The Big Guy

Me and the Crow
Black and white photograph
8" x 10"
by William Wallace Muir

In every child's life fathers and mothers loom large --
a fact you forget sometimes when you're a parent
yourself. Doing your own work, remembering to
buy the right groceries, thinking of something to make for
dinner, solving small day-to-day problems and doling
out as much love as you can each day tends to make
parenting feel only as important as breathing.

But looking back on the huge impact your own
parents had on you shifts your perspective. My
Dad was among other things, an artist. I didn't
appreciate his paintings when I was a kid
entering art school, although I do now.
He started painting seriously about the time
that I did, but for different reasons.
I'd painted all my life. He was inspired by
a little book about painting by Winston Churchill,
his all-time hero.

After supper jokes
Black and white photgraph
8" x 10"
William Wallace Muir

My dad ended up developing a passion for painting that
stuck with him until he died. But before he was a
painter, he was an excellent photographer. I talk about his
work a lot, so today I'll show you a few of the
images I grabbed from the stacks at my
mother's place -- they're of my brother Andrew
and me as children. The spots and imperfections
have happened through damage to the pieces.
Perhaps they weren't meant to be kept. He
matted most of his favorite shots.

Playing Doctor
Black and White photograph
8" x 10"
William Wallace Muir

Have a kids-loving-parents day.