The last time that I spoke with my friend and fellow artist Scott Simler, I told him that I wanted to do a retrospective art exhibit for him that illustrated his whole career as an artist. I told him that retrospectives were special showings saved for artists that had made significant contributions to the world of art.
He was not well, and he was groggy with pain medication. Even so, he smiled and said, I really like that idea.”
Scott passed away a couple of days later.
I miss him dearly, and I choke up every time that I look at his last, incomplete painting. But as I look around my gallery full of his bright and colorful paintings, I smile. That is what Scott’s work does. It makes you smile.
Scott touched so many lives with his joyful and colorful art. His quiet presence and sweet smile is missed in the studio every day.
My gallery is full of Scott’s paintings because I am fulfilling that promise I made to him. Scott’s work, indeed, has made significant contributions to the world of art, and the world deserves to see it. His retrospective art exhibit opens this Saturday.
I hope that you will join me in celebrating his life’s work through this showing of artworks from different junctures in his life. My thanks go out to Scott’s Family for their support of this exhibit and for contributing artworks from their collections. My thanks also go to other collectors in the community for sharing pieces from their collections; Just Imagine by TWi for contributing artworks from their gallery; and Stark County Board of Developmental Disabilities for their support.
More than anything, though, my thanks go out to Scott, for having such a deep impact on my life, and for being my friend.
“The language of friendship is not words but meanings”. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Life is an Adventure!
BZTAT
