Art and Conversation

I have been trying something different to try and break up the routine of being stuck at home EVERY single day. (No, not by choice). I have been walking down to a small park that is about 2 miles away from the house that I am living in. The park has a walking trail around a lake. It also has benches and tables where you can sit and just pass the time. I decided to start going there every day and just enjoy and good walk and the fresh air.

Yesterday, while sitting at "my" table a homeless man approached me and I was instantly annoyed. I was so sure that he was going to ask me for money or just sit and talk until my ears bled. I was wrong about both.

He introduced himself as Keith and offered his hand. When I shook his hand I noticed two things. First, that his hand was as cold as ice. Second, that he had the warmest smile I have seen in a while. He said that he noticed that I was drawing and just wanted to come over and sit with me a while because he was an artist too. I explained to him my "I'm not an artist, I just like to draw" theory to which he quickly replied, "Bullshit! If you draw then it is art and you are an artist!". I didn't argue anymore.

He began to tell me how he used to just keep a piece of paper and a pencil with him all the time just in case he had the urge to create a masterpiece. I offered him some paper and a pencil and we sat there and talked and sketched our pictures. I was working on this one at the time. Kieth drew out some landscaping from the scenery of the park, and I have to admit, it was really good. He would draw a little piece of a tree or a duck from the lake and then quickly stop to shade it with his finger. I offered him a little shading tool that I had made from just a torn piece of paper and he informed me that he didn't really need "fancy tools". I told him about this blog and asked if he would let me have the picture so I could post it here for people to see, (...that's if anyone actually reads this thing...) and he explained to me that he has art in museums all over and Florida and all around the world. Mostly he keeps them at his mother's house, but the really good ones go to a museum somewhere.
Our visit was cut short because they were giving away free canned food around the corner and Keith had to go. Whether or not he has drawings hanging in a museum is not for me to decide. I've never been in a museum, so how would I know. I only know that I enjoyed our conversation and I hope to have a chance to visit with Keith again.