Page 102 - The Westerner Magazine Halloween 2018

acknowledged I was getting better but told

me I had some more improving to do.

It was about a year later when I went in that
she told me she’d like all my work and she
bought one of the drawings. That was what
I needed. I needed direction from someone

who knew the audience. She told me,
“Mike, nobody is going to buy a hawk with
a dead snake in its mouth.”

Women purchased a good deal of the art so
her advice was well received.

I have a technique that I use to produce the
drawing of each bird. I actually texture the
bird by using a metal barb that makes an
imprint in the paper. When I color over it,

Then I had a change in my marital status the little spot in that I’ve broken in the
and, with three kids to raise, put aside my paper is not completely covered. That’s
art for a number of years. When my mother what gives it the feathery texture.
developed Alzheimer’s disease, I became
her caretaker. She loved quilting, but she
couldn’t do the large quilts anymore.
However, she could do the small squares.
While she was working on those I decided
I’d begin sketching once more.

I began to improve and thought I was doing
well. I found a gallery in Ft. Worth that I
love and brought my work in for the gallery
owner to review. I thought she would gush
all over it but she told me it was good but

needed some improvement.

I went home with my tail between my legs.
It became my goal to get my work into that
gallery. I drew constantly and returned to
the gallery about six months later. She