Leading up to this last Christmas, I was asked the dreaded question of what I would like as a gift. I say “dreaded” because as an adult, I have learned that this question is merely a courtesy. Christmas gift wishes for children afford them the opportunity to let their imaginations run wild – Christmas gift wishes for adults are for practical items of necessity. No matter how much I want action figures from the new Star Wars movie, I now know that the question is just a polite thing to ask of someone that you have already bought socks for. And so, I respond “socks.” It is a nice way to make them feel good knowing they got me what I asked for. But this year, I asked for something else – and I got it.
     In my youth, I would spend countless hours drawing, painting, taking pictures, and writing. As I aged, I came to consider art as a pastime of youth and being an adult meant putting away childish things. Not just Star Wars toys, but my skewed view of art-making meant that it must go as well. It wasn’t until – in a moment of clarity – it occurred to me that being an adult means more than just addressing the responsibilities that come with age. No, being an adult was who you were in spite of those responsibilities. I could still be the type of man that I looked up to in childhood. That man was – among other things – an artist. And so, when I was given the watercolor paints, brushes, and paper that I had asked for, I was given the gift that I had longed for since I was a child; the opportunity to become the human being that I’ve always wanted to be.

     We hope that you come to share in our love of all art, and that it reminds you of the person that you longed to be as a child. After all, no child has ever responded to the question of “what do you want to be when you grow up?” with “adult.”