I framed up this now yellowing pencil drawing the other day. It was drawn for me by a 21 year old woman named Keri Patrick. It’s based on a drawing by Canadian Glen Loates, one of the most famous animal illustrators of all time. (external link)

Yes, that left shoulder looks tortured but, again, she was 21 and self-taught. My grandfather was an artist and he liked the way she had shaded. Said that was very difficult.

So, I look at what she did at that age, what my Grandfather produced, and what I am accomplishing after only five months. I expect too much from local artists. I want them to do better, to be better, to expect more from themselves. But they don’t. And I am sad.

She never titled the work. I’d name it after her. “Everything I Have Ever Wanted but Could Never Have.”