I suppose that some of you were wondering where I got my art talent from. Even though my basic source had been comic books and comic strips I've read over the course of several decades, my prime source was a lot closer to home... literally!

My grandfather on my mother's side, Ben Shell, used to teach me how to draw in three dimensions, starting with a simple household object: a cylindrical coffee cup (with handle), before moving onto a half-sphere version of the same object...

I would learn more about art in both elementary and high schools, but I was more curious about how my mother, Sheila Shell Martinez, moved on from simple line drawings to more complex forms of artwork, such as oil paintings. Growing up in the Bronx and Queens (and, eventually, Long Island), Mom's works adorned the walls of both our living room and her bedroom. Her oil paintings included lavish landscapes and portraits of bullfighters in action (the latter of which appealed to the relatives on my father's side of the family, since Dad originally came from Spain).

Needless to say, my sister Rhonda also picked up a few pointers from Mom, improved her talents, and went on to paint some unique murals at her high school (and even one in her own bedroom), made even brighter by the use of day-glo paint (which was very popular back in the late 1960s).

Many years later, Mom would return to art, while working in the Philosophy Department at C.W. Post College. There, she began to experiment with watercolors, sculpture, and printing lithographs. She even returned to drawing animals - with birds and fish as a refreshing change-of-pace from bulls. In addition, she began to take up calligraphy (a fancy form of lettering) to compliment some of her art.

The posted image you see was one of my late mother's works. It's an excerpt of the cover art from the telephone directory for Oriole Gardens Phase I. She drew the oriole AND used calligraphy for the title. The printer used 'color separation', making the bird green and the lettering blue. (Upon closer examination of the artwork, you'll find her signature on the branch - that the oriole is perched on - at the lower left-hand corner.) Since then, a black ink version of the same bird appears on the cover of issues of The Oriole Sun - the monthly newsletter of our condo community.

As many of you celebrate Mother's Day, I hope that you pay tribute to the person who passed some of her talents along to her offspring. On the walls of my condo, I have a number of Mom's oil paintings and watercolors (not to mention a brilliant dog portrait rendered by Grandpa Ben); it's good to know that talent like THIS still runs in the family...

In memory of Sheila Shell Martinez (1931-2006)