A few years ago, my dad asked me to collaborate with him on an album cover for his retrospective project “Looking Back.” It meant a lot to me for many reasons. Getting to work together professionally -me using my “art thing” to support him doing his “music thing”- was necessarily special. But what not alot of people know is that my dad taught me how to draw. I used to sit and watch him sketch in his journal for several minutes, even hours on end. I was fascinated with the way he could sit and look at something for so long, study it carefully, and interpret it with these illustrative, delicate pencil marks. His drawings always corresponded to a story or memory he had written down in the journal. The man filled multiple journals over the last few decades, and the collection continues to grow.
I have to wonder if I would have ever discovered my love of drawing (which led to my love of painting) had I not had those still, quiet moments bonding with my dad.
I’m new to blogging, as in this is my very first ever blog post (unless you count a sappy tumblr post from 2012). I’m beginning to cherish the idea of have a space to write and reflect without flashing it across the pushy platform of social media. The thoughts I want to share are not aggressive, urgent, nor life and death. They are the backdrop to a small world that is mine, humbly processed through art, often shedding light on my experience of a bigger world. As my mind continues to evolve and open up to the unknown, I’d like to record some of those learning moments here. But today, I want to focus firstly on my dad, who is an incredible father, grandfather, husband, friend, believer, and supporter of what I do (even when I flail).
By the way, you can stream “Looking Back” and other recent albums of his on Spotify and CD Baby. I am a proud daughter! FYI, I am now listening to the fiddle and piano solos on “In His Presence.” Ahh… it’s like coming home.
(Next year, I will have to gush about Mother’s Day because that is a whole other can of fabulous worms!).
Happy Father’s Day
