Where I Have Been

Where have I been?  

What have I been up to? 

The short answer is that I’ve been recovering from surgery that was needed to repair my broken shoulder.  The longer answer is a bit more complicated.  Recovering from surgery has provided me ample time to review my journey up to the point of disaster and has forced me to become more patient concerning planning for the future.  

I moved out of my studio space on May 30 due to significant rent increases.  I was slightly depressed by this but now I realize that chasing the art gallery model has not worked in my favor.  Between June 1st and June 5th I began brainstorming about ideas for how I wanted to proceed with my art career.  June 6th started out no different than any other Friday.  Adrian and I decided to bike down to Buffalo Bayou Park to ride the trails and stop along the way to do calisthenics.  It was a typically hot and humid afternoon.  My 1981 Panasonic road bike had been overhauled including freshly replaced and inflated tires.  I was leading and Adrian was behind me.  I felt that he was not as close behind me as he should be, so I turned to look behind me to see that he wasn’t far behind.  Then in just a few seconds as I turned around, my tire hit a mound of sculpted grass and my full front tire came to a very abrupt stop, but I did not.  Thanks physics!  I flew over the handlebars and landed on my left side hard on concrete.  When I came to a stop and was able to stand I immediately knew something was very wrong with my left arm.  I thought I broke my whole arm.  Adrian, who luckily had his phone, called Chip and Robert and all three rushed me to a nearby emergency room.  Before any X-rays were even taken, I could tell by the looks on the staff’s faces that whatever had happened to my arm wasn’t good.  I vertically fractured the ball joint of my shoulder but fortunately had broken nothing else.  

After reviewing x-rays and CAT scan images, my surgeon prepared me for two possibilities.  Either a partial shoulder replacement would be required- not the best option for a 36 year old- or there would be enough viable bone to use bone graft, plate, and screws to put it all back together.  Early on June 25, my doctor was able to put my original bone back together during a 3 hour surgery.  The first 10 days after surgery were mainly just a long blur of dealing with pain.  I turned 37 on July 2- the very middle of the year.  I got several great messages and a delicious cake.  

From mid-July until now, I have been going to physical therapy and stretching regularly at home.  I’ll probably have most of my full range of motion in another 6 weeks time.  The good news is that I have been sketching.  I created an entire new series of 25 drawings.  I think they are very good and I am still considering exactly what to do with them.  I’ve been writing down many ideas concerning new methods of delivering my visual aesthetic message to the world.  I will be very transparent in sharing information on my work.  I want those who follow my career and collect my work to know all about my inspirations and process.  I am a total voyeur of the creative process.  Please keep watching me.  Thank you for your continued support.