Name/Title
AOST - Elliot Kushner - Banana SplitDescription
Why art? Magic, feel good. Tell stories. Mom gave me a pad of paper, pencil and crayons. I scribbled for hours. Original nations Chief, full headdress. Not PC, but still turns up the corners of my mouth. The best present. My uncle made a squiggle into a silly face. I used up those pads so fast. Art was my favorite subject in school. Always took art classes when offered. Praise. I’m a fat kid. Meant a lot to get that approval. Nothing has changed. Came college, can’t eat as an artist. And fear, I wasn’t good enough. Did I say I really like to eat? I worked hard, did well. Law school. Practiced law for 47 years. A living, not a passion. Never stopped drawing. All over my notes, my files, at meetings, even trials. Never for presentation and no sense of public communication or process. Right brain at recess, left brain doing heavy lifting. AWE presented opportunity. Used car to explore my life now, old. Aches, pains with significant illnesses. Don’t feel old. I sit down to paint. It’s happening. On an incredible first date with that someone. I am hitting the winning home run (never happened). Seeing my mother’s smile handing her my drawing. We all receive the gift of making art. We hold out our moments. Revisit and relive or invent new ones. Perhaps we briefly appreciate creation itself and our creator. How does art feel? A bowl of pastry, warm, sugary. Tastes good, it is happy, we all are happy. Old boat, sand bar beached, dreaming of glory days. Rusty wreck, bow held high. You too. Sounds silly, real magic. AWE, a happy accident. I wanted art. COVID made studying art difficult and dangerous. My wife’s friend, Carol, told us about AWE online. I attended a session from the San Fernando Valley. I met nice folks. Just wonderful. I am me.
