I met my new friend Robert during the installation of my first piece in American Airlines’s JFK Terminal 8 several months ago – he’s the head of security there. In talking, we found out that we both attended the School of Visual Arts and Robert’s still painting and creating art. I asked him to send me some of his work and recently, he did just that. I was so impressed and i wanted to share it with you.
I absolutely love the detail in his work and of course, the whimsical nature :-). His work is a bit more fanciful than mine but i think we have a lot in common. His sense of color and balance is fantastic and he has a great sense of design. I hope you enjoy it and i hope this blog encourages Robert to keep at it. Here are some of his own words:
As a little boy I enjoyed reading children’s picture books. I liked the Cat in the Hat, Caps for Sale, and the stories from Aesop’s fables. To this day, rainy days remind me it’s a good time for a picture book.
These images come from my desire to write children’s picture books.
The images move the storyline forward. I want to express in my stories and art the concept of freedom, self reliance, independence. The ducks are being freed from becoming dependent on others for their food. The Rumpus character, is freed from the need to take or use other peoples things. The human spirit will always yearn to be free. If I can develop meaningful stories around the concept of freedom.
I think children of all ages will understand and maybe even smile. Meeting Charles at JFK was great experience for me. We discovered we both went to the School of Visual Arts at the same time. Thank you Charles for letting me put these images on your blog. This artwork is now out in the world, free from the dark confines of my portfolio.
I will use this experience, to help set in motion a new creative spirit. A spirit that is humble and always thankful for the gift of being able to create an image and maybe even tell a story. I would love my craft of image making to sell, and be used for Picture books, Paintings, T-shirts, Prints, Posters, Calendars and any of the multitude of mediums, that need good visuals.
I need to take more action with my craft, because hope alone, will not create anything. I heard a good friend once say, “change your attitude and you’ll change your destiny”, I believe that. With the proper actions, maybe one day I’ll be free to earn my living from my craft.
(FYI as an aside, we’ve installed 5 or 6 of my works at Terminal 8 so far and i’m working on a huge 14′ mural that i plan to install in the next couple of months – so keep your eyes out for it!)
Thanks Robert,
–Charles
