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Lily's Dogs
I met Lily at a dinner party with her parents and grandparents and I was quite taken with her drawing style. She's 6 years old and we sat across from each other and I watched as she doodled away, much like I was allowed to do in social settings when I was her age. I actually think there's a product or commercial project in these drawings, which I'll announce later, assuming we can successfully launch it, and it will all be tied to dog and pet adoptions. Brava, Lily! You inspire artists like me.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________ Jackson Zerrer

I'll start at the beginning. I met Jackson when he was, I think, less than 6 years old. He was visiting the job site with his father, who was renovating our home. My first two children's books had just been released. I walked up to Jackson the minute he got there and enthusiastically asked, "Hey, do you like to read?" Jackson, hesitatingly, with this total stranger in his face, gave a yes. I bolted inside and came back out and handed my book "Zoom Cat Zoom!" to him. Jackson, still taken aback by this coming-on-too-strong guy, looked confused/anxious, and also standing near our dog Joe, instinctively said, "I don't want this. Give it to the dog." His dad was horrified, but I knew immediately where I had gone wrong. "No" I said to his dad, "I came on way too strong. He's setting boundaries for himself and me, and he expressed that clearly." Jackson did, however keep the book, and started to like me a great deal in my ongoing interactions with his family. Seeing me in person a lot after my intense workouts, and knowing how I love the gym, he began giving me cartoons, mostly starring myself, but myself as this over-muscled brute. I think that he was also reminding me and everybody that some people can come on too strong upon first meeting others. I overcome pain, or "Kill The Painbots" in one cartoon (also a possible reference to the old exercise mantra "No Pain, No Gain"), am asked to carve the turkey in Jackson's Thanksgiving greeting card, resulting in brutal terror, and I think it's possible I that I, "Luis," snatched the birthday card out of Jackson's hands and delivered it myself to Gary, complete with my shirt reminding everybody "I Work Out." Lastly, upon being awaked in the middle of the night, I discover that the Easter Bunny was stealing my candy, resulting in me holding Bunny hostage and eventually making him go bye-bye. If I needed my ego stroked, I only have to point to the fact that Jackson often drew me with not just 8-pack, but physically-impossible 10-pack abs. He once won a cartoon contest I sponsored during a major cartoon art exhibit I created and hosted, Cartoon Limbo. We've remained friends with Jackson and he's helped us with handyman and creative projects, and we've paid close attention to his work while he was at School of Visual Arts. We hope to work with him and feature some of his design projects at ASAP Gallery in NYC. In his design projects, his line in all his drawings is still as fluid and energetic as it was in these classic cartoons and greeting cards of years gone by.

___________________________________________________________________________________________ Cayden Kraynak

Below is a drawing by a young artist I met recently. I already knew Cayden loved the outdoors before he drew this, having seen him boldly hike his way down into the deep ravines and creek beds of my rocky, steep hill property in TN. I feel like that boldness shows in his lines in this drawing. Every line is bold and determined, not a moment of hesitation where the lines are going and where you the visitor would go in this landscape. And no line is wasted, as if he already has a great instinct for how to treat nature: leave no waste behind and be careful and respectful if you decide to alter the lines of its landscape. The depth of field is wonderful: low hills just in front of us, a road a bit further ahead, and big mountains that seems both challenging and friendly beckoning in the distance. It's the perfect illustration to a great quote about mountains - and immersing oneself in nature - in general: "It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves." Go road trip, find a new path, immerse yourself, and remember, someone bold like Cayden has probably been there and prepared the way for you. I liked this drawing so much when I first saw him complete it that I offered him cash (with his mom present) to see if he'd sell it to me. He did. I'm hanging it in my apartment so it can face the great skyline views we have of NYC, urging me to continue going out boldly and see all the city has to offer.

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To be able to own a painting of your best friend is a pretty great gift. In this case, the painting of my best friend was painted by his surrogate daughter, Tenleigh. I've photographed them together a few times and there's this amazing bond they have that shows in their physical interaction, especially for two people who aren't blood related at all, but rather in this act of mutual adoption. Tenleigh is quietly effusive of not just my friend, her "Poppy," Troy, but about life in geneal. I once asked her who her favorite person was, and she simply turned to Troy, opened two arms wide in a sort of sideways "V" (nearly administering an angel blessing) and just beamed at Poppy. I had to ask her to do it again, as I realized immediately that I wanted to have a photo of that forever. And now I do. But then came the painting. Troy photographed the original and sent it to me by text from Georgia, and I was just stupefied. There is is the again: the physical depiction of their love for each other. She's positioned safely behind him, but just slightly above him in a way that we imagine a hovering, watchful angel would be. I asked for a high resolution image of the painting and permission to have it printed on canvas, stretched over a frame. She and he agreed, so I printed two of it; one to have on our fireplace mantle at our home in TN, and one hang on the wall in our NYC apartment, watching me as I sit at my work table to doodle or write like I'm doing right now. It's a simple reminder that love can be steadfast if you choose it to be. Just adopt and be adopted by the people you want to have as family of choice.