I was thinking the other day, “Why would anyone be interested enough in what I have to say to subscribe to my blog?” After some contemplation, some deep soul-searching, and a bowl of Wheaties, the answer struck me like a large, red clay, kiln-fired cuboid falling from the deep blue, but warm and balmy troposphere – TGFG*.
I’m a struggling but growing artist delving into new and exciting creative frontiers . . . and I’m not alone – there are millions of us all around the world! If I can continue to explore my own modes of expression while showing other new and growing artists that it’s okay to share those experiences with the world, then I have done a good work and made a solid contribution to the human race.
So with that mission in the forefront of my mind, I’m going to attempt to tell you how I got here . . .
The creative world I’ve lived in for nearly all of my 47 years began at the tender age of 4. On that special and memorable Christmas of 1968, my parents bought me one of those (at that time) really cool miniature pianos – not the kind like Schroeder played in the peanuts comic strip but a more life-sized version (for a 4 year old).
VS 
The same Christmas, I also received as a present a cool record player like
and several 33 R.P.M. records including the soundtrack album to the movie “The Sound of Music” starring Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews. I played and played that record until it should have been warped. I must confess “The Sound of Music” is still my favorite movie/musical of all time.
Sometime shortly after Christmas one Saturday afternoon while I was playing alone in my bedroom, my mother just happened by and noticed something peculiar. She looked in and there I was blaring that Sound of Music record on the record player and playing along, in rhythm and in tune, on that little toy piano. She ran and got my dad and the two of them stood there, unknown to me, just astounded that I could “work all that music out on my own.” Remember, I was only 4 years old. Pretty impressive.
Off to the local music school for testing and from that point on, while all my friends were out playing baseball and riding their bikes, I was earning my keep (those piano lessons were breaking my folks at $2.00 per week) by practicing [a real] piano countless hours every day. About 20 years and 4 teachers later, I concluded my piano studies and joined the real world with a real wife, real rent, and a real job. In less-than-dramatic fashion, my promising musical career came to an abrupt end.
At about the time I hit puberty, my father, an amateur photographer got an itch to buy an enlarger and learn how to develop his own film and pictures. Being an only child, he naturally wanted to share his hobby with me in the hopes that I would become the photographer he always wanted to be.
Picture of me at 8 Years Old taken by my dad
If you think about it, it’s kind of cool that we had a darkroom in our house – not everyone did. I learned how to remove the film from the canister by feel, how to mix the chemicals to process the film, and all the snazzy darkroom tricks that all the pro’s used to make really spectacular pictures in the 1970’s. During this same time I was growing as a photographer, gaining a deeper understanding of exposure, composition, tone, and visual story-telling.
And speaking of stories, high school and college literature and creative writing classes were the catalysts to discovering my passion for writing. No, I was never considered a Poe or Twain-like genius, but I did fall in love with Neoclassical, Romantic, and Victorian period English literature, as well as (never use that colloquial phrase) American authors of the same periods, especially Victorian authors like Poe, Browning, Thoreau, and Twain.
So now we’ve come full circle and you’ve read a portion of my journey. I started this post by asking, “Why should you read this blog?”
The simple answer is this: I’ve been involved in/with, hanging around, consumed by, and spewing out some form of creativity for over 40 years. You may or may not consider me a good artist, but I can tell you I’ve experienced the joy and satisfaction of performing in front of thousands of people, been on television, the radio, and in the newspaper. I have experience in photography and art (although I don’t have a single minute of formal training in any of the disciplines other than music and writing) and I’m not afraid or ashamed to share it. I’ve paid some dues and will certainly pay more before I lay this old body down. But most of all I have a dream and if my dream can inspire someone else to share their creative expressions with the world, then I consider my art and my passions a HUGE success!
BTW – it doesn’t hurt that by sharing what I know with others, I’m able to learn some new things from them. Wow – what a deal!
People, don’t chase your dreams . . . live them – with unsurpassed determination and tireless inspiration, fulfill your place on planet earth by enriching all of us with your talents and gifts!
And that, my friend, is why you should read this blog.
My Dad and Mom in 1964
*THANK GOD FOR GOOGLE
Good argument, well made.
Thank you. It’s nice to hear from someone else (besides me talking to me in the mirror) that I wrote something that made a little sense!