The Artist

My husband, Tim, was a police officer.  Of course, he is retired now.  However, prior to his accident and while he was still actively working, he held several positions on the job.  They ranged from patrolman, training officer, accident investigator, detective and sketch artist.  One of his favorite jobs was being a sketch artist.  Actually one of  his favorite things is art.  He took classes in high school and even studied at the Art Institute of Chicago.  He has painted some pictures, but he liked charcoal and drawing the best.  (I even have an unfinished drawing of me!)

He originally took his first class when he was working at his first police department.  They sent him to a school in Wisconsin.  He became that department's composite artist.  Later when he joined the police department in Arlington Heights, they sent him to a school at Northwestern.  He was good previously, but he became really good after the school at Northwestern.  (In my opinion.)

When our kids were young, he went to one of their classes to talk about being a police officer.  (My husband was a one man show, between his career and playing the bagpipes!)  He had one of the children get up and and describe someone in the classroom.  When he was finished, he showed the picture to the class and the children were amazed.  It looked exactly like one of their classmates.  He gave it to the child as a souvenir.

What he drew did help catch several criminals.  In fact his police department lent him out to Chicago.  However, Tim was and still is very humble.  He would say to me that it is not his pictures that are good, it's how good his witness was.

Tim was right handed.  Since his accident, he does not have use of his right hand anymore.  It really did not take him too long to learn to use his left hand.  I have always told him that he was a "closet" lefty.  His printing is beautiful, although his signature is a little shaky, it looks pretty darn close to the one he did with his right hand.

Today, for whatever reason, we were talking about this.  I guess it was because I happened to find a few of his sketches while I was looking for something.  He reminisced about while he was still at RIC, one of his therapist asked him about drawing.  They gave him a pencil and he sketched her. Soon, several of the therapist wanted him to sketch them.  One of them asked him how he could do this, especially with his left hand.  He told me that he explained to them, that it is not in your hand.  It's what is up in your head that allows your hand to do it.  How profound for a man with a traumatic brain injury to bring up to a therapist!

It is all of our hope, that when he is good and ready, that he will once again try his "hand" at art.  Perhaps something small and then move up to a painting or two.  Or may even finish that drawing of me!