The Venice Biennale It was nice to visit Venice during the Biennale. Next year marks my 50th year as an artist. During my childhood years, my brother and I were interested in pretty  much the same things. It was during my 14th year, after taking my first art class, that  our roads would fork. Though we are 2 countries apart,  I often dream about that  closeness we had in our youth. "Tim and I, 1963" The years pass so quickly. I am nostalgically damaged. I hold on to an unreachable past. These thoughts keep me awake at night.

  My Sister's Dream For decades my sister dreamed of visiting Venice and a gondola ride. Bringing her and my niece along on the trip will be talked about for the rest of our lives. My mother gave me this photo a few years before her death.  It is my "first photo" as she is in her 8th month of pregnancy with me. I made us coffee cups with this image.  Mine now resides on a shelf in my studio. The photo is a very honest image of a 21 year old factory worker. Very historic in nature in front of a small house she and my dad were renting at the time for $25 a month. That house was destroyed back in the 1970s. She always spoke fondly of this place. Though living day to day, they were young and in love. I guess that is all that mattered.

 Venice - My Sister's dream As far back as I can remember my sister dreamed of a vacation to Venice. She dreamed of the canals and the gondolas. Never having been to Europe, she could not comprehend it happening. In 1966, my family took our first vacation. We visited Chattanooga, Tennessee in the USA. We had never stayed in a hotel before and there was a swimming pool. "Tim, Mother, and Me in Chattanooga." My brother and I couldn't believe there were two beds in the same room.  I often wonder where that hotel was and if it still stands. I remember it like it was yesterday.