Since late 2012, my colleague Diane Orlofsky and I have collaborated on a wonderful project known as "A Joyous Exchange". It began as a conversation about how I might assist her in illustrating a collection of essays that she had written. Ultimately, Diane's essays ("meditations") and my visual interpretations ("illuminations") would conjoin into a collection for both exhibition and print.
In 2017 I was honored to receive a grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts to progress towards completing a body of work related to our co-creative process and to create an accompanying book or catalog…
Read MoreMy family and I absolutely love attending the family reunions. Every third year, my wife's family—the Bentleys—host an incredible reunion. I cherish the opportunity to see the legacy of one generation passed on to another and yet to another—so beautiful and wholesome.
In recent years, the "Bentley Reunions" have been primarily based upon the descendents of Floyd and Dora Bentley, formerly of Laverne, Oklahoma. Many of the children, grands, great-grands and beyond still reside within a hundred miles or so of this small town in the flat and dusty Panhandle of the 46th state of the Union. Foot races, card games (mostly Pitch and Rook), multi-generational softball, slip-n-slides, organized children's games, four-wheelin', a family auction of handmade or nostalgic items and of course lots and lots of food comprise the 2-day event, and even a Sunday family worship gathering.
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