A Senior Extravaganza With "Crawfish Conversations!"

Portrait of a well satiated "Yat."

I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but the satisfied look on these faces told me that it could not have been terribly controversial! While sketching, I had several seniors come over and talk to me about art. Talking about art amounted to the pride that someone in their family,"is so talented" or the disgust that a family member either chose another line of work or just didn't think much their talent to go to school or continue.

"Oh, it is such a waste," one woman said. "A God given talent like that just should not be wasted!"

"Well, I said, "I used to think that about my tall friends who never tried to play basketball."

"Of course, having the talent to be an artist and to actually make a living doing it, is two different things."

"I wish I could draw like that... I can't draw a straight line," he said.

"Well, check this out," I said, as I proceeded to draw a pretty darn straight line with the pencil using my pinky finger to align with the edge of the sketchbook.

"Emile, come see this," one man yelled. "You know how you say you can't draw a straight line to save your soul?"

"Do it again for my friend, please." He will get such a kick "outta dis!"

With a chuckle, I proceeded to draw another straight line and Emile was duly impressed.

"That's amazing... how do you do 'dat?" Emile inquired.

"Lotsa practice," I said rather glibly.

"See, 'dats why you'll never be an artist," the friend joked, as he gently elbowed the once aspiring artist!

"You can't even draw a straight line!"

Copyright 2013/Ben Bensen III