Doctor Neroutsos’ Sailing Boat, 1978

This drawing has a simple story; it is a mixed media ‘portrait’ of a small sailboat belonging to my Victoria dentist, Doctor Neroutsos’. I owed him lots of money for an emergency root canal on my upper-left eye tooth. Knowing I was poor, he asked me to paint a ‘picture’ of his boat. This drawing was the result. Once Doctor Neroutsos’ received the painting, I never saw it again, and I lost touch with that dentist.

Then, in 2022, on the day the local senior centre was having its annual fundraising garage sale, Laura Dempsey, my partner, telephoned me from the sale to let me know there were several possibly good frames for sale. She took me to the see them, but I didn’t see anything that interested me. Then I saw a good solid wood frame with a drawing that had lots of graphic and design tricks that I admire. Even after a close inspection, I needed a minute to realize the drawing was mine. I bought it and the frame for $25 - a bargain for sure.