Well, kind of. Last weekend I worked for the Montel Williams Foundation. It was an event in which people walked in the Park wearing t-shirts that said something about giving 100%.

When I arrived, I recognized the famous tv personality. He was very approachable (and busy with other people - I had to respect I had been hired to draw the guests. To do a job.) So we just passed a few words. And his Frisbee landed right near me while I was setting up. I tossed it over to him, and could have swooned when he said that I did that very well.

I wish I would have the sense to take photos of the famous people that my job brings me in contact with. This time, though, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Montel Williams in the background of one of the photos I took of my Artwork:

Actually, though, I was a litl disappointed with the pictures I drew that day. I was tired and they stationed me right in the hot sun. I got decent likenesses, but I wasn't as wild and showy as I would have liked:

I love how Art is so in the moment. Like life. The decisions that we make, the things that we do or say - all in the moment. My Artwork is always affected by my Reality.

When you stop and think about it, we see the wildest things! We all do. But we're just so accustomed to it that our eyes don't just pop out in disbelief. I mean like the drooling slobbering person who was sitting in front of me (ohnly a baby, but he is still a person). Or or when we watch a kid whine and have a tantrum. Or hide her face by squashing it in to her mother's body.

And it's not just children who do outrageous things. Lol - one day I was even talking to an immigrant (grown-up) who was working on the street with me. I knew he talked English just fine. But when I started talking about licenses, permits, taxes, etc, he literally bent down and hid his head in his balloons. Conversation over.

What a thought train this entry is turning into. The guy with the balloons - that reminded me of some pictures that my friends recently sent to me. Because they recognized my pictures on an immigrant's display on 42nd Street. (He's currently displaying old stuff that I drew years ago.) When they confronted him, he, lol, said that "if he displayed his own work, nobody would stop."

Here's a picture of him drawing beside samples that I had drawn for myself:

To Hire Alison Gelbman, the real Artist whose own pictures attract people's attention:
(516) 579-4706
optidust@gmail.com

Thank you Elgin. Thank you Kenly. I feel like my friends in NY know me and look out for me.

Of course, I felt special when the woman in the restaurant recognized me. "You were the one from the Communion...." "Such Talent..." all that sort of stuff. This time the woman's name was Elaine. And she was an absolute doll:

But I had noticed Elaine before she spoke to me. I thought she was a stranger as I had passed Elaine as I walked up a ramp to get in to the diner. She had been helping a man in a wheelchair (with a breathing tank). While I ate my dinner, Elaine barely had a bite. She was busy relating to the man she was with. Encouraging him, reading the newspaper to him....Just being delightful.

Since I had made a comment about being famous when Elaine recognized me, watching her made me think about all the Unsung Heroes in this world. The people who uplift others, who tell a stranger how special she is, who kindly help people who are in their lives. People who seem to exist just to admire and appreciate others. I'm so impressed with the Elaines of this world.

BTW, here's a picture of another boy I had drawn in the diner that day. A stranger. I liked his confident attitude. He too might have been one of the strengths of this world. Who knows? I just love people:

Yay! This was really fun. Often asked to do something different, this time the Mars Company wanted me to draw people like M&M's. Before going to the fabulous M&M's Store in NYC, I had to figure out what was the 'code' from the M&M's people on the candy-wrappers.