0.11 Don edelman, b. 1925

The long way around to art

I was always making art. There was always a continuous pressing to make more time available to get more artwork done. I started out copying Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. When we’d go to church my mother would give me a piece of paper and a pencil, and I learned that drawing was an approved activity—and fun. I was born in Bowie, Texas, and shortly thereafter moved to Amarillo, where I grew up. Along the way I enlisted in the Navy, and went from there to Washington University in St. Louis for four years, and from there to the University of Illinois where I got my Masters in Fine Arts.

The faculty at Washington U had Fred Connelly who was quite well known. And Max Beckman

From there, I’ve been quite a few places. My sister invited me to come out and stay with her in Denver, so I moved out, went out there and lived in the officers’ enlisted quarters where my sister was married to a Sergeant in the Air Force. I lived in the basement there for a year or two, then they decided to go out and find a better view—a fabulous penthouse on top of the Cornwall Apartments. I worked in Denver for a while doing odd jobs, making picture frames. Then I decided to go to San Francisco, and I met a guy who was selling encyclopedias. So I ended up selling Encyclopedia Britannica, again, always doing these things, trying to find time to make art.

Houston connections

I came to Houston to sell encyclopedias and in the process met Jim Abercrombie

It’s just been a very gradual thing…always painting, selling some now and then. People know about you, and maybe buy things. I always entered competitive exhibits, but even then my contacts with other artists have been very rare. I did have some gallery pieces…and I’d worked with some art consultants [but] I never knew where my next painting or sale [would come from].

In one show they did at the Hooks-Epstein Gallery,

Now and then

I’d say the art market has changed dramatically. If you want to do art today, do a lot of it [and] try to find the galleries that like what you do. Today there’s a lot more people looking at art, and more importantly for the artist, there are [more]people who are buying art.

To the young artist starting out I would say to be enthusiastic. [There are] all kinds of possibilities, and probably being more connected with better artists is a good idea. I tend to spend so much time by myself that I feel it’s not a good thing to be isolated. Pick up whatever information you can. I’m a member of the Watercolor Society and the Visual Art Association, and that’s been good for me. One of my slogans is you can never tell where you’re going to find a good idea by being open to what’s around you. Like, going to the Menil Collection,

Don Edelman was interviewed on June 7, 2006. You can listen to the interview here .