It’s kind of funny, you’ll be thinking by now that all the old art I made was abstract. Actually, most of it was representational. Back when I was learning the basics I mostly drew people and mythological subjects. But for whatever reason I keep digging up images of old abstract work!

These paintings were actually rather large, being about 24×36 gallery wrap if I recall correctly. The orange and blue one was called “Blaze” and was commissioned as a gift for an entrepreneur/millionaire friend of my grandmother’s. This man, who had no doubt seen (and bought!) just about every fine thing imaginable in his lifetime acted absurdly impressed and happy about receiving my humble painting. He was very sweet.

The purple/tan painting, “Thistle Brae,” was commissioned as a gift for Sir Sean Connery. (Yes, that Sean Connery. What can I say, my grandmother gets around.) I used my mother’s potato masher thingy for the grid pattern under the thistle blossoms. I think it was the first time I ever used it…though now I frequently demolish carrots with it to sneak them into my children’s pasta. Anyway…if Connery hasn’t buried this odd painting in the back of a closet or given it away, it’s still knocking about his private collection somewhere.

Humorously, I used to do a comic called Things Fall Apart for a local entertainment rag that featured Connery as a recurring character, and it was these comics he professed to like the best among my art. “The ones with me in them are the funniest” according to him. He might have something there.

I’m particularly proud of one image I drew once of him astride a unicorn with laserbeam eyes, riding next to Optimus Prime. Perhaps he treasured that one too. Sadly, I still haven’t gotten to meet the man after all these years. At the present time a big stack of my comics autographed with his distinctive (huge!!) signature are all I have…