I Found Myself In Roswell, New Mexico

 April 10, 2025

   It was sixty years ago, in a Kingman art class, I made a vow that if I ever figured out how to become a successful artist I would go anywhere to tell youngsters how to do it. No one came to my school and the goal of my vow was to give anyone who would listen, the inside skinny I never got. Oh, and by successful, I don't mean monetery worth. I'm talking about making a life for yourself as an artist.

Old Man Talks to His Younger Self

(photo by Janice Dunnahoo)

   So, Kathy, Uno and I drove 11 hours and landed at the Robert H. Goddard Public High School in Roswell, New Mexico and thanks to Janice Dunnahoo, I had the privilege and honor to speak to five different classes (three on history and two on art) and in each 40 minute talk I was seeking my younger self.  I confessed right up front I knew most of them probably didn't care what an old man had to say, but I was looking for that one student who feels a little lost and intimidated by the world of art. To be honest, I wanted to tell that younger version of myself how to be brave and how to get past the fear. 

   I really wanted to find myself and give my younger self some courage and ammunition. 

   And, by the way, the Goddard High School is named after the rocket pioneer Robert Hutchings Goddard.

Yes, you too can become a successful artist if you can do one thing. And the key word is "if."

The Big If!

   Yes, the key word is "if." Everything you want is on the other side of fear. And, if, you can figure out a way to get past your fear, you have a good to decent shot at being an Artist, with a capital A.

   When I was attempting to first make art as a kid, I got three comments, over and over: Did you copy that? That looks like a photograph. And, so and so is a brilliant artist and he has had no training!

   The first comment is a snotty query as to the source of the art. The idea being, if you copied a Norman Rockwell painting, that is cheating and you don't deserve to be called an artist. The second comment speaks to the general population's obsession with reality (if a piece of art looks like a photograph, then it is accurate, i.e. godly), and the third comment is a weird commentary on my tribe's fascination with artistic talent. To the speaker it is God given and can't be explained—or taught! It just arrives magically in the fingers of the dumb struck artist.

   Here's another thing I told them.

Truth and Myth Often Walk Together

"Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth."

—Pablo Picasso

   Once again, at the end I encouraged them to be motivated to take meaningful action by failing more and drawing without expectations. That last message seemed to resonate.

   The road is the only thing.

   One of your vulnerabilities will become a strength. Everything you want is on the other side of fear. So, how do you get past your fear? Here is something that worked for me.

Thanking My Hometown for The Wind

Windy Recognition

   That's me on the road to 10,000 bad drawings. It really freed me from unreal expectations.

"It truly is incredible the things we can accomplish when we just do the art without expectations. Thank you for introducing me to a fearless approach."

—Chelsea McDonough, Kingman Miner reporter