Hollis Lee
Pencil on paper
16 x 20 inches

This is a pencil drawing that I did of my grandfather Hollis Lee, or “H. Lee” as everyone called him. I never even had the chance to meet this man - he died four years before I was born. In his lifetime he was an incredible artist. He actually received an art scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh when he was younger, but he chose not to go so he could stay in his hometown to be with his wife and start his own business, not to mention the colder winters of living in the northeast. And I suppose it was good that he didn’t go to Pittsburgh, otherwise I might not be here today sharing this drawing and writing these words, or worse: I'd be a Steelers fan. (Life’s a funny thing, unh?) The business that he started was designing and screen printing signs and t-shirts, as well as hand painting signs, and he was very successful in that field. But, I think a part of him always wondered what that life in Pittsburgh would’ve been like. Thanks Gramps...here’s to you.

(This is my entry for the "Portrait of a Man" contest.)