Two from the vaults

Astute counters may notice three pics, but the two important ones for this discussion are not photographs. TM-INK has multiple meanings: It refers to my slow evolving dream to sell my fairly extensive body of older and sporadic more recent work, it refers to the work of my father who was also TM, and it refers to the artistic output of The Monroes, the final TM. OK, most of the stuff is mine. It is good to be the blogger.

But here are two wonderful items from the family. First, one of my father's small paintings. It is the second that I have shared here. The original is not nearly as dark as the scan, but I am living with that as I like it better dark. Dad had amazing small muscle contorl, he was a gifted and accomplished surgeon. And boy, could he tell the paintbrush where to go! His teachers were always on him to loosen up, but in my heart I wanted him to stay who he was as a painter. The difficulty dad had was in knowing what to paint. He did not have a great sense of design in his painting. He did wonderful and amazing sculptures and wrought iron, but in flat terms he had to grow to know what to paint. And this is all his, from the work to the conceptualization. They would get better, but this one is dandy!

The second work is a self-portrait by my eldest daughter Mary. I do not know where she gets her talent for drawing as it did not come from her parents as far as we can tell. I take photos due to my inability to write cursive, much less draw. But Mary does not have my dysgraphia. This self-portrait was used as the cover of the school bulletin for her lower school art show. She was 10 when she drew it. I am amazed and thrilled with her talent. More will follow.

The pic of her is wonderful, but it is just to show the artist. The supplied photo makes Mary look a little chunky, which she is not. Not that I would mind, I love her as she is. But it is funny that this photo makes her look fuller and heavy when she is a bit on the thin side. I offer it, taken just a little later than the self-portrait, as both a proud father and curator of the TM artwork. Enjoy.