"The artist must always remain a child..."

              Antonio was 100 years old in this photo!

      Once I connected with Antonio, around 1980. I would go over to his house in beautiful Williams Township, Pa., 2 or 3 times a week.  ( Looking back I am awed by his openness and generosity of spirit!)  There we would talk about art and spirit over coffee with him and his wife Martha, a masterful painter in her own right.  Then we would go upstairs to his studio and look at paintings and sculpture.

At one of our very first meetings I had the nerve to ask him Why Art?  What is an artist?  What is art?  Now he had been practicing art for the better part of the 20th Century!  Anyway, his answer always stayed with me.   He spoke of the various archetypes the artist embodied...but most importantly, he said, "The artist must always remain a child!  No matter what conditions the  world presents!"

34 years later I am still practicing the art because of the care he showed in nurturing  my artistic expression.  A teacher, fellow artist,and a friend.  As long as his work is with us in the world, it will express the exquisite aesthetic, the originality of style..... his artistic consciousness... for us to  share.

Imaginary Portrait, oil, 23"x30"