“If we take care of the moments,
the years will take care of themselves.”
Mrs. Miller and her College Friends
“I don’t do PEOPLE!”… This is typically what I say when fielding inquiries about child portraits, etc., but there was something about the request for the drawing above that would change my mind. Mrs. Miller is the mother of my dear friend, Carter, whom I went to Wake Forest with. You may remember that I helped create her wedding program with my drawing of St. Stephen’s, the church where she was married in Richmond, Virginia. I loved my drawing “shrunk” down to 3 inches tall and turned a beautiful shade of blue! I recently found a lovely note that Mrs. Miller wrote to me after the wedding, thanking me for that drawing.
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church - Richmond, Virginia
Just this past summer, Carter asked me to create a drawing for her mom in honor of her 60th birthday. They threw a huge birthday bash at their home in Virginia Beach, and the drawing was actually of the house. While I have not yet written the post for that drawing (shocking, I know)… This is it:
Barefootin' - Virginia Beach, Virginia
I have lots of fond memories in this house, and I will write more about those later. For now, I will just note how fitting it is that there are PEOPLE in this drawing! Carter talked me into that, and please note that the figures are abstracted and ghosted at best, but she convinced me that this was what she wanted, and so, I did not feel so bad about my [no-so-good] efforts. Incidentally, the people are Carter, her husband, her sisters, her children, her brother-in-law, and her parents. I want so badly to talk about the other details, but I must save that for a separate post! The point here is to show that this is where it all began… PEOPLE in my drawings!! What is it with the Millers and their ability to convince me?
Mrs. Miller wrote and asked if I would be interested in sketching a picture of her with her 5 best College friends at the beach. She assured me that the faces did not need to be detailed… She even suggested that I face everyone towards the ocean. I decided that my confidence level for drawing their “backsides” was even lower than for their faces and dared not go there!!
With assurance that the faces could be abstracted, I set off on my attempt. Of course, at this scale, it was quite impossible to just leave out the faces, so I found myself bringing out my “portrait drawing” and “people drawing” books that my dad has given me over the years. NICE. Perhaps I would be a little more confident in my ability to draw people if I actually had opened these books even once prior to now. Alas, the drawing was completed, but of course, I could find a million things I would change. Mrs. Miller (and Carter) assure me that they love it, so I will just have to accept that compliment and be happy that my first “People Project” ended with a happy client!
I had 5 prints made for each of Mrs. Miller’s friends and inscribed them with a personal note from her to each of them…. very sweet. This past weekend, these 6 cute girls celebrated their 60th birthdays together, and she gave them each a print. I love the quote that we included in the clouds. It is such an incredible lesson for us all not to worry about our tomorrows and the years that lie ahead, for if we live it up in each and every moment, those years will certainly take care of themselves. So, as Mrs. Miller likes to say: “let the good times roll!”
What a year for 60th celebrations. My own mother turned 60 in December, and we celebrated at the beach. This spring we will celebrate my daddy’s 60th, also at the beach! I can only hope that I, too, will be dancing in the sand and surf with my children and college friends during my own 60th birthday year! In the meantime, I have 25 years of moments to take care of!
Happy 60th birthday to all of you born in 1950-1!!! and a special Happy 60th to Connie Miller and her girls!
[my home today: Columbia, SC. Tying up lots of loose ends and preparing for a new job that I will start in less than 2 weeks. This new position will take me back to Charleston this summer, and I am excited about that! This will mean a lot less drawing, but hopefully a lot more writing at night and on weekends.]
I am the buddy on the far left of your magical print. You did such a fabulous job….. and I am so glad you did not even THINK of doing our backsides.
You have beautifully captured the character of each of us- and we are quite a bunch of characters! Your work is impressive- you should be quite proud of it. When Conway presented us with these prints, more than one of us had tears in our eyes……. both for the beauty of the print, and the strength of our friendships which it so elegantly displays. Our thanks- to Conway for the idea….. and to you for the execution. Wat
This is absolutely wonderful! I cannot wait to frame it for a place of honor by my desk at home
Thank you so much! Marty (on the far right)
I am so glad that y’all like them! Hope that you had a wonderful weekend together!!