Finalist in 14th International ARC Salon Exhibition - included in the 14th International ARC Salon Book

8th Annual Plein Air Salon Bi-Monthly Dec/Jan 2019 "Best Artist Over 65" award

I have been fortunate to have had several best friends in my lifetime. I met Joe in 1978 just after the birth of my daughter. Through another best friend, Kevin, I was introduced to this fellow who had written a play he wanted to turn into a musical and was looking for a musician to contribute. Joe and I got together and immediately hit it off.

He was from Philadelphia and an orphan who’d been reared in a dozen foster homes throughout the city. His life hadn’t been an easy one. Like me, he was an armchair philosopher. We spent many hours over coffee discussing the deep things of the universe – especially the endlessly fascinating subject of the female of our species.

Joe liked to write in odd places: 24-hour coffee shops, the Huntington Beach Pier and seated at picnic tables in local parks. I wondered how, with all the distractions inherent in these venues, he was able to focus. But he’d always end up with a notebook full of poems, dialog and a plethora of clever story ideas.

The painting, ‘The Writer,’ pays homage to Joe Carroll, a man so engrossed in his craft that he doesn’t notice the wind scattering his pages – an event that had actually happened to him on more than one occasion.

Joe passed away in 2009. He was in his early 60’s. Due to an artificial valve in his heart, he was unable to have the operation that would have saved him.

I miss him. He was a good friend.

The model featured in the painting is also a good friend. Adam agreed to brave the frigid temperatures of a Midwest winter and pose for me in a local park. He also helped scatter the pages into the cold wind as I took pictures. Adam, his brother Aaron and I, worked together painting most of the dioramas in the Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium here in Springfield, MO. We labored there for the better part of seven years, finishing that project at the end of 2017. We got to know each other well and remain great friends.