Warehouse and Barge

Pencil
12 x 18"
1976

I was a draftsman for the county surveyor from 1975 to 1977. In 1976 there was a contest for artists to present preliminary drawings of what they would paint on the walls of the rotunda of the county court house in celebration of our bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence. I was selected, among others. The commissioners wanted one from each of us artists. I told them I'd do all four, or none at all. They agreed to my terms. So, after work I stayed at the court house (they gave me a key in case I needed to go back in) and worked on four 3 x 5' murals. Worked till 10PM, sometimes longer.

This is the drawing for one of my works. Imagine how hard it was to make acrylic paintings of these four drafts when the walls in the rotunda were curved. I used a carpenter's thing, to snap a blue line for my perspective.

You can see another of my preliminary drawings that ultimately became one of my very first paintings.

[link]

I don't have the fourth drawing, but it was of the French voyageurs. And some ten years ago, another renovation of the courthouse resulted in my murals being painted over. There were angry letters to the editor, and private dismay over this. Oh, they're still there under that paint. I won't live to see the day when I believe they will want to uncover my murals.