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
Known to his friends and associates as “Laddie,” E. Latimer Vorplace III has always been a “very good” boy. As a child, he kept his room neat and clean, always shared his toys, was a good student, and was uncommonly good at pleasing his elders. As he grew into adulthood, he got into a “good” college, got “good” – if not exemplary – grades, went on to law school, married a “very nice” woman with whom he has two daughters. If they are a bit more mischievous than he was as a child, he is exceedingly patient with his girls. Laddie’s law firm made him managing partner because he is known for being even-handed, careful, and detail oriented, if a bit standoff-ish. A bit chilly, they say. He’s that way with everyone. Standoff-ish. And that includes Gloria, his wife. He doesn’t know it but, while he is at work and the kids are in school, Gloria has been having crying spells. It has been happening over the past year or so. She doesn’t know why and is a bit ashamed about it. As she only just admitted to herself and, last week, to a close friend, she and Laddie have not done “you-know-what” (her words) since she and Laddie found out that she was pregnant with their second child. That was seven years ago.