A Light for Tim

Ask any one who does what they love, who inspired them, who encouraged them, who stood by them and I assure you the list won't be short. Mine is no different. I have so many to thank in my heart daily for their love and support. It's so hard to put into words the gratefulness you feel in your heart to those who have done so much for you, but I will try. Today I thank Tim.
My brother.
My friend.

His first mentor in art that I know of was our Uncle Fred. Uncle Fred was a very talented artist and my brother and sister Bernadette would spend hours learning to draw from him as small children. I was way too young to remember those happy times before my Uncle Fred passed away, but Tim and Bernadette never let me forget how great an inspiration he was. As a child I spent many hours drawing with Tim, he was always the one to spend his pocket money on "How to Draw" books. We would grab the reams of computer paper my dad would bring home and sketch for hours out of those books. We would draw pictures of characters we would create from his D&D game, animals we loved or wish in our secret lives we could be, or favorite cartoon characters from Saturday mornings. I loved the art he created that he would bring home from Jr high and high school (loads of which I still have today, that used to hang in his home). I wanted so desperately to be as good an artist as him. I was quite surprised when he didn't major in art in college, nor did he take any art classes. He went on to major in anthropology at UCSD and was looking to get a second degree in computer science. He never gave up on watching animation, and enjoying the art of others. He introduced me to some brilliant artists such as Maxfield Parrish, Patrick Nagel, and Hayo Murasaki. He was always up for visiting a museum or three, and loved discussions around art. He had even started to purchase some amazing art pieces for his own home.

The last time the two of us were together we were planning a trip to a medieval exhibit downtown (one which I never did see as I couldn't go with out him) and going to the upcoming Comic Con (which of course we never did attend together).

He passed away 8 years ago today and not a day goes by that I don't think of him and how he fostered my love for art at such an early age. A few years back I was visiting Paris and toured many wonderful catholic churches like Notre Dame and Sacré-Coeur. Every time I went into a church I would light a candle for Tim. Below is the light from Notre Dame for a life well lived and much loved.


Through my life he encouraged me not to give up on my art and I never have.