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PREFACE

I am the sum of my art.

Therein lies my life .

THIS BOOK COULD BE described as an automonograph. Auto, in that it was written by the self, of the self. Monograph, since it focuses on a single category—the creation of art—as it relates to specific episodes of my life.

Apart from the first few pages which address early development and childhood, the chapters concentrate on the time between 1973 and 1993, and cover eight areas, or series, of my work.

The last twenty years of my paintings, prose, and verse reveal much more than this text or the small collection of plates enclosed with it; but the text does provide glimpses of experience and thought which may help to illuminate the growth of my work. The full range of influence is impossible to grasp, least of all by me.

Painting, acting, and writing monopolize my creative time, so it makes sense to speak of them as my life, rather than to refer to them as separate careers.

There are many artistic contributors who share in the development of an actor’s performance, i.e., the director, the cinematographer, the editor, and the other actors. Writing can be influenced by a literary editor. But painting is a solo art medium, whereby I am the producer, director, performer. In that sense it could be viewed as a pure form of creative expression. However, each of these mediums does not outweigh another in its importance. Together, they support and influence each other to create a single voice through my life.

Michelangelo is famous for his work in the realms of sculpture, painting, and architecture. He is less known for his splendid creations as a poet. The merit of his literary reflections easily rivals that of his Renaissance contemporaries, some of whom chose writing as their only form of expression. Celebrity blinds as often as it blesses acknowledgment of the various mediums that make up an artist’s life. But celebrity does not an artist make, talent does.

That precious art in which one time I was

Of so much reputation, now has made me

A poor old man, a slave in other’s hands

I am undone, unless I perish soon.

—MICHELANGELO

For my own part, I have been blessed with a small measure of fame in recent years through acting in television and films. I can quite honestly state that my best work as an actor has been presented on the stage, in performances that have come and gone, unseen by most of the populace. For better or worse, television and film have had the advantage of offering global exposure via satellite broadcasting and cinematic publicity.

If the prominence I retain from the Silver Screen outweighs my recognition in the theatre, then it has certainly overwhelmed my presence as a painter and as a writer. Each of those two mediums has been a compelling force throughout my life.

Nor fame I slight, nor for her favors call;

She comes unlooked for, if she comes at all.

—ALEXANDER POPE

It is of little artistic importance that this book might adjust the scales of renown. Even less, if I consider the penniless life of that great letter-writing painter, Vincent Van Gogh, who neither welcomed nor received much attention until very near his death. Many contend that fame itself pushed poor Vincent to suicide. What is important is that the work represented on these pages will speak for itself, regardless of my status in other fields.

Along with my thanks to Charles E. Tuttle for asking me to write and compile this automonograph, I am equally grateful to celebrity for helping to promote the launch of it. My deepest appreciation is reserved for the publishers and exhibitors who supported my written and painted work long before they became aware of me as a thespian, and especially to those who continue their encouragement of all artists who choose to express themselves through more than one discipline of art.

The Muses speak as nine from one,

That when all is said and done,

The fruitful voice,

Through word and vision,

Bids art from each must come.

-DR