I am an artist and illustrator. And these “episodes” are quick sketches of and stories about people that I meet or have met over the years. I do the drawings first, keeping them simple and spontaneous but (hopefully) sophisticated. They are with perhaps one or two exceptions, line drawings done with a fine-line pen. I started doing these drawings in business meetings. That expanded to doing them in waiting rooms or while traveling, as a way to remember the people I met, worked with, or just observed from afar. Once I’d done a number of these sketches, I began to wonder about the people they depict. What might they be really like on the inside? What are their dreams? Their fears? Their secrets? Since I did not know the people I was drawing (or because I did not know them well), I felt ill-at-ease about asking personal questions. And so, I began to create stories about these people, based on what I imagine their life is like. That way, each drawing became a kind of psychological adventure; I never knew, when I sat down to write, what I was going to find. Like the drawings themselves, the stories are not to scale or photographic. If there is any prevailing theme, it is this: people keep their inner world well-hidden and probably for damn good reason. A secondary theme: making stuff up is much more fun than reality. And in a way, that is the real truth in all this. If you would like to learn more about me or my work please send a note. Our email: myron.gilbert@att.net
5. Brenda “Billie” Burnham, Account Supervisor, Advertising
Brenda is a very special person. Still in her 30s, she runs her advertising agency’s largest account. She loves her job, makes very good money, has a large apartment with river views, has a place in the country, and is miserable. She is lonely. Would love to find someone to share her life with. She married right out of college. It didn’t work out. By the time she finished her MBA, he dumped her. Since then, just a couple of romances that amounted to nothing much. And things have not improved lately. She’s had her eye on a really nice guy. But he is five years younger than her, is her subordinate at the agency – in creative, and happily married with two kids. More times a day than she’d care to admit, she wonders,“Why does this always happen to me? Why do I always go for idiots or men who aren’t even in the realm of possibility?” She hasn’t a clue. Or the time to figure out what to do about it.