Wisdom comes from life experiences, and not always one's own. Mr. Welna was the owner of the first gallery I was accepted into, he was also the lettering teacher at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. He saw how bad I was at lettering and had me moved to oil painting class. He also saw how unworldly I was.
Moving to New York was the answer he said. I learned things alright… like the lady on 10th Ave had something else in mind when she asked me for a date. And some ladies in New York weren't ladies at all. A store advertising “artist models” wasn’t prepared for a client who really wanted to draw. I thought it was strange that I had to sign a paper saying I wasn't a police officer. I also learned that adult magazine stores do not carry American Artist Magazine. I was naive, to say the least…
I was learning things just trying to survive in New York. I also learned from my models. It was me being nervous that began my way of working. I could not take the quiet in the studio when I had a model. To relax myself I engaged in conversation all the while they were posing. Lionel taught me the history of Vietnam and why we had no business being there. Kim taught me how different life is in Vietnam. She studied music at Juilliard. She told me how she got by in New York - getting men to buy her a meal then running out on them before they got what they were expecting. Julie persuaded me to visit a retirement home and read to the people living there. Conditions there weren't the best. I got to know my models, and many were good people.
Over the years I have heard some interesting stories, some nice, some not so nice. I have refrained from repeating those stories; they are confidences. Sometimes I just like to make people aware of why ladies pose for me. Raising kids alone, they need the income. Buying textbooks, paying for tuition, and car repairs are a few reasons. One brings sandwiches for the homeless who hang around my building. Another bought a coat for a kid in need of one. Some tell me about the subjects they are studying. The lives my models lead, how they got to where they are and what they do has taught me more about life than I could have learned without them.
