The Art - Photography

H.o.p. Art

When Aaron was small, I preserved all of his art. And I mean all of it. When he was about three years of age, I knew already he would be an artist, he was showing all the sorry tics of an artist, as well as some indicating he could still possibly swing toward being a musician. Because of this, when he one day drew on the wall, I took him over to one of my paintings and I told him that it was on wood for a reason, because it was portable. I explained we were renters and wouldn't be living there forever, and anything drawn on the wall wasn't portable (completely ignoring the murals I'd made all over the kitchen) and couldn't move with us when we moved. The light of comprehension immediately came on his eyes and he never drew on the wall again, ever. After that, I also lined the bottom of the hall walls with butcher paper so that if he wanted a large drawing surface it was for him. As he grew older, he was adamant about keeping all his drawings and so I went through his stacks of drawings daily, separating out the keepers from things begun and abandoned. As he grew older and it got out of control, we were able to start culling some, and I also took archival photos of some of it and his sculptures. So, I have hundreds of images of his early art, but the art presented here was always very special to me and I kept it up permanently while many other drawings were replaced with newer things.

You will notice, that on the white board on the door is written, "The Golden Rule", and "Better Ways to Do Things". I own that. We laugh about it now, but that was my way of trying to keep ethics and the ways we can control our behavior, how we can imagine options, in little five-year-old Aaron's consciousness.