Part of what made me do what I do.

In my early Twenties I discovered the movie It's A Wonderful Life directed by Frank Capera and Starring James Stewart and Donna Reed. It's this story about a man named George Baily,  a man that has put everyone else first. He sacrificed all his hopes and dreams to take over his dad's business at the Savings and Loan. All his life he had helped people and would like to take a little something for himself. Well, things don't turn out great and George resolves to kill himself.
     If you haven't seen it, I don't want to give away too much but the rest of the movie plays out by him being visited by a loveable angel. The angel's mission is to keep George from ending his life. The method, showing him what life would have been like if he had never been born. The film demonstrates that the little things that we may consider trivial matter.
     Unlike two of my other favorite movies that also happen to be Capera films, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, It's a Wonderful Life is just a little different. Of the three movies George falls the hardest but in my opinion has the happiest ending of all.
    

You may be wondering where I am going with all of this just let me give you one more little story.

     When I was in high school art class I discovered a painter named Norman Rockwell. He was a painter of Realism and at the time seen as more of an illustrator. He painted pictures of small town America. Very rarely if ever was there pessimism in his work. The paintings he created had usually a playfulness and from what I saw a love for his country and the common family. Many pieces of his collection delivered smiles and hope. It was almost like the pictures stepped out of Mayberry. I was truly in awe.

     Now to the point.

     In my work, I draw influence from theses two artists. Both having a yearning to be good. Now granted I add a little more slapstick humor to my strip but the basic rules are still there. I chose a comic strip because it was quick to complete and like George's deeds, it's the little things that make or break a day. So here I sit, churning out as many as I can think of hoping that they will find the right person's eyes. Some I try for humor, some I try to be relatable but all I try, in some small way, to entertain.

 I hope to do that for a long time to come.