The Story Behind Quiet Reading Lady

Reading Lady Sometime in 1990, 1991 or 1992 - I don't remember (it's a real statue, somewhere, BTW)

Back in the late '80s early '90s, I went to a small college called John Cabot University in Rome. I went there because it was the only college that I applied to that accepted me 😳. Yeah, I'm not really very scholastic. But, I needed a place to go because I was 17, graduating high-school and didn't have a clue. Step in, Mom. She helped me find a school, a home. It was in Rome, Italy 😁. Yay! I was very lucky, my Genitori helped me, A LOT! Thank you!

So, I went to school in Rome. The plan was to go for year and try to get accepted to another college back in the States 🤣. Yeah, that never happened. I really enjoyed attending John Cabot. At the time I started - 1989, it was on Via Nomentana. By the time I graduated, in 1994, it had moved to Trastevere (a very cool little Roman neighborhood). It's still there, you can google it. I recently went back and sat at my favorite cafe - Cafe Settimiano - it's across the street from the school (this cafe is famous because it appeared in a popular Roberto Benigni film, inter alia).

When I started school, I had no idea what I wanted to study. The second year I was there, my Advisor told me I needed to declare a major (??really??). I was 19 years old, and kinda stupid, I didn't know what to DECLARE - I declare I have no idea what I want to do with my life. He took a look at my school records and said, "you take a lot of English Literature, Art, and History classes. Why don't you declare Literature as your major?" Or, something to that effect. So, I did. I declared English Literature as my major, while living in Italy. Yep. Good job dummy.

Anyway, I graduated in '94, and, to my surprise, my Advisor told me I had taken enough Art and History classes to receive a "Minor" in Art and in History. I did? I didn't even conciously do that. It just happened because I enjoyed taking those classes.

My FAVORITE professor (or professoressa) of ALL TIME is Margaret McCann... she is an EXTRAORDINARY, 🤯 mind blown, kinda artist. You can find her website here at: /https://margaretmccann.com/home.html

I took her drawing class first and we went around to different Roman monuments and statues and drew them. She was really an incredible teacher, even though she looked at one of my drawings and said, "your lines aren't very good." It's OKAY, she wasn't wrong, and she didn't deflate me and my artistic ego because I KNEW I wasn't very good at drawing, (and I didn't have an artistic ego because I knew I wasn't very good and would probably never be an artist). She didn't say she didn't like my work, she was just pointing out the obvious, and then later she said, "you should take my oil painting class!" So, I did.

I don't think I painted Reading Lady in my oil painting class with her (I can't remember), but I know she coached me while I was painting it. She truly inspired and helped me with what very little I was working with (thats the mark of a good teacher).

I did some modeling for her as well, and we'd chat while she painted. She was a bit older than me, not by a lot (I don't think), but she was definitely much, much wiser than me. I was kid. Both physically and mentally. I gleaned as much wisdom as I could from her. And, bonus, Margaret is HILARIOUS - not in an LOL way; her humor was subtle, subdued, quiet... it was only after a bit of thought that you realize her deadpan joke. She was, THE BEST!!!! And then she left, went back to America.

This piece, Quiet Reading Lady, I informally dedicate to my favorite teacher (both in school and in life) of all time, Margaret McCann - a true, bonafide, extraordinary, talented, skilled, unbelievably amazing artist.

Would she be horrified by my dabblings in AI? Maybe? Probably? Definitely? I don't know, and maybe I don't want to know. Am I teaching AI how to be an artist? I don't know. It seemed to already know how to be an artist when I logged in, a few months ago. I'm teaching it how to do my day job at work, which it'll take away from me someday; are we all doomed? I don't know.

I read an interesting AI article recently, written by a real writer (a real, human writer - I'm pretty sure). He has written several novels about AI. My kind of stuff. In the article, though, he said he uploaded his work into ChatGPT (much like I did with my crappy art), and basically, he was: amazed, horrified, stunned, awed, ... all the feelings. It (AI) seemed to understand his work. But, he said, it really only mirrored his work. He quoted some of what AI wrote and it was eerily human, better than the human writer, IMO. I don't know, it's all a little scary.

I'm torn, though. What AI has done with my crappy art is pretty amazing.... look at this....

My quiet reading lady - with Jellyfish - AI re-imagined 2025

I really love this piece, it's cool! It asked me if I wanted to add surreal elements in the background, and I said, Uh, yes please. It generated several pieces that I'm just amazed by (and maybe a little horrified by)...

Reading Lady - Graphite 2025 AI re-imagined

and this...

Reading Lady with Bridges

You know what's really weird about this one? AI took elements from my other pieces (like Cookie Monster) and added them. I love this one because, though I didn't say ANYTHING about my time in Rome to AI, it incorporated Roman elements. Weird, scary😱. Is that little emoji doing the "Scream"???? Yes, yes it is and so am I.