At the age of forty while doodling as my wife and I watched television, I created the first of hundreds of works of art that I would produce over the next twenty-five years. Throughout that time I would be told by numerous people that my work possessed a unique magical quality. If the truth be known, my earliest creations just seemed to spontaneously flow from the tip of my pen onto a sheet of paper. Considering the complexity of many of the images I created, looking back today I find it incredible that I didn’t find it necessary to draw a preliminary sketch before recording an image. Yet, I have come to realize that when an image emerges from the unconscious, the hand can record it independently without the aid of the conscious mind. Although with the passage of time I would often reflect on the design of an image prior to recording it, it did not seem to affect the quality of my work.

The bulk of the drawings which comprise this collection were published between 1980 and 1990 (after which most of my efforts went into painting, sculpture, collage, and digital illustration). Although within the collection there are suites comprised of three or more pictures which revolve around a specific theme, most of the drawings were created independently of the others. Among the numerous publications in which these drawings have appeared are the following: New Mexico Humanities Review (1984, 1985, 1992), Connecticut Review (1987, 1989), Catalyst (1988), Boulevard (1988), Blue Unicorn (1988), Artist's Market (1983, 1987), Tightrope (1987), Long Shot (1985, 1987), California Quarterly (1987), Wittenberg Review (1987), Amelia (1984, 1985, 1986, 1987), Kansas Quarterly (1983, 1985, 1987), Hawaii Review (1986), Cicada (1986), Clockwatch Review (1986), The Bellingham Review (1986), New Letters (1986), Karamu (1986), South Dakota Review (1986), Arete: The Journal of Sport Literature (1985), Coyote Blues by Toby Moffet (cover illustration, 1985), Diving for Poems by David Kirby (cover illustration, 1985), Waves (1985), The Apalachee Quarterly (1985), London Magazine (1985), The Gamut (1985), Central Park (1985), The Missouri Review (1985), Dog River Review (1985), The DeKalb Literary Review (1985), Pig Iron Magazine (1980, 1982, 1983, 1985), The Fiddlehead (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985), Quarry (1982, 1984, 1985), The North American Review (1984, 1985), Sonoma Mandala (1984-5) Snapdragon (1984), Tennis Week (1981, 1982, 1983, 1984), Midway Review (1984), CutBank (1984), Negative Capability (1984), The Mendocino Review (1984), The Colorado-North Review (1984), Nit & Wit (1984), MSS (1983), Western Humanities Review (1981).

Magician with a Pen, which was published in 2007, can be purchased at Wingspan Press or at Amazon

Sample pages of the book are available on this website.

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