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Forks of a Different Color
When away from home
doing weekend art festivals, I usually have enough spare time
to visit some of a city's sites. Zoos have become a favorite.
So when I was in New Zealand on vacation I went to The Auckland
City Zoo.
It was a nice zoo
but not much different from the many I'd already visited until
I came to the big cat house. As it happened, I had already missed
the days' feeding. I was disappointed but as I left, I turned
the corner and found what was to become one of my most award
winning images. There was a fence between them and me but they
made a perfect composition in red and green.
Early in my career,
I made a 20" x 24" print and displayed it for the first
time in a show called "Coloramma" in Tomahawk, Wisconsin.
The judges were two art teachers from the local community college
and they went crazy over it and declared it "Best of Show".
I got a purple ribbon and a check for $50.
That evening in a
local biker bar, known for the full sized Triumph motorcycle
behind the bar, I got to drinking and dancing and wound up with
the ribbon clipped to my back pocket. All the ladies would take
turns smacking me on the butt as I danced by.
I was so broke at
the time that I asked the bartender if he would cash my award
check for me? When he asked for an ID I whipped out my ribbon
and smacked it on the bar. I got the cash and I thanked the bartender
by buying him a drink.
I'm a big spender! |