Back when I was 14 my older brother Garry, who then seemed to be instantly good at absolutely everything he did, won a window painting contest honoring Olympic skier Nancy Greene. His prize was $15 - a lot of money in those days!

A light went on in my head! My mom, who thankfully saved everything, dug out some old Christmas cards for me and I copied those designs into a sketchbook. I then hitch-hiked into town and went from store to store selling the designs for Christmas windows. No one wanted their window before December 1st in those days, but then everybody was in a big rush! In the following weeks, after school and on Saturdays I painted quite a number of stores and made the monstrous sum of $700. It sure beat the hard physical labor of shoveling driveways of mowing lawns! The picture above is my very first window, painted on a small grocery store window. It was painted backwards on the inside of the glass using powdered tempera paints. My fee for my first work of art was $15.

That first inspiration sparked an art career that continues to this day. I’m happy to report it is still as exciting and fun!

-grampa dan