidence to move forward.