An Artist's Life in Progress by T Benton Brooks by T Benton Brooks

An Artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Life in Progress

T BENTON BROOKS

Portrait of an Artist

Table of Contents For Those Who Care As It Begins Studio Talk From The Heart Short Story Treatments My Artistic Lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Journey Photo Plate Index Acknowledgements

For Those Who Care

AS I SEE IT, IN MY OWN WORDS It has been the status quo for many years that an Artist needs to have a signature style in order to be seen as a serious Artist. It may have started with the early gallery owners’ views of how to market an Artist, or the person buying the work just wanted more of the same, or possibly others wanted a similar painting. The Artist was forced to do more of the same so the gallery owner could sell more and make more money. I have often wondered, would an Artist continue to paint the same thing over and over, if it weren’t for the money? Maybe some would but it also might be that the Artist doesn’t know what else to paint. I’m not really knocking those who, for lack of better terms, paint in a style that they are comfortable with. But it would seem to me that after a while that would become boring and simply put, just a job. I have always believed in what I call “Progressive Creative Originality”—what I mean by that is to just search, stretch, and grow. Each time I pick up a paintbrush I want to take a journey of discovery. I don’t want to necessarily know where I’m going, just to trust the process and let it flow. For me, when an Artist finds this Magical Style or comfort zone, they are in danger of no longer growing artistically, only in workmanship or craftsmanship. How many ways can one paint a little house in a valley or forest, with light glowing out the windows? So many Artists that I have seen over the years just perfect a style and craftsmanship and never move on. 1

Well, it may make good marketing sense and the power galleries may make themselves and the Artist lots of money, but what do they really have but the latest version of that last painting by a particular Artist. Reading about other Artists’ lives, and their struggles, has always been more of an inspiration to me than looking at their artwork, which, of course, I love doing. It seems that in one way or another, every Great Artist I’ve ever heard of or read about has had a rough time of it in some way. Vincent’s life has always been my true inspiration and what has kept me ironically sane. My work is very different from other Artists, yet my life and struggles are painfully similar.

ARTIST, MARK ROTHKO SAID: “I look forward to a time when an artist would be rewarded for the meaning of his life’s work.”

AS IT BEGINS I was born in southern California in 1949. I was born into a loving family with parents who seemed to have the same goals in life but different temperaments. My father came from a somewhat traditional background with a family history he could never live up to. His father, who was a well-respected family Doctor in Kentucky, died while trying to help his patient through a local epidemic. My father was only a year or so old when Doctor Thomas Benton Brooks Sr. died. My father was the second of two sons after an older brother who died before my father was born. So, my old man started out in the hole before he even got started. All his life he was the only surviving son of the great Dr. Brooks. He grew up around his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s doctor friends who only built up the unattainable image of the late Dr. Brooks. Sometime before my father turned ten my grandmother married her second cousin, who happened to have been a good friend of my grandfather. He was a much simpler man with very little ambition or goals. As I recall, he was a janitor at the local college in Champaign, Illinois, where they as a family had moved after their marriage. My father, I believe, acquired some of the habits and goals that his step-father had. Both my grandmother and my stepgrandfather where nice people who very rarely showed much affection toward my father, or each other for that matter. Somehow my father got through it all. He thought about medical school, to carry on his father's legacy, but decided it was more 3

than he could handle. After a tour in the Army he settled into a routine at Lockheed Aircraft Company that took him through his lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey and to retirement. My mother on the other hand fought, more or less, with her parents to be who she wanted to be. She was the second daughter of a potential upper class family headed by my grandmother for the most part. My grandfather, who I never met, was also a doctor; well sort of. He was a brilliant chemist who went to medical school but like me, could not stand the sight of blood. He instead became a chemist and a pharmacist. They moved from the mid-west to Pasadena, California when my mother was still pretty young. My grandfather Smith opened a drugstore where he not only made all the drugs the old fashioned way, but also invented many useful medications that we still have in his originally handwritten notebooks. My grandmother helped in the drug store, running the soda fountain while learning from my grandfather and becoming an assistant pharmacist. Unlike her older sister, my mother was a tomboy and liked to do things that would aggravate my grandmother to no end. My grandmother's favorite expression was, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now see here!â&#x20AC;? which I can still hear her say forty-five+ years later. My mother was, in her own right, a very creative free spirit. Even with that spirit, she had a hard time battling my grandmother's powerful dominating force. My mother wanted to move back to Chicago and live with her aunties and go to design school. Of course this was during or just after the depression and my grandmother put her heavy foot down saying that all the Artists out there are starving and no daughter

of hers was going to do something so frivolous. Mom ended up, I think, going to secretarial school instead. My mother never lost that creative free spirit and she had countless stories of her working at the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fair in Chicago in 1933 as a waitress and how much fun she had. Mother continued to draw and write all of her life. I am quite sure my own creative free spirit came from her, luckily I got a little of my grandmotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stubbornness. Though my first painting was at age five and I continued to draw all through school, one of my first really serious drawing periods was inspired by my own hands. At age nineteen I drew and framed this drawing and gave it to my mother for Christmas that year. Up until her death at 99 years old in 2014, this drawing hung in her house in northern California. A Hand for My Mother

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My first nine years were in a small town near Burbank, California. This was a time of coming into my own as a creative person. With the help of an imaginary friend, named “Lodi” I found it very easy to dream of things that weren’t there and the inventive part of me thought of ways to make those dreams come true. I learned a lot about people during this stage of my life by watching the way my brothers and sister interacted with family members as they got older. My first nine years were filled with adventure and discovery, including my introduction to Art and the appreciation of it. My grandmother’s house, which I went to as often as I could, provided my first experience into Art appreciation by way of a print that hung in what they called the third bedroom. My First Real Inspiration to Become an Artist 1955

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This print still hangs in my bedroom at a height that gives me the same view I had of it when I was five. It still inspires me with wonder and a desire to have adventures. My real growth spurt came at age nine when we moved to Hollywood, California. It was only twenty minutes from our previous home but it felt like a million miles away to me. We moved into an old run down Hollywood mansion. An old actress had lived there and almost every room was filled with mirrors from floor to ceiling. We had a large pool that overlooked the city lights of Hollywood. The next seven years were filled with creative growth as well as coming of age in the fast-paced sixties. Every day seemed to be the start of something new and adventurous. During that time I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think I was necessarily aware of being an Artist, I just drew a lot and helped my schoolwork grades by adding a drawing to the project. My creative energy has always come out in many forms, not just drawing and painting. When I was maybe thirteen I entered a contest to build a racecar with the theme of a famous Hollywood musical that I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to remember now. I came in second with my design and I think it might have been a little over the top for what they wanted from a thirteen-year old. In 1964, at fourteen, I filled a larger drawing pad with Conte crayon drawings of nudes and landscapes, which I still have. I have always liked drawing and especially the nude. My first real exposure to Art and the process of making great Art was when my mother, an Artist in her own right, took me to the L.A. Museum of Modern Art to see an exhibition of Van Gogh. I 7

can still remember telling my mother that I didn’t think he was very good. I don’t recall her reaction to my statement but I’m sure she explained the value of uniqueness and being a little different. I will say this, his work grew on me and I started to see a process of making Art that didn’t necessarily fit the norm, which, as turned out, is well—me. My mother bought me the museum book on his work and his life and I still have it in my Art book collection to this day. Now, living in Hollywood did open some very cool doors for me. We lived very close to the Hanna-Barbera studio at that time. I remember going through their trashcan in back, pulling out the discarded drawings and the Mylar painted proofs that were rejected, thinking all this was very cool. I wish I had saved some of those pieces. It was around this time that my core group of lifelong friends started to form. I first met Bill at fourteen in junior high school, and then again at sixteen when my family moved back to Hollywood after a misbegotten stay in Marietta, Georgia, which is where I attended my first Art class at the insistence of my mother. Even at sixteen I didn’t like the structure of those lessons, I remember, I just wanted to paint something. Bill and I had just started high school at Hollywood High and got our driver’s licenses. Soon came Tom, who I had first met when we were eight but had lost contact with him until high school. Next came Steve, at first because he had two cute sisters whom we all had the hots for at one time or another. He too soon found his spot as one of the guys. Last came Jerry, whom Bill knew when they were eight. In some ways at first Jerry was the comic relief 8

to the rest of us. It didn’t take very long for the five of us to settle into what would be our special part of “the five.” We each played a very important role in this very special friendship and still do to this day. After I graduated from high school my parents moved to Laguna Beach so my little brothers would have an ocean to play in. I however, stayed in Hollywood and Steve, Jerry and I got an apartment to start our first year of college. Tom was still living at home and going to college while Bill went off to Texas to be a Longhorn. Around this time, in 1968, Tom’s father who had some connection to the movie business, got me an appointment to talk to someone regarding being a “Pot Boy,” a starting position in the industry set design field. The man I interviewed with said I should go to Art school and learn my craft. I was almost nineteen by then and still wasn’t taking Art very seriously other than as an emotional release. Jerry and I did do one semester at Los Angeles Junior College in the valley. I took three Art classes and almost never showed up. Needless to say, I failed all three classes. Jerry and I moved to Laguna Beach, California and lived at my parents’ home while we gave college another shot. We both worked as busboys at a fancy restaurant right on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. I was very interested in playing football and maybe becoming a coach. I tried out for the team after working hard for months to get ready physically. I trained all the time only to find out I really wasn’t good enough to make it a career. My attention switched back to Art, which up to then was just something I did. It now had a new meaning to me. 9

Jerry and I joined the Air Force because we were about to be drafted and didn’t want to have to go into the Army. Well, the Air Force and I didn’t get along too well and after five months I told them I wouldn’t go anywhere and kill people. So after much to-do, they sent me home. My first real studio was in my parent’s garage in Laguna Beach, which I made into an apartment/studio after my very short stay in the US Air Force. My First Studio

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In 1970, I started back at Saddleback Junior College, this time without Jerry, and became very serious about being an Artist. Tom and I talked about moving in together, since due to his asthma, he never had to go into the Army. Our goal was to someday 10

build an A-frame house together but neither ever happened, to both our disappointment. Tom stayed in LA and studied Theater Arts and I stayed in Laguna and studied Fine Art, but we got together all the time waiting for the other three to complete their military service, of course without getting killed in the stupid war. As I started to take my Art classes seriously, I began to have a sense of what I needed to learn to help me become the Artist I was destined to be. My first major piece, called “First Day” was rejected by my Art teacher, but the class loved it. This was done mostly with my hands. It became very obvious to me that the application or the process and materials were as important as the end result. “First Day”

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I found it very exciting to be that physically involved in creating this early pieceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;very hands-on if you will. I think it was then that I realized creating Art was a personal experienceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;it should be unique and come from somewhere deep inside. There were lots of painting classes that taught the basics, which I guess is important to some degree, but the way they presented it was very boring to me. My first year at the Sawdust Festival, a now famous Arts and Craft festival in the eucalyptus groves leading into Laguna Beach, was an exciting time for me. My sister and I shared a booth and I sold some drawings, while watching the more experienced craftsmen make money. It was quite a creative, free spirited time, which to this day, I try to keep alive within me. I spent six years participating in that festival as I grew creatively. Over those six years I taught myself to make jewelry, glass blowing and had a very successful run as a wood clock and planter craftsmen. Making money was the name of the game for me at that time though my true focus was on painting, which was still a struggle for me. My crafts came easy. I just envisioned what I wanted to make, found the right tools and materials and produced hundreds of them. It was easy, but tell me how to paint? During the first year at Saddleback Junior College, I tried to do the projects the instructors gave us. One style they forced on us was pointillism, which is a very interesting period in Art History, but for this non-conformist it was slow and so boring. However, I did find a style that has stayed with me and continues to develop

to this day. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not sure why, but the idea of outlining areas of color seemed to suit me. Paintings and Sculptures from That Period, 1970 PLT #5

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While attending the local junior college, I met the girl of my dreams in a painting class. She was beautiful, smart and very talented. Carol and I were in several Art classes together and when I was voted Art Club President that semester she was the only other member at that time. I eventually asked her to marry me. Go figure, this beautiful girl said yes! Within six months we moved together and went to Santa Barbara where she went to the University and completed a degree in Art. I, on the other hand, went to a private Art school that was much too costly for my meager Artist income. I lasted one semester and left mainly because I wasn’t getting much out of it. It was too structured for my goals in life as an Artist. They were, rightfully so, teaching techniques and processes in Art when I wanted them to teach me to be me, as an Artist, which it turns out, was very difficult. It was 1971, and I did learn a little about realism and knew there was a place in my Art for it. The “Vacuum” painting from 1971 was the only painting that survived that long dry period for me. “Our Vacuum” 1971

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When we arrived in Santa Barbara, I got a job at an Art store, framing pieces customers brought in to hang. It was close to working in the Art world so I kept it until I started selling my handmade jewelry at the famous Santa Barbara Beach Art Show, which was great fun. I felt I was working as an Artist and making good money at the same time. The only problem was I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t painting much. During that time I was somewhat successful in my first craft of making handmade bronze jewelry. I started a design company called Gideon Jewelry and had a great, albeit short, run as a jewelry designer. Gideon Jewelry Company

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Jewelry Designs

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A quick note about my almost road-to-fame. A wealthy CBS Executive became very interested in my line of jewelry and brought me to his office at CBS Studios to discuss a business agreement to promote my line. The short story is, he had a partner who was a buyer for a major department store and was going to include my line in this national chain. The catch was, I needed to make thousands of pieces from my line very quickly. By the time I might have had a way of doing this, the partners had already jumped into another project and I lost out. It was my first experience with the concept of luck and timing. I had the luck but I screwed up the timing and that was that. I continued to make a reasonable living for quite a while doing west coast Art shows until the fad ran its course. So of course, I kept searching for the ”how” to painting my work—I already had the ”want.” Sure, so far I had learned enough to paint some worthless, at least in my mind, still life or landscape. I needed to learn my process and how I was destined to paint. I had no idea how to do that, and it would seem, neither did my teachers. I took the advice of a young Art instructor who said maybe the most profound thing for me to do was to leave school. She said, if you’re not going to teach Art someday, you don’t need all this. Just go, study other Artists, go to galleries, go to museums, observe what they do and how they do it and find your way—just go. So that’s what I did…I left. With that, I continued to get into Art festivals up and down the West Coast and made pretty good money, with a few additional opportunities along the way. 17

As I’ve said, my main focus was creating what I have always called “Progressive Creative Originality” paintings. Also in 1973, I was able, with my wife’s help, to create the most beautiful special little baby girl, Elissa. Still struggling to learn my language as an Artist, I began my next crafty money making business as a wooden clock maker. This next adventure I called the Brookswood Clock Company. Brookswood Clock Company

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Clocks and Planters

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I sold tons for several years and then one day no one wanted to buy them. I quickly learned to produce blown glass figures and did quite well for a season or two. I continued to try to figure out how to paint what I wanted. I went through many moments of deep frustration almost to the point of tears, but I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t give up. Blown Glass Figurines PLT #18

By now, maybe age 27 (1977) I knew I had to do something to progress as an Artist and try to make a living doing so. I began to concentrate on pencil portraits and did whatever I needed to do to make money, odd jobs, going to the flea market to sell whatever I could make or find. The short story is I wasn’t feeling confident in California and where I was headed with my work in general. So, somehow I convinced my loving wife to give up everything in Santa Barbara, buy a truck with a big camper and head out with our 2 ½ year-old daughter and see the country. We traveled all over the country and I produced portraits in Art festivals in different towns. We had a nice portable display booth that made it easy to attract customers to sit for me. I did portraits for $5.00. When I wasn’t doing someone’s portrait, I was trying to paint, but at this point I had no idea what I was doing or what I needed to do to understand who I was. After more than a year on the road and nearly broke, we ended up in a small town in Colorado called Colorado Springs. Up until then, I was still painting but the struggle to find who I was as a painter was driving me nuts, and probably my wife as well. In 1978 we ran out of gas in more ways than one and settled, again, in more ways than one, in Colorado Springs. It didn’t take long for us to get jobs as apartment managers with a nice little apartment plus $400 per month and we felt rich. I began to make signs for the property manager on the side. Some

were very large some small, but I enjoyed the freedom to create something without the possibility of starving. Sign Work From That Time

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The property manager also let me use the large basement at the complex as my second real studio. My Second Studio, 1978

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In late 1978, my parents came to visit us in our new town. One day my father sat for me and I believe I captured my dad in deep thought and literally between breaths. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dad that Dayâ&#x20AC;?

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Somehow I started to listen to an inner force and just went with the flow that came out of me. The brush just started to create. I still got frustrated but went with it. And just like that, after ten years of crap paintings, nice work was flowing out from somewhere inside of me. Paintings from That Period, 1978

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It sounds strange but I started to understand that most of my creative abilities came from somewhere deep inside of me, I called it my creative force, you know, let the force be with you. Silly, but I quickly learned to trust this force; just went with it and let it flow, as I do to this day. I began to understand my place as an Artist. By then I was not only making signs for the owner of the property company, I was making signs as a small business. I decided to give both the sign business and the gallery business a shot and rented a small gallery/studio and workshop on the main drag in Old Colorado City.

My Third Studio and First Gallery, 1979

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Paintings from That Period, 1979

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I made the signs in the back room and painted in the gallery area. I felt so creatively free that it really became the starting place for my Art to truly become â&#x20AC;&#x153;Progressive, Creative and

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It was 1979 and more sign work came in and more creative work started to pour out of me. It was a very creative time for me. I completed many self-portraits but saw minimal income from my paintings. By the end of the year the building industry started to go into a recession and the sign business dried up. Somehow before the bottom totally dropped out of the sign making business we were able to buy our first home. It had had an extra bedroom downstairs which I quickly turned into my next and fourth studio. My Fourth Studio

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Paintings from That Period, 1980

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I continued to do commercial work and architectural rendering when the work came my way. My artwork was going through another transition, so to speak. I was beginning to understand the concept of Artistic growth in that I was getting frustrated if a painting didn’t turn out the way I conceived it. It drove me nuts. Some nights I’d paint something I thought was pretty good but the next morning I would go down to my studio and think it was just crap. Either way, my studio began to fill up with more and more paintings. At this point my focus needed to be split in two different direction—family first, Art second. I first tried what an old Artist friend did years before. I went door-to-door in the exclusive Broadmoor area and tried to sell my paintings. It didn’t work as well for me. 35

With my young daughter being of school age, I needed to get a more stable job that brought in good income. It seemed, at least from a distance, that becoming a mailman would be a great job for an Artist. So, not one to give up, I started to look for more steady work as a letter carrier. After quite a lot of effort, in 1980, I landed a job as a mailman starting in Las Vegas, Nevada where I stayed with Jerry, one of my oldest friends, and his wife. I was away from my girls for almost eleven months until I could finally transfer back home and get back on track as a husband, father and of course an Artist in waiting. The â&#x20AC;&#x153;Vegas Periodâ&#x20AC;&#x153; wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t without creative moments. I had been working in many styles, creating self-portraits, still lifes and the abstract pieces up to then. My studio in Vegas was just my small bedroom but it worked. I completed my last commercial sign there and shipped it back to Colorado Springs for installation. My Last Commercial Sign

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I missed my wife and daughter who had to stay home while I got the job started. I suddenly had more time to paint in the evenings and days off in my little room at Jerry’s house. It was a fun time being with Jerry again, time to paint, but I missed my girls so much. I began to work in an abstract format, getting lost within what I was creating. As I watched myself create these abstract paintings I felt as if I was in a meditative state and I watched as they just happened. It was a very productive time with great excitement. I’m not sure why, but none of those paintings made it home except one, probably the most important of my career. Everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction for me, until that night which would change me forever. The death of John Lennon had a profound impact on me, both as a kid of the 60’s and as an Artist. I was living in Vegas when it happened. I can so clearly remember that night. It came on the news that warm evening, and after the shock of the news, I just went on a long walk in the desert. I don’t know how long I walked. All I really remember of that night was finding myself back in my bedroom studio and after a week of crying and painting, this portrait of John was closure for me.

Lennon in Spirit Only

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As I continued to paint and search for my identity, I found myself exploring several styles from abstract to semi-realism to impressionism and whatever flowed out of me. Once I got past the Lennon ordeal, I seemed to move in a “Progressive Creative Original” direction. Finally, in 1981, I was able to go back to my girls with the transfer of my postal job from Vegas back home to the Springs and our new house. Once again, the 4th bedroom became my studio where the next creative period came to light. I had more times of creative focus and flow and fewer times of “Artist despair.” 38

Sixth Studio 1982-1984

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Now that our life seemed to be more settled and I had a steady income, I felt I could paint and grow as an Artist and not worry so much about money. I entered some local Art shows and a few outside of our area. Local Art Shows

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It seemed that the time was right to get some exposure and feedback. For the next few years I continued to grow as a Progressive Artist, working in many directions and styles. I quickly understood why and what I was about. Paintings from That Period, 1982-1984 PLT #70 PLT #71

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I sold a few paintings here and there, but not enough to keep me in the showing mood. For a very brief period I was diverted by a very lovely young girl who I painted several times. I continued to paint as much as possible in my bedroom studio and learn my language as an Artist. Because I had a little extra money I rented a studio in town to really concentrate without any distractions. That was when I started to work on a small series of concept paintings to explore the idea of night landscape paintings to their fullest. First Downtown Studio 1984

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The more I worked, the more I began to understand my place in the world of Art. Unlike so many Artists from the past and even more working today, I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t interested in developing a sellable style and just paint the hell out it. I wanted to always be on the search for the unknown, to paint one of a kind, unique statements. I believe if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not on the verge of failure, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not stretching and not on the verge of something great and successful. For the next few years I continued to paint, grow and take care of my family. In 1984 we decided to adopt a beautiful little boy we named Sean. To make life a little easier with the new responsibility of a little boy, I decided to move back into the 4th bedroom and continue my growth spurt. 49

4th Bedroom Studio Paintings 1 985- 1 987

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As time went on things started to fall together, family, job and my Art, all seemed to be moving in the right direction. I knew that the post office wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the right job for this Artist but I kept going. I decided to go back to a Downtown Studio to try and get more time to paint and maybe show some of my latest work. Second Downtown Studio 1987-1990

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Paintings from This Period, 1987-1990

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The period between 1987 through 1990 was probably my most productive and powerful period to date. The work just came flowing out of me.

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This particular painting (Plate #131) really started my interest in what I call South Western Abstract Landscapes. It would continue throughout my work. During this period I explored many styles and started producing small series of concepts paintings, sometimes just a few; other times quite a few, to take it as far as I could go without feeling like Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m copying myself. 58

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I continued to explore my creative range. I just let it flow; whatever came out, I just let it happen. I saw so much just start to happenâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;landscapes, abstracts, nudes, portraits, still lifesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;I really just believed in letting it happen. This self-portrait is maybe my favorite one of me.

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Around 1988 I started to feel that I needed to search for some national exposure, but how? There wasn’t any manual available to tell me what to do or how to do it. It was very frustrating just sitting in this small little town. I tried several approaches over the next many years with very little response. The first thing I tired back then was to send slides of my work to all the major galleries in New York. Those who responded simply stated (un-opened, mind you) “We already have too many Artists,” really. But as you will see, I have never given up. There was an Artists call out of Chicago for Artists to submit a painting of their new interpretation of the “Virgin Mary and Jesus.” So I went to work, creating what I felt was a new look at the concept of Mary and Jesus. This next painting was the result.

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I received a very nice rejection notice, so I moved on and mounted my own â&#x20AC;&#x153;One Man Showâ&#x20AC;? in my downtown studio in 1988.

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It was well attended but no sales.

My large Abstracts continued to develop and get stronger.

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You might say, out of nowhere this series (Plates #158-170) came flowing out of me.

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Once again, I went out into the public and did a local Art show.

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Then back to the studio to work.

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It seemed like every time I picked up a brush, something new would emerge. 75

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As you can hopefully see, I very easily went in and out of different styles as they came to me. At this point I began a very prolific Abstract style.

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One day, I finally got the owner of a high-end Denver gallery to come see my work. He walked in and saw these paintings, my Pond series, and flat out told me, and I quote ”Paint a hundred of this style and I’ll sell them all.” Now why on earth would I want to paint ninety-six more? Crazy, I know, not to paint them, but that’s not how I work. 82

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This is “Rose” one of my favorite paintings, as well as my daughter’s. I’m not sure if she would ever let me part with it. As usual this just came flowing out of me but I believe it represents many styles I was developing—all in one great painting. Next, came a series of southwestern landscapes. 85

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In hopes of a simpler life, we sold our first house, bought some property in the same area and I asked my brother, Tim, to build a new house for us. We lived in a townhouse for almost a year while Tim built. All the while, I worked on new work. We moved into our second house and I prepared the basement for my next run at more creativity. Up until then I had been somewhat content with working in my studio whenever I had a free moment, in the middle of the night, early morning, whenever it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take time away from my duties of husband and father. About this time I started to feel the need to free myself from an ordinary 9-5 job. So I took a leap of faith, quit the post office and opened a sandwich shop. For nearly a year, my paints only gathered dust in our new living room, while I made my next attempt at financial freedom.

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Well, the short story is that it didn’t work and we lost everything, including our new house. Of course my wife, Carol, was not happy the mess I had made. To try to make some extra money, my daughter and I went to the local Flea market and sold all but two of a graphic style painting series. I sold fifteen or more for about $20 each. It hurt so bad to “just give them away” but my daughter, Elissa, thought it was great that people were buying my paintings and when we got home she proudly told her mom of our great success. I did, however, keep two of the largest and the best examples of the period. They were probably the most commercial-looking works that I had done up to then. The intent was not to be commercial, they just happened to work out that way. The “Mother and Child” piece (Plate #226) is my favorite of the series.

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The period between 1991 and 1994 was also a very productive time. As I continued to put paint to canvas it just seemed to happenâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;I was almost just an observer of what was flowing out of me. I reached a new level of creative explosion. If you were to ask me then, and very possibly today, I would most likely say I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how to paint, it just comes through me onto the canvas and that is how I believe I will always create my work. Always moving forward, again, I made another attempt to show my work and sell something. I entered some local Art shows but found it frustrating.

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With some help we were able to buy a small house in a very nice area of the west side of the Springs. Thinking the food industry was a good choice for an Artist I started work as a waiter at the Broadmoor Hotel in 1991. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like the work or the crazy hours but it did bring in steady money and some peace at home. I tried a few more Art shows but found that the people who bought Art didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to want unique different styles of Art but wanted to see an Artist who did only one style over and over again. Between 1991 and 1994 I once again had a downtown studio where I was able to lock myself away at all hours yet sometimes for only an hour, to continue to work on anything that flowed out of me.

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During this time I decided to mount an exhibition of my past works. I set up my studio as a small gallery, hung work in the hallway and invited anyone who would come to see my work. It was well attended but as usual, didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sell much. It was a good experience, stepping out into the public and showing who I was once again. Paintings from This Time Period, 1991-1994

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I continued to explore different ideas and styles and painted a small series of several, what I called concept series, as well as one-of-a kind pieces which I believe to be the true measuring stick of great Art. I was always an avid reader of Art history and current Art magazines to keep updated on the current trends and a peek at the past. I decided once again to send a bio letter and slides of my work to well-known galleries in New York. It seemed that New York was where it was all happening then. I sent out five or six packets to famous gallery owners only to receive them all back, unopened mind you, with a scribbled note on the envelope stating that they already had too many artists and were not interested. Of course that made my day I just went back to working on my work. Working my way up to a manager position at the hotel gave me more financial stability but became very time consuming. In 1993, working for a hotel up in the mountains in Cripple Creek, I did find some enjoyment working for my previous boss from The 103

Broadmoor. Even though I worked hard to support my family I seemed always able to steal away and paint. By then I had acquired so many paintings I had to rent a 5x5 storage space to house them safely. After about a year in Cripple Creek, and with most of the same manager headaches as before, I decided to go back to just being a waiter at a local Mexican restaurant. I was there for over six years, until 1999. During that time I went back to having a studio in our garage. It was about then that I started writing a children’s book, some short stories, as well as a possible a screenplay. (See “Short Story Treatments” pages 199-210.) “The Mouse and the Walnut” <PLT #262 PLT #263

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I felt very confident in my abilities and the volume of work kept pouring out. Sometimes I wonder why and how this happened. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the responsibility of doing work to satisfy a patron or a gallery or whatever, so I guess it made it easier to just work. I 105

just did what came out of me and really had no care if they sold or even if anyone liked them. Now I became very aware that some of my work was more or less crap, but those painting were, I believe part of the path that lead me to some of my best work that someday may be looked at as great pieces of Art. But the volume kept growing. By now I had so many paintings and drawings that I had to get an even larger storage locker to house them. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not sure why, but I rarely just gave them away or threw them away, though I did paint over ten canvases, and only I know which ones. Somehow I felt that all my paintings must have a purpose and a place, at least someday. Paintings from That Time Period, 1995-1998

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This painting (Plate #283), which I call “Nightscape #3’’ inspired me to paint a rather long series of Nightscape paintings which I believe are quite unique, and are still very much one-of-akind. When I think of a style or a series of works, for me they should be explored to their fullest but not to the point where they become the only work that flows from you. Once again, if someone said “Paint a hundred of those and I will sell them” I would stop and move on, which I did.

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This style (Plates #297-301) came very easy for me and I had a lot of fun playing with this approach. The painting above was the most successful for what I was trying to expressâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;just free form in abstract landscape concept. I felt it a little too commercial for how I felt about creative expression so after a few more, I was done.

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I did go through some moments of trying to make money with Art. Having moved my studio into my garage I set up a commercial shop. I was very disappointed with most of the work that I did just to sell. For a short time, I designed and produced silkscreen Tshirts. They were actually pretty nice but the process took too long and they werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t affordable to make, so back to the fine Art I went.

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Things were going okay for the family and somehow I always found time to paint. The volume of paintings and drawings kept growing. I turned the garage into more of a studio to work on larger pieces. Around 1999 I was getting tired of the late long hours of the restaurant business, so I decided to try my hand at car sales, it seemed like a good way to increase my income. I started what turned out to be an eighteen-year career in the auto industry. I certainly had some major ups and downs but again, somehow I kept painting and growing as the Artist I felt I needed to be. During 122

the first three years in the auto business I concentrated on making a go of it in that crazy business. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t paint much but did do quite a few creative things to grow my business. Looking back, those three years of effort werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worth the time away from my studio. By 2003, I decided to move my studio back into the basement and produced some of my best work.

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Over the next four years I worked hard in the studio and also worked hard in the business of selling cars and got quite good at it. I ended up as Sales Trainer at the dealership for around twelve years. During this period I did embark on some new adventures. In 2007 I went to New York to try to open some doors which didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t open. I spent ten days walking all around Manhattan, going to galleries and museums and just wandering around all day as a freespirited Artist. PLT #334

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Several years earlier I designed and produced a bio booklet on my life as an Artist in progress. It was a ten page full-color explanation of my journey. As I went to galleries and museums I left a hand-full in each spot. At the famous Museum of Modern Art, on my first day, I walked into their large book and gift shop and put ten of my booklets on the bookshelf between books on Picasso and Matisse. I remember being very nervous thinking someone would see me doing this and kick me out. As it turned out, no one was paying any attention to what I was doing, so I smiled and took a photo of the booklets between these two masters in contemporary Art. The funny thing was, on the last day of what I called â&#x20AC;&#x153;My ten day adventure in NYâ&#x20AC;? I returned to the museum gift shop to find that eight of the ten booklets were gone, leaving two more still nicely placed between the masters. So what happened to the eight? Did eight people buy them, take them, or what? To this day I wonder about it. I replaced the missing eight booklets and went about my day.

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On my last day of this adventure I still needed someone to tell me what I needed to do. Finally, in a small gallery in Soho, one Artist and gallery owner reluctantly gave me my new direction. The gallery owner said, ”There are no doors to open here.” But he did say something else that made sense, which was, “Go home, paint, show and they will find you.” So, home I went. Manitou Studio Gallery

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Shortly after I arrived home, I rented a big studio in Manitou Springs. Elissa and I turned the large, empty, cold basement into a fantastic little gallery sitting room and next to it, a huge sprawling studio where I began to simultaneously paint seventeen 36X48 paintings of my experience in NY. It took ten months to complete 132

them all. I had a big opening and had a good number of people attend. I stayed open for about two weeks and sold half the paintings. All in all, it was a great experience for this aging Artist.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Re-emerging onto the local art scene after his New York adventure and a fifteen year absence from exhibiting, T Benton Brooks is opening his Manitou Springs studio in November to show his most recent paintings from his trip. Brooks wandered throughout Manhattan for ten straight days; taking in everything and arriving back home with most of his questions answered; and with a new direction and purpose. At 60 years old, T Benton Brooks is once again ready to exhibit what he has created.â&#x20AC;?

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After a very successful Art show, I decided to hang thirteen, 36x48 blank canvases and reflect on who Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d become as an Artist. I mounted another very successful Art show which I called Art in Mind.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;As the successful November 2007 opening and exhibition of recent paintings, inspired by his new york adventure, came to a close, T Benton Brooks felt a need to revisit creative ideas from his past. T Benton Brooks believes that before he can step into the second half of his artistic career, he must first address the ideas lingering in the notebooks from his past. Only then will he be able to move forward on a clear, creative course.â&#x20AC;?

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With the profit from both sales I opened a gallery on Main Street. I also took my retirement money from the auto sales industry, quit that business and spent five weeks preparing the new gallery/studio to take my next and most aggressive leap of faith. I felt free, even if it was short lived. Again, I hung twenty 36x48 blank canvases on the Gallery walls and started painting all twenty canvases at once. My unique approach is a very free flowing style of expressing myself through a form known in the 30’s as “Psychic Automatism.” However this time I did it so passersby could stop and look in the window of my gallery and see daily progress of this crazy old Artist.

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As it has always been, I have preferred in my career to not just replicate things in the world, as so many others do, but to create new objects in the world. After several weeks, I again had an opening night, did it up right with wine and hors d’oeuvres, and again had a very nice response to my effort.

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After the opening I settled into a normal routine of full-time Artist and gallery owner and continued to produce what I felt were nice, creative expressions of the local environment. I also went back to crafting jewelry. This time however, I worked only in silver and bought nice stones to set in each piece.

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The Gallery was in the heart of main street Manitou Springs, which had a great history of artists and craftsmen. It was a great experience having and running a gallery of my work.

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Shortly after Michael Jacksonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s untimely death, I decided to pay tribute to his creative force and the influence he had over all of us. Over the years I had only done this once before, and of course this was for John Lennon. Even when I painted Michael, which was in my Manitou Gallery right in the front window, it felt a little too commercial for my taste. Go figureâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a few weeks later I decided to do one more such painting, that of Elvis.

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It didn’t take long to realize that I not only had a very nice Gallery to show my work, I also had a business to run. So as you can see I stared to create and show a variety of what I hoped would be sellable items. I started what were to be three-dimensional paintings, painted ceramic pieces, small wire sculptures, prints of my drawings and paintings and, of course, the next generation of silver jewelry. I did quite well through the summer, selling jewelry, paintings and prints of my paintings to the tourists that wandered by my gallery. I sold several paintings to people out of the country and felt like maybe this time I was on my way. Unfortunately, by the end of summer sales started to slow down to the point I couldn’t even pay the rent. So I had no choice but to go back to the dealership to sell cars and run the gallery on a very part time basis. This experience was worth the effort in several ways. There were two events that stood out in my memory. First, on one summer day, a nice middle-aged women stopped in the gallery and slowly walked around spending more time than normal just looking at certain paintings. At the right time I went over to introduce myself and started up a nice conversation about Art in general. We started to talk about Art History, one of my passions. We talked styles, periods and artists. It became very clear that she knew her stuff. I asked her how she knew so much about Art History. She smiled and told me she was an Art History professor in New York, in Manhattan. She said that I was an amazing Art talent and pointed to two large paintings on two separate walls that I painted years ago. She simply said, “Those two paintings belong in the Museum of Modern Art in NY.“ 168

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My jaw dropped and tears came to my eyes. I just said, ”really.” She said without a doubt they are that good. Needless to say, that made my day and if truth be told, that statement made my life as an Artist. For some crazy reason, maybe shock, I never got her name and never had contact with her again. If you, whoever you are, ever read this and remember that day, thank you so much. Around Christmastime that year I had five minutes of Andy Warhol’s “15 minutes of fame.” The short story is—well, it has little to do with my Art, only that there was some interesting national exposure that was thrust upon me. With everything I was trying, and not getting anywhere, I found myself in some financial trouble. My bills weren’t getting any smaller and my income was not all that good. I was having trouble keeping up with my first and second mortgages and I felt the pressure of possible bankruptcy. The government had put together a new program to help people in this type of situation. The trouble was no one knew how to get it. Fifteen Minutes of Fame

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So in a nutshell, I contacted the media and before I knew it, I was on national TV about this struggling Colorado Artist about to lose everything. I did an interview for CBS inside my gallery at Christmas time, no less, and though I did get two e-mails regarding my “American Dream” painting, nothing came of my five minutes of fame on national TV. The mortgage thing did get worked out and I regained control of my finances, but got very little Art exposure worth anything— what a wild ride. So of course, I went back to painting. I moved back into my garage studio and forged forward. Garage Studio 2010

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As I moved back to my garage studio and went back to selling cars to pay the bills, I realized how many paintings and drawings I had done with so little financial success. Now the process of making Art, from where I sit, is far more important than success and fortunes. Nevertheless, that year, I woke up November 16th 2009 having turned sixty years old. It was a shock in some ways; God, where did the time go? For the most part no one knows who I am as an Artist. So I continued to paint and store my work.

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Though my output was small for a few years—having to make money and all that that entails—I had already created nearly 500 paintings and countless drawings in the past forty years. I have been true to my calling but I’ve made little money and still have to do whatever I can to earn money to support my family. Now, I’m not really complaining, mind you, I just would have thought by now I would be able to eke out a small living with my work. There was some momentary excitement in 2012 that had great potential to start some financial success once again. I got an e-mail from a lady somewhere in Europe. She told me she found my web site and loved my work. She wanted to buy ten paintings for my price and have them shipped to her in Europe. Well, what would you do? Of course, I was blown away. Finally someone had noticed me and wanted my work. In fact, as we were collecting the money to cover the paintings and the shipping she re-contacted me and told me her husband wanted five of my three dimensional paintings, basically sculptures. We were talking close to $30,000. Well of course the bottom fell out of my excitement when the credit cards started to come back as stolen. I lost $2500 but no artwork in the end. It did feel good, even for a short time. In 2014 I started this “Southwest Style” with the idea of this style being fairly quick and a little more spontaneous in the application of the work. I really wanted a painting style that I could just do quickly have some fun. No real mystery. Just paint them and sell them without wanting or needing a lot of money—sort of just paint and sell. These are examples of the ”Southwest Style.” 174

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I think they work well for what they are and I hoped they would sell. I painted five of this style, which went up in an exclusive restaurant in June 2015.

I still painted my more creative progressive work as I had time, but for now, at almost 66 years-old and soon to retire, I hoped, from my regular job, I needed to be able to paint quickly, have some fun, make some money, and move forward. I know I took a rough road approaching my Art the way I have. I have always searched out my personal Artist language and had little care about selling, so why should I expect anyone else to see what I see in my work. 177

What’s even more shocking is, it‘s now 2016, I wrote most of this over a 25 years span—how crazy. I’m now 66 years-old and nothing has really changed. I’m not sure now when I started this bio but if nothing else has worked, my work has progressed and has become more powerful than ever. I am still going through some ups and downs trying to make a living while I wait to see that day when I can just paint. I have continued, of course, to paint and fill up an even larger storage unit. After 48 years of work I now need a 10x15 unit to house my life’s work. One other thing I started last summer was doing a Wednesday Farmers and Art Market with my cloud series paintings. Like the Southwest Style, these are also somewhat fast to paint and I can sell them cheaply to make some money and to try to get some exposure—to maybe get into galleries in preparation to go at this full time in 2017. It was a lot more work that I anticipated doing these shows with all the setup at 66 years-old than it was at 22 years-old. Farmers Market Booth PLT #453

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I’m now somehow 66 years-old and collecting my Social Security checks. It isn’t a lot but it is helping. So where does this totally unknown Artist with over 500 original, one-of-a-kind, paintings and drawings, go from here? It is very obvious I still need to make money somehow. So I decided to bring my jewelry making up a notch and try to market my work on a popular commercial web site. We’ll see how this pans out.

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In the final analysis, I’ve taught myself to work on my work. I’ve learned how to make my Art by making my Art. It seems that over all these years I’ve served as a guide or mediator allowing all things to flow out of me onto these canvases. All my life’s work has its own life and purpose and I have an obligation to find them good homes. So very shortly I will be back out in the public arena, once again, looking for you.

I STILL NEED TO HELP YOU FIND ME.

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STUDIO TALK FOR THOSE WHO CARE PLT #476

"There's no way of looking at a work of Art by itself. It's not self-evident—it needs a history, it needs a lot of talking about; it's part of an Artist’s whole life." * “I have spent the last 48 of my 66 years in pursuit of my artistic language. It has taken many different paths; some with great mystery and satisfaction, others with frustration and fear.” * “If one cannot see the future, one can only hope that someone will come along and show it to them” 189

* SUCCESS "Turning a DREAM into a goal, with a well thought-out Plan and have the Guts, the Patience, the Drive, the Will, the Focus, the Faith, the Nerve, the Strength, the Determination to see it through to the end." * FOCUS "Seeing the possibilities even if no one else does” * GOD I HOPE NOT “As I get older, I have come to realize or hope that there is not a God as we have always imagined. My hope is that we are just a happenstance of nature, with no Divine purpose or reason. That, for me is a little easier to take or even understand, taking into account life on this blue ball and how it is unfolding for all of us. When one begins to realize how unfair and cruel this planet is to everyone that comes to it, one can more easily accept it all without a Divine designer, this God. For how could any power greater than ours be so stupid and unfeeling, with lessons to be learned, no longer cuts it for me. You’re either good or you’re not. And watching all the suffering that goes on every second of every day and accepting it as the Divine plan is less than sane. As an Artist, in this crazy world, I can only hope to create work that has some meaning to someone.” * "Except for decorative Art, Art should always be progress, creative and original" * "I know my place in Art history, I just don’t know if I'll ever see it” *

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"True creative Art can only be valued by the uniqueness of the work. Given enough time anything made by living creatures will have the same standard of value" * "It would seem to me, the amount of money one spends on a piece of artwork has a direct relationship to how well that work of Art is taken care of.” * “An Artist should be stubborn and arrogant, but loving, caring and patient. And their Art should reflect the same. I’ll let you catch up with me, my Art is my world. Liking it or not, is your world.” * “Not said with ego, I feel the strength of a Sir Lawrence L, John Lennon or Picasso for that matter, but because I haven't been willing to give up my family for my Art, I stand here in silent absurdity”

His Focus

The focus of Brooks and his Art has never been money. In fact in a perfect world where there wasn't a need to make a living, none of his work would even be available to buy until after his death. The fact is that Brooks believes that the chase to make money from one's Art can, especially for the younger Artist, totally affect the progress of their growth. Put simply, money is the wrong motivation to create anything. But this is not a perfect world and he needs to make a living to survive. Brooks feels at this point in his life, whether he becomes rich or a street bum, the only thing that will be affected is his output. At 54 he doesn't want to waste any more time away from his studio and his work. Also just the sheer volume of his work to date, it has become an issue of space to properly store and care for his work. *

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As I See It

“I don't know what's next creatively for me, and that's as it should be. Knowing what that is, is not really progressing as I see it, it's just rehashing what you've already done in the past. I must search and grow every day as an Artist or else what's the point to it all. It also seems to me a growing society would want their artistic population to experiment and try new ideas, in the long run it make our society stronger. Work that's new and different can have a profound impact on its viewers. An Artist should not be pressured or willing to create anything that is not for the purpose of creative growth and personal expression. If this is happening to you, stop. You are the center of your artistic world.” *

From a Daughter to Her Father

To know my father is to know his passion, to see my father's Art is to see his passion, and to talk with my father is to understand his passion. I share in this man's passion for his work and his life. I’m determined to do what I can do to give him the opportunity to fulfill his life quest, to fulfill his artistic destiny, which is as it should be. After 35 years of being the diligent hardworking husband and father, this Artist, who has for 35 years snuck away to his studio whenever he could to achieve his life’s true journey, is now very determined to leave the financial struggles of everyday life and to just paint. At this point in his artistic life, the extremes that he will go to, to make this happen might be somewhat devastating to his home life. As a young girl growing up in the home of a passionate Artist I saw his pain and struggle, yet there was joy and love. He always put my mother, brother and me first. Though I don’t know if my mother really saw that. They meet in Art school and moved to Santa Barbara just before I was born. My mother got her degree but by father found it hard to grow as an Artist in such a structured environment. Throughout the 70’s he made a living in the arts and craft world, we traveled all over the country selling his crafts while he slowly taught himself his own language of Art. We ended our travels in 1978 arriving in Colorado Springs, CO. Here we started a more stable life where my father could focus on his painting. As the eighties began his language of Art grew stronger as did the demands of family life. Somehow working different un-enjoyable jobs over the next 28 years he was still able to stay focused on his artistic development and produce over 300 paintings and countless drawings. At age 53 we all helped in the development of a web site to show his life’s work. We also wrote and printed a small booklet on his life and work. The goal was to send out the booklet to people around the country so they might 192

go to the site to see my father’s work. Today at 56 all my father wants to do is go to his studio and work, and in order to do that, he must sell his work. He feels he can no longer continue to work at his current job and must spent his time in his studio and let flow what is in him without any interruption. He feels the time has come for him to in his words, “go for it and know rather wait and never know.” Make no mistake, he said to me, “creativity in whatever form it takes for me must be progressive, creative and original, and that’s not an easy job.” My father will do whatever it takes to give himself that opportunity even to the extreme of leaving what he has known as home for 28 years and go to New York and make his artistic presence known. All I can say at this point if you can’t help me keep a look out for a determined old Artist on the streets of new york very soon *

A side note on my Father My father is a great student of Art History and has come to the conclusion that either by commercial pressure or by lack of desire, many artists, past and present, find a style or niche but do not further their artistic development. They may become skilled in their style, but rarely stretch themselves. Jokingly, my father has often said to me that as an Artist he’s had the privilege of starving, so risking growth can’t hurt. He believes in “Progressive Creative Originality.” To him this means always be searching, taking risks and exploring the untried; and not to rely solely on craftsmanship. He believes that when you paint, if you’re not on the verge of failure, neither are you’re on the verge of success. His work is, and always will be, changing and moving in new directions, not knowing where or how. He has spent a lifetime refusing to know how to paint; instead only knowing how to be open to what flows from within. His body of work shows a belief – a belief in one-of-a-kind creative expression. Herein lies the value of T Benton Brooks. When you possess a T Benton you have something truly unique and special. To my father, success means people wanting to see what’s next, not merely more of what he has already created. I urge you to see what I see: the unique Artist, the meaningful life and the important work that is T Benton Brooks. *

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A New Story What if: There came an opportunity, perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity, to witness a life-changing cultural event -- for you, and for a currently unknown Artist genius? What if: A 64 year old, undiscovered “Picasso” is toiling away in his studio, and you happen upon him painting, surrounded by hundreds of his as of yet unseen paintings -his complete life's work to date. What would have been the effect on your life of having introduced Pablo Picasso to the Art world, along with the probable wealth you would have amassed? How many great geniuses have come and gone without anyone ever taking notice? What if: One such person is awaiting discovery. Are you open to the possibilities of what your discovery might bring to the Art culture? My father, T Benton Brooks, is that person. A 64 year-old artistic genius is awaiting discovery. I grew up wandering about his studio, watching him paint and observing his joy and his anguish. Like a Picasso, my father, too, has hundreds of undiscovered paintings cloistered away in protective storage. Father paints day and night, not satisfied until he achieves his vision. Typically painting several canvasses at a time, he shows them privately, then they’re relegated to deep, safe keeping. With over 500 paintings and drawings amassed, together father and I have made a decision. It’s time that his vast volume of work have a good home, each piece finding it’s own place in the world. My vision for my father is that his 45 year volume of work be presented as a retrospective, in its entirety. Ultimately, with all available for purchase, each painting and drawing will then find an appreciative owner. The only question is: are you The One -- the person or group with the vision to see opportunity – opportunity for yourself and for the entire world of Art? What if: . . .?

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From the Heart "Watching You Be So Much Like Meâ&#x20AC;? From the very first moments the resemblance was clear Thumps up to you Seemed the right thing to do Sure enough the sign was there What path would be forged? Would it be like mine? or just yours? As you started to grow Your movement was special and watched by me, mom and all Then from a short distance I'd watch ready to act ready to catch you if your ability lacked Now so sure footed I watch in amazement at All you have become and can do Like me but all you

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“MOVING ON” I know that sounds rather negative But of course it doesn't have to be It's all about change and that can be positive Whether it's in one’s life job way of thinking spiritual beliefs or whatever Sometimes it's just time to let it go and Move on

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“BEAT “ DO YOU HEAR IT DID YOU EVER HEAR IT THAT POUNDING BEAT OF FREEDOM IT RINGS CLEAR ESPECIALLY NOW WHEN WE'RE YOUNG WE TAKE IT FOR GRANTED WE ALL DO DO YOU REMEMBER LESS TO WORRY ABOUT ENDLESS TIME AND FOR THE MOST PART PLENTY OF MONEY AGE HAS A WAY OF CHANGING THAT BEAT FOR SOME IT BECOMES HARDER TO HEAR AND FOR OTHERS IT GOES AWAY COMPLETELY FOR ME 197

IT POUNDS LOUDER AND LOUDER EVERY DAY BY NOW THEREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S MORE WORRIES FAR LESS TIME AND EVEN LESS MONEY WHAT A DRAG.

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SHORT STORY TREATMENTS PLT #477

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“THE MOUSE AND THE WALNUT” By T Benton Brooks Episode 3

ONCE UPON A TIME IN A QUIET COUNTRY FIELD THE EARLY MORNING SUNLIGHT WAS JUST BEGINNING TO SHINE THROUGH THE TALL TREES IN THE DISTANCE.

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“WHAT TIME BETTER” By T Benton Brooks Inside a Boeing 707 headed to Hawaii I need to stop breathing so loud, the kid in the seat ahead of me is going to think something's wrong with me. Stop right now, calm down. Listen to me, I am about to do the most ridiculous and possibly the stupidest single act of my life and I should calm down, no I think I should get up right now and get off this plane and just go home…. Stewardess: Sir, are you alright, can I get you anything? Man: Oh, no, I'm fine thanks, I'm just a little nervous. Stewardess: Is this your first time flying? Man: No I've flown before, it's just that well I've just never gone to Hawaii before. I'm fine thank you. Great now the stewardess thinks I'm nuts, I must be nuts. I'm never going to get away with this crazy plan. How could I be so irrational, after all I'm a married man with kids and bills and a mortgage. Right, that's why I've got to try this. But not to tell anyone, what's up with that? I'm sure if I explained why I must do this. Right, no one will understand except another middle-aged lunatic artist like me that feels he's never had a chance to really do the work he was born to do. No one could ever really understand. Oh shit, the plane is starting to move, how can I go ahead with this? Quick, stand up and tell them there's been a mistake and you have to get off. Stewardess: Sir, is everything okay, you have to sit down and buckle up. Please. Man: Ah no I'm fine, Oh the seat, OK I'll sit down. Well I could have said something right then. Who's kidding who? I need to do this, no I have to do this, and guilt, that I'll have to deal with later. For now, take a deep breath, this plane is about to kiss the ground good bye…

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“GONE FOR NOW” By T Benton Brooks

PLT #478

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ACT 1 FADE IN: No sound (Blue clear morning sky). EXT: It's Southern California present day. A cool crisp California morning. The sun is just starting to show through a tree-lined street in Hollywood. We move in toward a row of older Hollywood studio apartments now starting to show their age, yet reminiscent of the Golden Age of early Hollywood. The focus is on one particular second story apartment window. As we move closer we see a man sitting at an old oak desk. INT: There sits a tall slender man in his early fifties with graying hair. He's casually dressed and wearing glasses as he shuffles through papers spread out over the old oak desk. He appears noticeably anxious and irritated. (EACH, BUT YET, UNKNOWN MOMENT IN EVERYONE'S LIFE CAN AFFECT THEM IN WAYS THAT THEY’RE NOT ALWAYS READY FOR AND CAN CHANGE THEIR LIVES FOREVER.) A phone rings in the background, breaking the silence. TED (Acting annoyed) "Yeah, this is Ted.” (there's silence) Ted drops the papers in his hand and as they fall back down among the other scattered papers he stands up. TED (His mouth drops) "When... how did it happen?

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''THE LAST GREAT CARNIVAL'' By T Benton Brooks ACT 1 FADE IN: EXT. DREAM LIKE SEQUENCE OF 20'S CARNIVAL LIFE, NO SOUND A SLOW MOTION scene looking back at carnival life, in the early 20's, when the great carnivals were a major source of entertainment in small towns around the country. As we move through the scenes we slowly start to hear a sound getting louder and louder as the action in the carnival starts to move faster and faster. Then suddenly, as the scene starts going by very fast, we make out the sound as that of an alarm clock going off. CUT TO UPSTAIRS BEDROOM INT. A BLONDE GIRL MID 30'S THE YOUNG GIRL quickly sits up in bed, framed by a large framed poster of carnival life behind her. She seems startled at first, then turns to shut off the alarm clock and put on some music. She slowly moves to the edge of the bed, sits there a moment and realizes that she's late for a very important meeting this morning. She runs into the bathroom and slams the door. Hanging on the back of the door is another large framed carnival poster with large print saying, "LAST OF THE GREAT CARNIVALS''. As we move around the large airy room, the words ''LAST OF THE GREAT CARNIVALS'' (the title of the story) follows us around as we explore this young girl's room. It's a simple room filled with objects from an earlier carnival life. On the walls are black and white photos of people from that time. After a few minutes the young blonde girl rushes out of the bathroom, fully dressed, runs over to the alarm clock turning off the music and runs out the front door. EXT. TREE LINED STREET She runs down the front cement steps leading to an expensive convertible at the curb. She hurries into the car, putting the top down as she drives down the street, leaves swirling as she speeds away. She drives quickly through the neighborhood of expensive townhouses that indicate she is doing well for such a young person and drives out onto the highway toward the city. From above we see her enter a business complex. She arrives at a large glass building and drives up to the front door where she is met by the valet and doorman. Carrying a brown leather briefcase, she runs into the building through a revolving glass door. 206

"SUBJECTS" By T Benton Brooks

PLT #479

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ACT 1 THIS STORY TAKES PLACE IN PRESENT DAY L.A. BUT BEGINS IN CHICAGO, 30 YEARS AGO. FADE IN: INT. YOUNG BOY'S BEDROOM EARLY SPRING EVENING 1972 A YOUNG BOY of 6 is awakened from a deep sleep by his mother's crying in the background. He gets up, half asleep and runs to his mother side hugging her tightly. His mother looks down at her young son, tears streaming down her pale cheeks MOTHER (Shaking) "Sweetheart, I've got some bad news. PAPA has been killed." THE LITTLE BOY starts to cry. The boy’s grandfather, who he was especially close to, was murdered on his way to his first one-man art show at a very famous Chicago art gallery. The old man had struggled his whole life to be a painter while he worked hard at other jobs to support his family. Even in his later years he would not give up his dreams of being a working artist and now, so close to fulfilling his lifelong dream, his life was taken. The family could do little more than accept what happened, bury their grandfather and go on with life. Strangely enough, the old man’s work was a hit at the opening and everything sold. The family was able to go on with life, much better financially, thanks to the demand for the grandfather’s past work. Mainly because of the way the little boy’s grandfather was killed, the killer was never found; a fact that haunted young Brent Townsend all his life. As he and his younger brother and sister grew up they had some advantages that otherwise they might not have had due to the death of their grandfather and the success of his work. Brent’s life had already been influenced by his grandfather’s passion for his art. He knew he wanted to be an artist like his grandfather and concentrate on both painting and writing through school. As he reached college age he decided to move to L.A. to continue his studies and get away from the painful memories that still haunted him.

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“EYES TOWARD THE ROAD” By T Benton Brooks

PLT #480

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CHAPTER 1 O - 9 YEARS OLD If you weren't there, I am sorry. Some of us that were there, weren't really there. I guess that's the way it is for every generation. But I was there. Each of us saw it a little differently and reacted differently. The way I reacted was due mainly to how and where I grew up. Let me start by giving you some insight on my beginning. Stay with me. Looking back, it seems to me I knew somewhat where I was headed from the very beginning. That is to say, I always felt this passion for change and experiencing new emotions and yet unknown feelings. That's the way life started for me, always looking forward, wanting to be free to go where I wanted and do what I wanted. I was born in 1949, yeah I was born in the 40’s, but only by five weeks. Southern California in the 50’s is really where it began for me. The 1950's is where and how I was prepared to handle the incredible 60's, and everything that followed. Creativity and an edgy radical nature that I got from my mother and the patient and loyal nature came from dad. I honed these skills dealing with a high-strung older sister, two feisty little brothers and two parents that didn't seem well matched for each other. In the dictionary under DREAMER you'd probably find my name, it's the core of all that's me… It's hard for some to except, but I maintain that I remember being born. I know that sounds strange. Hey, it scared the hell out of me until I was in my twenties and felt I understood it all. Never the less my first memory was that of being born. It doesn't scare me anymore; in fact it's a very calming felling that will come over me when I let myself think back to it. You might say my very first memory was that of being on the go, my very first trip was a wild ride. I remember this clay like wall starting to move and push at me and my body started to feel different somehow. When I was five or so and that memory would come to me, all I could think of was death or maybe the felling that something was about to end. There was a higher more intense memory that came next but I have trouble remembering those last moments.

So what does this have to do with anything? Well it's only the beginning of what would soon become me.

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My Artistic Life’s Journey My artistic life’s journey is not much different from an adventurer’s life journey. We both are on the lookout for that special spot or place. Sometimes it takes seeing or going down the unfamiliar path in order to discover that truly unique spot just around the corner; out of everyone else’s sight. If you take the time to look at the history of modern art with respect to the lives and struggles of artist, it would appear that in order for an artist to achieve success, he/she has to be or give the appearance of, either being crazy or an outcast from society. Who started this or gives anyone the right to set such standards of creativity and then have the nerve to put their stamp of approval for the future of that artist, and to play with and control creative people. Looking back as I start to look forward, it has dawned on me that I’m not going to cut off my ear, as always, I will never leave my family to fend for themselves, while I run off to Tahiti to fulfill my artistic needs, and I’m most assuredly not going to go unnoticed anymore. If I go back far enough, I would say I was probably more like the early cave painter who felt that they were talking to or through their god. Now I’m not very religious by most people’s standards, however I would call myself spiritual. Meaning that like the early cave painters I feel that most of my work comes from the center of me somehow. Sometimes I feel more like an observer than the painter, strange. Artists throughout history have been either labeled by their society or possibly lead to believe that they need to live much different lives than most others in their period of social history. Even the Egyptian artist who probably had a respected spot in their society felt a little different, I am sure. When we look at a da Vinci and Michelangelo and take a look back from here and think most surely their society knew what they were and what they would mean to and how they would affect the future. So to sit back and to let others dictate what my future will be is impossible. See it now or see it later. Understand it now or understand it later. Buy it now or buy it later, it doesn’t really matter either way to me, the work will continue as long as I continue. Art isn’t about repetition, it’s not about finding a style and staying safely in that comfort zone and doing just variations on that theme only because it’s safe or profitable. 211

Art should be about taking risks; about moving forward leaving that comfort zone and challenge one’s self to create something new, fresh and unique. If an artist isn’t on the verge of failure they aren’t on the verge of success. I have spent the last 48 of my 66 years in pursuit of my artistic language. It has taken many different paths; some with great mystery and satisfaction, others with frustration and fear.

As I see it, I’m the very best there will ever be at being me. No one can do what I do, only what I’ve done I dedicate this to every Artist, young or old, who just won’t give up or give in. Remember, it’s your Art making process that counts for you. Just find your personal Artistic language and just do your work. The end result is your work, your paintings or whatever Art you do and after that, it’s up to the viewer to figure out.

I’m not going to let life deprive me of having one.

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PLT #481

PHOTO PLATE INDEX PLT #1: “MY HAND”- 1969-Pencil on Paper - 14x18 PLT #2: “BOATS ON A RIVER”- Lithograph no date Approx. 10x20 PLT #3: My first Studio- 1970 - Laguna Beach PLT #4: “FIRST DAY” -1970-Oil on Canvas - 36x48 PLT #5: “WITH WORN-OUT HEELS”- 1970-Oil on Canvas - 36x47 PLT #6: “WOMAN”- 1970- Oil on Canvas - 30x60 PLT #7: “ABSTRACT”-1970- Plaster - 12x18 PLT #8: “Still Life” -1970- Oil on Board - 18x24 PLT #9: “Still Life” -1970-Oil on Canvas - 24x30 PLT #10: “DIMENSION” -1970-Wood Relief - 48x60 PLT #11: “OUR DIRECTION” -1970- Wood- 18x72 PLT #12: “OUR VACUUM”- 1971- Oil on Canvas-24x48 PLT #13: “GIDEON JEWELRY”- First Business Card PLT #14: “Bronze necklace and Belt buckle” PLT #15: “Bronze Rings” PLT #16: “BROOKSWOOD CLOCKS”- Second Business Card PLT #17: Display of Clocks at the Sawdust Festival PLT #18: Blown glass examples, 1977 213

PLT #19: “THOMAS BROOKS Sign maker”- Business Card PLT #20: Sign work examples, 1978 PLT #21: Second Studio with Mom and Elissa- 1978 PLT #22: Dad that day in my Studio 1978 PLT #23 “DAD that DAY”- 1978 - Oil on Canvas -36x48 PLT #24: “ABSTRACT SPRING”- 1978- Oil on Canvas -35x35 PLT #25: “THREE BRUSH STUDIO”- 1978- Oil on Board- 24x25 PLT #26: “STUDIO”- 1978- Oil on Board- 24x24 PLT #27: “SELF PORTRAIT #1”- 1978- Oil on Board- 20x24 PLT #28: “SELF PORTRAIT #2”- 1978- Oil on Board- 12x16 PLT #29: “SELF PORTRAIT #3” -1978- Oil on Board- 12x16 PLT #30: Third Studio in Colorado Springs PLT #31: First Gallery in Colorado Springs PLT #32: “THREE BROTHERS”- 1979- Oil on Canvas- 36x36 PLT #33: “ABSTRACT STILL LIFE” 1979- Oil on Board-9x12 PLT #34: “SUNLIGHT”- 1979-Oil on Canvas- 42x72 PLT #35: “BARN”- 1979-Oil on Board- 27x35 PLT #36: “ABSTRACT STILL LIFE”- 1979- Oil on Board- 16x20 PLT #37: “SOMETHING DIFFERENT”- 1979- Oil on Board- 24x36 PLT #38: “FORMAL BEGINNINGS”- 1979- Mixed on Board- 18x24 PLT #39: “CLASH OF STLYES” -1979- Oil on Canvas- 14x18 PLT #40: “SEEMED SURREAL”- 1979- Oil on Board- 16x20 PLT #41: “VAGUE RESEMBLANCE”- 1979- Oil on Board- 18x24 PLT #42: “SELF PORTRAIT #4”- 1979-Oil on Board- 18x24 PLT #43: “SELF PORTRAIT #9”- 1979- Pencil on Board- 20x24 PLT #44: “SELF PORTRAIT #6”-1979- Oil on Canvas- 14x18 PLT #45: “SELF PORTRAIT #7”- 1979- Mixed on Board- 24x36 PLT #46: “SELF PORTRAIT #8”- 1979-Pencil on Board- 24x36 PLT #47: “OLDER MAN”- 1979- Mixed on Canvas- 22x42 PLT #48: “SELF PORTRAIT #10”- 1979- Oil on Board- 20x30 PLT #49: T Benton at 29 years old- 1979 PLT #50: “SELF PORTRAIT #12”- 1979- Oil on Canvas- 20x24 PLT #51: “SELF PORTRAIT #11”- 1979- Oil on Canvas- 18x24 PLT #52: My Fourth Studio in our New Home- 1979- Working on a Job PLT #53: “CLOUDSCAPE #1”- 1980- Oil on Board- 11x14 PLT #54: “CLOUDSCAPE #2” -1980- Oil on Canvas- 11x14 PLT #55: “MISTY VIEW”- 1980- Oil on Board- 12x16 PLT #56: “SELF PORTRAIT #13”- 1980- Oil on Board- 20x24 PLT #57: “FURTHER IN SPIRT”- 1980- Acrylic on Board- 16x20 PLT #58: “TOP TO BOTTOM”- 1980- Acrylic on Board- 16x20 PLT #59: “PRIVATE DREAMS”- 1980- Oil on Board- 24x24 PLT #60: “INTERESTED IN ILLUSTRATION”-1980- Oil on Board-24x24 PLT #61: “LOST”- 1980- Oil on Board- 24x30 PLT #62: “RIVERS EDGE”- 1980- Oil on Canvas- 12x16 214

PLT #63: “MOOD OF THE MOMENT”- 1980- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #64: “INFINITE SPACE”- 1980- Oil on Board- 16x20 PLT #65: “SELFPORTRAIT #14”- 1980- Oil on Board- 20x24 PLT #66: “YOUNG ELISSA”- 1980- Oil on Board- 16x20 PLT #67: A BRIDAL SHOP SIGN- 1980-Plexiglass and Wood cut out- 36x48 PLT #68: “LENNON IN SPIRIT ONLY”- 1980- Oil on Board- 24x36” PLT #69A: Sixth studio, 1982-1984 PLT #69B: A Local Art Show in a Mall in Denver- 1980 PLT #70: “ROUND TRIP”- 1980- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #71: “MOONLESS NIGHT”- 1982- Oil on Board- 16x20 PLT #72: “AFTERNOON IN THE PARK”- 1982- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #73: “STUDIO ON TEJON”- 1982- Pastel on Board- 24x30 PLT #74: “EVOLUTION”- 1982- Oil on Board- 32.5x48 PLT #75: “YOUNG NUDE”- 1982- Oil on Board- 14x18 PLT #76: “MARTY”- 1982- Oil on Canvas- 14x18 PLT #77: “WEEKEND FAIR”- 1982- Oil on Board- 24x36 PLT #78: “WORKING CLASS DISTRICT”- 1982- Oil on Board- 16x20 PLT #79: “AT THE FESTIVAL”- 1983- Oil on Board- 24x34 PLT #80: “THE BIG YELLOW HOUSE”- 1983- Oil on Board- 36x48 PLT #81: “FOREVER WAITING”- 1983- Oil on Canvas- 20x24 PLT #82: “REMRBERING WARHOL”- 1983- Oil on Canvas- 18x24 PLT #83: “SEEING SEGAL”- 1983- Oil on Board- 20x24 PLT #84: “SELF PORTRAIT #15”- 1983- Oil on Board- 12x16 (no #14) PLT #85: “SELF PORTRAIT #16”- 1983- Oil on Board- 18x24 PLT #86: “HIGH SEAS”- 1984- Oil on Canvas- 18x24 PLT #87: “FIRST WINTER”- 1984- Oil on Canvas- 18x24 PLT #88: “THE LIGHTER MOMENT”- 1984- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #89: “INTO THE GLITTER”- 1984- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #90: “EVENING SKY”- 1984- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #91: “ELECTRICAL LINES”- 1984- Acrylic on Canvas- 18x24 PLT #92: “SELF PORTRAIT #17”- 1984- Oil on Board- 24x30 PLT #93: FIRST DOWNTOWN STUDIO IN COLORAD SPRINGS PLT #94: “FRED THEN”- 1984- Oil on Canvas- 22x28 PLT #95: “IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZED”- 1984- Oil on Canvas- 20x30 PLT #96: “ADMIRATION”- 1984- Oil on Canvas- 40x50 PLT #97: “MAINTAING THE MOTION”- 1984- Oil on Canvas- 40x50 PLT #98: “LORILE THAT AFTERNOON”- 1984- Oil on Canvas- 24x36 PLT #99: “ONCE A FRIEND”- 1984- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #100: “ALLEN AGAIN”- 1984- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #101: “SHADOW LADY”- 1984- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #102: “VACATION PLANS”- 1985- Oil on Canvas- 48x60 PLT #103: “DAYS END”- 1985- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #104: “YES JERRY”- 1985- Oil on Canvas- 22x28 PLT #105: “FOGGY POSSIBILITY”- 1985- Oil on Canvas- 36x36 215

PLT #106: “JUST LOOKING”- 1985- Oil on Board- 16x20 PLT #107: “PAUL’S INFORMAL DISCUSSION”- 1985- Oil on Board-16x20 PLT #108: “VALLEY VIEW”-1985- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #109: “SELF PORTRAIT #18”- 1985- Pastel on Paper- 18x24 PLT #110: “HIGH DESERT”- 1985- Oil on Board- 16x20 PLT #111: “A LOCAL COMMUNITY”- 1985- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #112: “ELISSA AT TWELVE”- 1985- Oil on Board- 16x20 PLT #113: “SELF PORTRAIT #19”- 1985- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #114: Second Downtown Studio- Colorado Springs- 1987-1990 PLT #115: “IMAGINATION”- 1987- Mixed on Paper- 24x28 PLT #116: “SELF PORTRAIT #20”- 1987- Mixed on Paper- 9x12 PLT #117: “GARDEN OF THE GODS”- 1987- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #118: “FEELING OF FREEDOM”- 1987- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #119: “CLOUDS #5”-1987- Oil on Canvas- 12x36 PLT #120: “CLOUDS #6”- 1987- Oil on Canvas- 15x20 PLT #121: “SUNFLOWER #2”- 1987- Mixed on Paper- 22x32 PLT #122: “CONVENTIONAL POLITICS”- 1987- Oil on Board- 16x20 PLT #123: “MUCH DESPISED MIDDLE CLASS”- 1987- Oil on Canvas-16x20 PLT #124: “GREAT SERIOUSNESS”- 1987- Oil on Canvas- 24x36 PLT #125: “EACH WOMAN’S PURPOSE”- 1987- Oil on Canvas- 24x36 PLT #126: “THREE PEAKS”- 1987- Oil on Canvas- 20x24 PLT #127: “PREVIOUS SPRING”- 1987- Oil on Board- 16x20 PLT #128: “NUDE RESTING”- 1987- Oil on Canvas- 24x36 PLT #129: “DIVERSION”- 1987- Mixed on Plastic- 37x51 PLT #130: “ABSTRACT SOUTHWEST LANDSCAPE”- 1987- Oil on Board- 24x36 PLT #131: “AMERICAN CLASSIC”- 1987- Oil on Canvas- 48x48 PLT #132: “MANIC”- 1987- Acrylic on Plastic- 25x35 PLT #133: “MIDNIGHT LANDSCAPE”- 1987- Oil on Canvas- 20x24 PLT #134: “EYEING THE FUTURE”- 1987- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x72 PLT #135: “A GENERATION AHEAD”- 1987- Pastel on Paper- 30x32 PLT #136: “A GENERATION AHEAD #2”- 1987- Pastel on Paper- 30x32 PLT #137: “UNPOLISHED GENIUS”- 1987- Mixed on Paper- 24x28 PLT #138: “INCREASING INDEPENDENCE”- 1987- Oil on Canvas- 51x70 PLT #139: “SELF PORTRAIT #21”- 1987- Oil on Canvas- 18x24 PLT #140: “RELATIVE PROSPERITY”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #141: “OLD TOWN LIQUOR”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #142: “CLOUDS #7”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 14x18 PLT #143: “SOUTHWEST LANDSCAPE #11”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #144: “MY GERTRUDE”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #145: “MOON RISING”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 18x24 PLT #146: “SELF PORTRAIT #22”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #147: “INSPIRED NUDE”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 30x48 PLT #148: “ACROSS THE RIVER”- 1988- Mixed on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #149: “SELF PORTRAIT #23”-1988- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 216

PLT #150: “ANOTHER DISCOVERY”- 1988- Mixed and Oil on Board- 24x30 PLT #151: “NIGHTSCAPE #1”- 1988- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x36 PLT #152: “MOTHER OF PEACE”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 51x94 PLT #153: T BENTON at one-man show- Colorado Springs Studio- 1988 PLT #154: Gallery hallway at one man show- 1988 PLT #155: Inside Studio of one man show – 1988 PLT #156: “FIRST GLIMPSE”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 50x50 PLT #157: “BREAK THROUGH TO THE LIGHT”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 50x68 PLT #158: “MOTHER AND CHILD”- 1988- Mixed on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #159: “VIEW FROM ABOVE”- 1988- Mixed on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #160: “ATMOSPHERE”- 1988- Mixed on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #161: “EARLT SPRING”- 1988- Mixed on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #162: “SUMMER’S DAY”- 1988- Mixed on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #163: “BIRDS EYE VIEW”- 1988- Mixed on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #164: “STEADFAST FRIEND”- 1988- Mixed on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #165: “WITHOUT PRETENSIONS”- 1988- Mixed on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #166: “EVOLUTION OF FORM”- 1988- Mixed on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #167: “NORTH BAY”- 1988- Mixed on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #168: “COUNTRY ROAD”- 1988- Mixed on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #169: “OLD HOUSE”- 1988- Mixed on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #170: “SKY BLUE LAKE”- 1988- Mixed on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #171: “MOUNTAIN LAKE”- 1988- Mixed on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #172: Aspen Colorado Art Festival- 1988 PLT #173: “WARM SUMMER DAY”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #174: “THE NEXT DAY”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #175: “FOR HIS WIFE”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #176: “TRAIL”- 1988- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #177: “RHYTHM AND BLUES”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 30x30 PLT #178: “INDISPENSABLE”- 1989- Acrylic on Canvas- 30x36 PLT #179: “EXCEEDINGLY MODEST”- 1989- Acrylic on Canvas- 30x40 PLT #180: “BECAUSE THEY DO”- 1989- Acrylic on Canvas- 30x40 PLT #181: “EASTER SUNDAY”- 1989- Oil on Canvas- 12x16 PLT #182: “UNCLE BILL”- 1989- Oil on Canvas- 24x24 PLT #183: “CLOUD #8”- 1989- Acrylic on Board- 20x24 PLT #184: “DARK WINTER”- 1989- Oil on Board- 18x24 PLT #185: “SUMMER VACTION”- 1989- Acrylic on Board- 18x24 PLT #186: “MY SUNFLOWERS”- 1989- Acrylic on Board- 24x30 PLT #187: “AFTER THEIR WEDDING”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 18x24 PLT #188: “REFLECTION”- 1990- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #189: “REMEMBERING VINCENT”- 1990- Acrylic on Canvas-16x20 PLT #190: “SOUTHWESTERN LANDSCAPE #12”- 1990- Oil on Canvas-22x28 PLT #191: “DINNER PARTY”- 1990- Acrylic on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #192: “VEERED OFF INTO SPACE”- 1990- Acrylic on Board- 18x24 PLT #193: “CLOUDS #9”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 217

PLT #194: “STILLNESS”- 1990- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #195: “HIGH DESERT”- 1990- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #196: “BEFORE THE STORM”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #197: “SOUTHWEST LANDSCAPE #13”- 1990- Oil on Board-24x30 PLT #198: “ABSTRACT SPACE #35”- 1990- Oil on Board- 40x51 PLT #199: “DREAM #8”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 42x48 PLT #200: “DREAM #9”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 40x50 PLT #201: “POND #4”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #202: “POND #1”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #203: “POND #3”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #204: “POND #2”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #205: “RELIC”- 1990- Acrylic on Canvas- 18x24 PLT #206: “PRINCESS”- 1990- Oil on Canvas Paper- 16x20 PLT #207: “SOUTHWEST FARM LIFE”- 1990- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #208: “ROSE”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 24x36 PLT #209: “WESTERN LANDSCAPE #10”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #210: “WESTERN LANDSCAPE #11”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #211: “WESTERN LANDSCAPE #12”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #212: “WESTERN LANDSCAPE #13”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #213: “BACK YARD #1”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 14x18 PLT #214: “MORNING SNOW”- 1990- Acrylic on Board- 18x24 PLT #215: “WESTERN LANDSCAPE #14”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 11x14 PLT #216: “WESTERN LANDSCAPE #15”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #217: “WESTERN LANDSCAPE #16”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #218: “4th OF JULY”-1990- Oil on Canvas- 20x24 PLT #219: “SOUTHWESTERN VILLAGE”- 1990- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #220: “BEACH HOUSE”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #221: “NEXT MORNING”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 18x24 PLT #222: “49 FORD”- 1990- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #223: “CLOUDS #10”- 1990- Oil on Board- 18x24 PLT #224: Trying to find a spot to paint in our new home- 1990 PLT #225: “THE STUFFED SANDWICH”- business card -1990 PLT #226: “MOTHER AND CHILD” saved from the Flea Market Sales- 1990 PLT #227: “MOUNTAIN LAKE”- saved from the Flea Market Sales- 1990 PLT #228: Colorado Springs Spring Spree- Summer Festival- 1990 PLT #229: Third Studio Downtown Colorado Springs- 1990 PLT #230: Newest Art business card to promote my work and my second small Gallery- 1990 PLT #231: “WESTERN LANDSCAPE #17”- 1991- Acrylic on Canvas-11x14 PLT #232: “SUMMER HOUSE”- 1991- Oil on Board- 14x18 PLT #233: “THREE SISTERS #1”- 1992- Mixed on Board- 16x20 PLT #234: “BLUE BEADS”- 1992- Oil on Board- 16x20 PLT #235: “NUDE”- 1992- Mixed on Board- 16x20 PLT #236: “ABSTRACT SPACE #37”- 1992- Mixed on Paper- 12x12 218

PLT #237: “SOUTHWESTERN LANDSCAPE #14”- 1992- Oil on Board11x14 PLT #238: “ABSTRACT SPACE #36”- 1992- Mixed on Paper- 22x32 PLT #239: “WALK ON THE BEACH”- 1992- Acrylic on Canvas- 11x14 PLT #240: “ABSTRACT SPACE #40”- 1992- Acrylic on Canvas- 11x14 PLT #241: “MULHOLLAND DRIVE”- 1992- Acrylic on Canvas- 9x11 PLT #242: “ABSTRACT SPACE #38”- 1992- Acrylic on Canvas- 20x24 PLT #243: “DREAM #10”- 1992- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #244: “ABSTRACT SPACE #39”- 1992- Acrylic on Canvas-11x14 PLT #245: “ABSTRACT SPACE #41”- 1992- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #246: “ABSTRACT SPACE #42”- 1992- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #247: “ABSTRACT SPACE #43”- 1993- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #248: “OUT OF BODY”- 1993- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #249: “DREAMING AGAIN”-1994- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #250: “YOUNG WOMAN”- 1994- Acrylic on Board- 16x20 PLT #251: “MY SON SHINE”- 1994- Oil on Board- 16x20 PLT #252: “WESTERN LANDSCAPE #18”- 1994- Acrylic on Board-11x14 PLT #253: “WESTERN LANDSCAPE #19”- 1994- Acrylic on Board-11x14 PLT #254: “WESTERN LANDSCAPE #20”- 1994- Acrylic on Board-11x14 PLT #255: “WESTERN LANDSCAPE #21”- 1994- Acrylic on Board-11x14 PLT #256: “PLEASANT STREET”- 1994- Acrylic on Board- 11x14 PLT #257: “PASSAGE”- 1994- Mixed on Paper- 22x32 PLT #258: “ABSTRACT SPACE #44- 1994- Oil on Canvas-14x18 PLT #259: “ABSTRACT SPACE #45- 1994- Acrylic on Canvas-14x18 PLT #260: “ABSTRACT SPACE #46- 1994- Acrylic on Canvas-14x18 PLT #261: “ABSTRACT SPACE #47- 1994- Acrylic on Canvas-14x18 PLT #262: The Mouse and the Walnut- in progress- 1994 PLT #263: The cover for “The Mouse and the Walnut- 1994 PLT #264: The Garage Studio- 1995 PLT #265: The Garage Studio- 1995 PLT #266: “TO SEA”- 1995- Oil on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #267: “PRESENCE”- 1995- Mixed on Paper- 24x28 PLT #268: “WESTERN LANDSCAPE #22”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas-11x14 PLT #269: “NIGHTSCAPE #2”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #270: “RIVER’S EDGE”- 1995- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #271: “WAITING”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #272: “PASSING THROUGH”- 1995- Mixed on Paper- 24x28 PLT #273: “ENTRANCE”- 1995- Mixed on Paper- 24x28 PLT #274: “VULNERABLE”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 20x23 PLT #275: “STRESSFULL”-1995- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #276: “SLEEPY RIVER”- 1995- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #277: “SNOWY RIVER #2”- 1995- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #278: “LAKE POWELL”- 1995- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #279: “REFLECTION”- 1995- Oil on Canvas- 16x20 219

PLT #280: “SNOWY RIVER #1”-1995- Oil on Canvas16x20 PLT #281: “WESTERN LANDSCAPE #23”- 1995- Oil on Canvas- 11x14 PLT #282: “BACKYARD #2”- 1995- Oil on Canvas- 8x10 PLT #283: “NIGHTSCAPE #3”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #284: “NIGHTSCAPE #4”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #285: “NIGHTSCAPE #5”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #286: “NIGHTSCAPE #7”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #287: “NIGHTSCAPE #6”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #288: “NIGHTSCAPE #8”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #289: “NIGHTSCAPE #9”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #290: “NIGHTSCAPE #11”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #291: “NIGHTSCAPE #10”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #292: “NIGHTSCAPE #13”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #293: “NIGHTSCAPE #12”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #294: “NIGHTSCAPE #14”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #295: “NIGHTSCAPE #15”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #296: “NIGHTSCAPE #16”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #297: “MODERN LANDSCAPE #2”-1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #298: “MODERN LANDSCAPE #1”-1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #299: “MODERN LANDSCAPE #3”-1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #300: “MODERN LANDSCAPE #4”-1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #301: “MODERN LANDSCAPE #5”-1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #302: “DREAM #13”- 1995- Acrylic on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #303: “DAYDREAMING”- 1996- Mixed on Paper- 16x20 PLT #304: “EXOTIC”-1996- Mixed on Paper- 16x20 PLT #305: “ABSTRACT HANGOUT”- 1996-Mixed on Paper- 16x20 PLT #306: “ABSTRACT VISIT”- 1996- Mixed on Paper- 16x20 PLT #307: “TOMORROW”- 1996- Acrylic on Board- 12x16 PLT #308: “SAVE IT”- 1996- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #309: “NIGHTSCAPE #17”- 1998- Acrylic on Board- 9x12 PLT #310: “INDIAN GIRL”- 1998- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #311: Handmade, Silk Screen T-Shirts- “SPACE”- 1998 PLT #312: Handmade, Silk Screen T-Shirts- “FLOWER”- 1998 PLT #313: Handmade, Silk Screen T-Shirts- “FLOWER”- 1998 PLT #314: Handmade, Silk Screen T-Shirts- “FLOWER”- 1998 PLT #315: Handmade, Silk Screen T-Shirts- “FLAG”- 1998 PLT #316: Handmade, Silk Screen T-Shirts- “FLOWER”- 1998 PLT #317: T Benton in Basement Studio Colorado Springs- 2003 PLT #318: “FRIENDS”- 2003- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x40 PLT #319: “FLIGHT”- 2003- Acrylic on Canvas- 30x40 PLT #320: “SUNFLOWER AGAIN”- 2003- Pen on Canvas- 18x24 PLT #321: “DRIP”- 2004- Acrylic on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #322: “VIEW FROM ABOVE”- 2004- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #323: “THE EGG AND I”- 2004- Acrylic on Canvas- 16x20 220

PLT #324: “3-D SPACE #1”-2004- Mixed/Three Dimensional- 4x15x35 PLT #325: “ALL THAT JAZZ #1”- 2004- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #326: “ALL THAT JAZZ #2”- 2004- Acrylic on Canvas- 20x24 PLT #327: “LAND BEYOND”- 2004- Acrylic on Canvas- 31x40 PLT #328: “YOUNG LOVE”- 2004- Acrylic on Canvas- 35x35 PLT #329: “PATIENCE”- 2005- Acrylic on Canvas- 30x40 PLT #330: “A SOBER JACKSON”- 2006- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #331: “DISTANCE GLANCE”- 2006- Acrylic on Canvas- 18x24 PLT #332: “LOOKING BACK”- 2006- Acrylic on Canvas- 14x18 PLT #333: “AMERICAN DREAM”- 2006- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #334: T BENTON in New York City, at the Whitney Art Museum- 2007 PLT #335: T BENTON’S Booklet on the book shelves at New York Museum of Modern Art- 2007 PLT #336: Manitou Springs Studio/Art Gallery- 2007 PLT #337: Poster for New York Adventure Paintings, Art Show- 2007 PLT #338: T BENTON at the opening for the “New York Adventure”, Art Exhibition- 2007 PLT #339: The reception area of the “New York Adventure” Art Exhibition- 2007 PLT #340: “TAPAS TIME”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #341: “SO REAL”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #342: “NO LIMIT”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #343: “JUST ANOTHER DAY”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #344: “57th ST AND PARK AVE”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #345: “THANK YOU COME AGAIN”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #346: “HOME TO SOME”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #347: “STILL THE THRILL”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #348: “RUSH HOUR”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 48x72 PLT #349: “HEEL TOE HEEL TOE”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #350: “PLEASE SAMPLE”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #351: “LONELY ALLEY”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #352: “JACK, JILL AND ROBERT”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #353: “EAST COAST BEAUTY”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #354: “A BEEP BEEP YAH”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #355: “PAINTING THE TOWN”- 2007- Acrylic on Canvas- 48x48 PLT #356: ART in MIND- poster for Art Exhibition opening- 2008 PLT #357: ART in MIND- poster for Art Exhibition opening-Front door Marquee- 2008 PLT #358: “ALL SET”- 2008- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #359: “A PART OF ME”- 2008- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #360: “CAN’T I LILY”- 2008- Acrylic on Canvas- 48x60 PLT #361: “CLOUD SCAPE #13”- 2008- Acrylic on Canvas- 48x60 PLT #362: “EVEN TRADE”- 2008- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #363: “IF I CAN”- 2008- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #364: “IN MEMORY”- 2008- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #365: “MOODY VIEWS”- 2008- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #366: “ON VACATION TO THE FUTURE”- 2008- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 221

PLT #367: “THE DANCE”- 2008- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #368: “THREE SISTERS #2”- 2008- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #369: “WITHOUT BEING SEEN”- 2008- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #370: “ON BEING ME”- 2008- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #371: Poster for “Art from start to Finish”- Art Exhibition- 2009 PLT #372: T BENTON- opening night “Art from Start to Finish” - 2009 PLT #373: Opening night at the new Gallery for “Art from Start to Finish”- 2009 PLT #374: Opening night at the new Gallery for “Art from Start to Finish”- 2009 PLT #375: “SELF PORTRIAT #26”- 2009- Mixed Media on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #376: “THE GATHERING”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 48x60 PLT #377: “ORIGIN”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 48x60 PLT #378: “BEFORE THE SILENCE”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #379: “BORN AGAIN”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #380: “CHEAP THERAPY”-2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #381: “HIGH VOLTAGE”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #382: “INSIDE A SOUP CAN”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #383: “PASSAGE WAY”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #384: “PROM NIGHT”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #385: “SHADOWS”-2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #386: “SHOW TIME”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 30x40 PLT #387: “SOUNDS OF THE UNIVERSE”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 30x40 PLT #388: “SUMMERS DAY”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #389: “TAKING THE SUBWAY”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #390: “AFTER THE RAIN”-2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x48 PLT #391: “STARRY NIGHT”-2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x48 PLT #392: “THE CARNIVAL”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 30x40 PLT #393: “MOVEMENT IN TIME”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 48x60 PLT #394: T BENTON” in front of the Manitou Springs Gallery- 2009 PLT #395: T BENTON Fine Art Business Card with Self Portrait- 2009 PLT #396: Studio/Art Gallery, main street Manitou Springs - 2009 PLT #397: Studio/Art Gallery, main street Manitou Springs - 2009 PLT #398: Studio/Art Gallery, main street Manitou Springs - 2009 PLT #399: Studio/Art Gallery, main street Manitou Springs - 2009 PLT #400: Studio/Art Gallery, main street Manitou Springs - 2009 PLT #401: Studio/Art Gallery, main street Manitou Springs - 2009 PLT #402: Studio/Art Gallery, main street Manitou Springs - 2009 PLT #403: Studio/Art Gallery, Main Street Manitou SpringsFeaturing my little junior – 2009 PLT #404: “VEGAS NIGHTS”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 30x40 PLT #405: “DREAM AGAIN”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #406: “BODEGA BAY”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #407: “FORTH OF JULY #2”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #408: “FOURTH OF JULY #3”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 12x12 PLT #409: “ON HAND FOR THE 4th”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 8x10 222

PLT #410: “JUST PIKES PEAK”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #411: “MANITOU STREET #1”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #412: “MANITOU STREET #2”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #413: “MANITOU STREET #3”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #414: “MANITOU STREET #4”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #415: “MANITOU STREET #5”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #416: “MANITOU STREET #6”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #417: “MICHAEL”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #418: “ELVIS”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #419: “ROCKY MT. ABSTRACT #1”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas-16x20 PLT #420: “ROCKY MT. ABSTRACT #2”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas-16x20 PLT #421: “ROCKY MT. ABSTRACT #3”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas-16x20 PLT #422: “ROCKY MT. ABSTRACT #4”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas-16x20 PLT #423: “SUMMER SET”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x36 PLT #424: “SOUTHWESTERN MOMENT #1”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas-8x10 PLT #425: “SOUTHWESTERN MOMENT #2”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas-8x10 PLT #426: “SOUTHWESTERN MOMENT #3”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas-8x10 PLT #427: “SOUTHWESTERN MOMENT #4”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas-8x10 PLT #428: “INDIAN SHADOW”- 2005- Mixed Media on Wood- 15x50 PLT #429: “MERRY GO ROUND”- 2009- Mixed Media on Wood- 18x70 PLT #430: “MODERN MOVEMENT”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 14x30 PLT #431: “PICNIC”- 2009- Mixed Media on Wood- 18x70 PLT #432: “SLIVER OF NIGHT”- 2009- Mixed Media on Wood- 18x70 PLT #433: “WATCHING US”- 2009- Mixed Media on Wood- 14x36 PLT #434: “TREE HOUSE”- 2009- Acrylic on Canvas- 14x30 PLT #435: “SELF PORTRAIT #25”- 2009- Mixed Media on Clay- 10x30 PLT #436: “YOUNG MAN”- 2009- Pencil on Paper- 8x10 PLT #437: MALACHITE and STERLING SLIVER NECKLASE- 2009 PLT #438: “SUNLIGHT”- 1979- Oil on Canvas- 42x72 PLT #439: “FIRST GLIMPS”- 1988- Oil on Canvas- 50x50 PLT #440: THE GAZETTE- Head Line of T BENTON’S Story- 2009 PLT #441: T BENTON- on NBC National News- 2009 PLT #442: Back in T BENTON’S Garage Studio-2010 PLT #443: Back in T BENTON’S Garage Studio-2010 PLT #444: “HIGH MOUNTAIN LAKE”- 2010- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #445: “UNDER THE BIG TOP”- 2010- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x36 PLT #446: “IN MOTION”- 2010- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x36 PLT #447: “ESCAPING REALITY”- 2010- Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #448: “SOUTHWESTERN ABSTRACT LANDSCAPE #1”-2014Acrylic on Canvas- 24x36 PLT #449: “SOUTHWESTERN ABSTRACT LANDSCAPE #2”-2014Acrylic on Canvas- 18x24 PLT #450: “SOUTHWESTERN ABSTRACT LANDSCAPE #3”-2014Acrylic on Canvas- 18x24 223

PLT #451: “SOUTHWESTER ABSTRACT STILL LIFE”-2014Acrylic on Canvas- 18x24 PLT #452: “SOUTHWESTERN ABSTRACT LANDSCAPE #4”-2015Acrylic on Canvas- 36x48 PLT #453: T BENTON- at the Wednesday Art Market-2015 PLT #454: “NEW CLOUD SERIES #1”- 2015- Acrylic on Canvas- 30x40 PLT #455: “NEW CLOUD SERIES #2”- 2015- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x48 PLT #456: “NEW CLOUD SERIES #3”- 2015- Acrylic on Canvas- 8x10 PLT #457: “NEW CLOUD SERIES #4”- 2015- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #458: “NEW CLOUD SERIES #5”- 2015- Acrylic on Canvas- 24x30 PLT #459: “NEW CLOUD SERIES #6”- 2015- Acrylic on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #460: “NEW CLOUD SERIES #7”- 2015- Acrylic on Canvas- 30x40 PLT #461: “NEW CLOUD SERIES #8”- 2015- Acrylic on Canvas- 30x40 PLT #462: “NEW CLOUD SERIES #9”- 2015- Acrylic on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #463: “NEW CLOUD SERIES #10”- 2015- Acrylic on Canvas- 30x40 PLT #464: “NEW CLOUD SERIES #11”- 2015- Acrylic on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #465: “NEW CLOUD SERIES #12”- 2015- Acrylic on Canvas- 16x20 PLT #466: “NEW CLOUD SERIES #13”- 2015- Acrylic on Canvas- 30x40 PLT #467: T BENTON DESIGN- Business Card- 20016 PLT #468: CHINESE TURQUOISE AND STERLING SLIVER NECKLACE – 1.5 INCHX 3 INCH- 2016 PLT #469: DISPLAY BOX – T BENTON DESIGN- 2016 PLT #470: TURQUOISE AND STERLING SILVER BRACELET- 2016 PLT #471: DISPLAY BOX – T BENTON DESIGN- 2016 PLT #472: BLUE AMETHYST AND STERLING SILVER RING- 2016 PLT #473: DISPLAY BOX – T BENTON DESIGN- 2016 PLT #474: TURQUOISE AND STERLING SILVER RING- 2016 PLT #475: DISPLAY BOX – T BENTON DESIGN- 2016 PLT #476: FIRST WEB PAGE - 2005 PLT #477: BLACK and WHITE COVER for “THE MOUSE and the WALNUT” Children’s book- 1996-2016 PLT #478: COVER for “GONE for NOW” PLT #479: COVER for “SUBJECTS” PLT #480: COVER for” EYES TOWARD the ROAD”- T BENTON at age five PLT #481: T BENTON in his latest Studio- 2016

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS • • • • • •

To all the people who have made my paintings part of their lives To all the people who have stopped to look at my work To my childhood friends who have watch me grow as an ARTIST To Bill for all his technical support and guidance To all my kids and grandkids for just being there To Elissa my beautiful and so very creative little girl and her undying support and encouragement and inspiration • To my lovely wife and friend for her years of patience • A special thanks to my niece Lilli Tichinin for her help in making this book happen • And lastly to all those who will someday read this story and see what I see AUGUST 20th 2016

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