Kathy Kolcaba has been a close friend of mine since we met through PTO when our children were in school in Chagrin Falls, OH.  And Kathy and her husband, Ray, spent many wonderful times with Jim and me in Chautauqua, NY.  Ray, a retired philosophy professor, also became an artist in later in life.  Ray, however, works in humongous scale!  His popular art unveilings featured artwork that covered an entire side of the room.  Many wonderful memories with the Kolcabas!  You can imagine how thrilled I was when Kathy asked me to create a portrait of Ray.

True to form, Ray challenged me.  I had never been faced with a modern fashion “beard, but not really a beard.”  Fabric wouldn’t capture it, so I had to learn how to stitch the beard effect.  Ever the teacher, Ray taught me a new technique, one that will come in handy with the group portrait I’m doing of my grandson, Sam and his buddies.