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Humble%u2026, then replacing the hefty woman sitting on the front porch with an image of John reading the premier issue. My drawing was composed of blackand-white linework, and the BackHome staff gave John%u2019s clothing some color, then added the masthead and text blocks.Over the next year, I drew the art for the first four BackHome covers. I felt quite honored to be working for a national magazine. But, sadly, it was not an enjoyable experience. I was given minimal lead time to work on each cover, and I couldn%u2019t plan ahead for the next one because of last minute changes to the magazine%u2019s content. As I completed each assignment (always on time), I received no feedback. Nothing. The job became increasingly tense and unpleasant, and I always felt like I was in limbo because I never knew if I would be assigned another issue or not. The breaking point came when I hadn%u2019t heard from them for quite some time, and was suddenly informed they needed another new cover IMMEDIATELY, which, once again, had to contain visual references to the various articles in the issue. This was just a few days before Christmas, and I worked doggedly, got it finished, and John delivered it to FedEx on Christmas chosen to work on all the inaugural year%u2019s covers for a nationally distributed magazine.I was also drawing small pen-and-ink illustrations for two MCS-oriented magazines called Environ, and Wary Canary. And I occasionally entered local art contests, such as one for designing an official Bloomington postcard. But in 2002, I decided to try my hand at a state-wide design competition for Indiana%u2019s commemorative quarter. Following the directions closely (simple design, outlines only, no specific sporting event, etc.), I drew a scene depicting men quarrying limestone, which is our state stone, and has been used to build a number of state capitals, the Pentagon, National Cathedral, and Empire State Building, among hundreds of other important structures across the U.S. It was exciting to be a semi-finalist but, in the end, the design that won appeared to violate the rule of no specific sporting event%u2014an image of an Indy 500 race car. John and I went to the unveiling ceremony at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Governor O%u2019Bannon pulled up in a 2-seater Indy car, then was introduced by Tony Hulman George (then-President of the Speedway) as %u201cmy good friend.%u201d When it was time for Henrietta Holsman Fore (Director of the U.S. Mint) to speak, she expounded, at considerable length, on Indiana%u2019s famous limestone, then quickly unveiled the race-car coin and sat down. John and I turned to each other and smiled, because we knew which design she Eve. It was fortuitous that we had no holiday plans, which they never asked about. A few days later, I called Dave and told him I was moving on to work on metal sculpture, and was leaving illustration work behind. In reality, my metal sculpting didn%u2019t begin for several more years. While I knew I didn%u2019t want to do any more work for BackHome, I will always feel pleased and proud to have been Remodeling our first house. 1978 Refinishing business. 1978Fabric of Life. Gouache on paper. 2009Musk Oxen, Ink on Mylar, 1980