The Golden Age of a Master

I titled this the golden age of a master as this painting is one of his most detailed paintings, every person in the back round has a distinct face. I love this piece out of my father collection.

Over the years my own connections to the paintings that hang in my house have grown. The more I look back on the fact that I had a well received artist as an almost second father, the more I come to realize the effect he has had on me. We take for granted many times the impact other people hold on our lives. I realize this now in the wake of Tony’s absence from mine. Growing up around Tony’s art and life has educated me in ways that I can only know just begin to understand. There was a time when I helped Tony in one of his drawings, now I am no great painter, but he still encouraged me to be creative. In recent years I have picked up poetry, which I feel is my way of painting a picture. But only now can I grasp that Tony was the one who encouraged me to go there. No other person had ever advocated creativity like him. No as my sheen eyes gaze upon his fingerprints, left for the world to see, I understand.
As I have looked back on my poetry, I realize that Tony’s life is buried under the words of my pen. In a poem I wrote titled “Heaven” a portion of my poem states, “An evangelic face shines, illuminating more than the moon / Fitting the furnace in my arms, my heart is reborn / Like a flower in bloom, I open to the heavens / Mouth strewn open, collecting the demon rum of the gods.” These words came from my heart and Tony had always told me to use my heart in everything I do. When I look back on this certain poem I come to realize that Tony is embedded in its words, just like he is embedded in my heart. If he could look at this poem from his own perspective today, I believe he would think that it’s about him. As I have learned from Tony, its up to the viewers to make their own choice about what a certain piece of art is about. Tony’s belief that everything had a story has carried into me when I write my poems. Tony passion will always be in my heart.