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
With Nadine, it seems as though what you see is what you get. Her clientele are almost all women and almost all over 45. She visits them at their home, bringing her equipment with her. She puts them through their paces, helps them with various aches and pains, gives them encouragement, and, now and then, a bit of advice. She had wanted to be a social worker but never did very well with formal, classroom education. And it did not help that she married very young and had four children by the time she was 20. About five years ago, she got divorced. She still loves her husband and sees him regularly. But it was a sex thing. Almost simultaneously, they both realized they are gay. As she put it the other day, “He likes boys and I like girls. So, what are you going to do?” These days they both have partners and all of them get along and have dinner together at least once a month. She is pretty open about all this with her relatives and close friends but knows that some of her best customers would be uneasy with it. So, she is circumspect about her personal life, even though she suspects one or two of them know.