I was introduced to Henri Matisse at age 5 while participating in one of my Grandmother’s high school art classes, which I attended during my days off from preschool.
After she presented a particular artist, the high school students were asked to produce their own work based on the style and manner of the artist discussed. I made a nice little beach scene, cut out freehand from construction paper.
Once I returned home, little bits of cut construction paper in hand, I turned them over to my parents, explained their meaning and assembled them on the dining room table. I remember this sequence of events very clearly, even 25 years later.
The bits of paper were then made into screens for screen printing, from which a single shirt was produced. It was the very first time in my life that I connected art with commerce. It was also the very first time that I argued about the colors being off on the final print; a problem that secretly bothers me, even to this day.
