Sometimes I Got Totally Bored

Judge Maryellen Hicks - 321st

As a lawyer, I sometimes got really bored waiting in a Court Room for my turn at a 60-second divorce "prove-up." There is only so much small-talk an attorney, or the client for that matter, wants to engage in after a few minutes. And, of course, "no talking in the court room." At least while hearings are being conducted. The client is usually interested in the proceedings, something a family law attorney has seen hundreds of times and has better things to do other than twiddling thumbs. Or sketching. This is Judge Maryellen Hicks sitting in the 321st in Fort Worth. The bench, witness box and stenographer's box behind the column on the left, are made of heavy oak and beautifully carved. A very QUICK sketch done with a black pen on a manilla file folder, which I ran across this the other day sorting through old files to finally shred. Definitely not a work of art, but perhaps a bit of history in that Judge Hicks moved up to the Court of Appeals in 1993 after a nationally reported incident involving the deaths of 2 Court of Appeals Judges and a still furious ex-husband, that sadly and coincidentally I was acquainted with at church.. More ... The article fails to mention that the gunman was headed to this courtroom to kill this particular judge as well, but was confronted by 2 heroic unarmed attorney's in the hall who managed to talk him out of it, after which he fled.

Self-Portrait 1965

From 10th grade art class.  I'd just turned 16. The assignment required us to stare in the mirror, sketch quickly and not lift the pencil off the page. Consequently, my self-portrait is one single really long line. I have no idea where I started or stopped.

A Painting from 10th Grade

Mother had also saved this 9 x13" Linda original dated 10-12-64 I painted in Art I.  It's a watercolor - right out of a black metal Prang box of 8 shades. That's a mauve draped something in the background. What an awful color even then. I'd never drawn or painted any of the elements before. The colors have since faded but except for that hideous mauve, this a close approximation to how I remember them. Computer colors and contrast are never the same as what the eye sees in real life. I was a fair artist even in elementary school, having some of my artwork displayed in the ISD city-wide art show, but I haven't painted and have rarely sketched anything in over 30 years. I really wanted to continue Art but I had a no-win choice: Art II or Choraliers (the audition only choir), both the same period. I chose to sing. I so wish I could have taken both!  My parents offered to send me to art school so I could become a professional artist. I said NO, why would I want to work at something I enjoy doing?  Instead, I've been an unhappy lawyer for the past 31 years. Talk about stupid.