Beat #2 (Self-Portrait) – Notes

 

This is the first - and probably the last - portrait I’ll do, but never say never as they say.

 

Speaking of “as they say”, my father-in-law has opined that a picture isn’t worth looking at if there isn’t a person in it. 

 

I have the exact opposite view. What on this planet could be more boring and useless than a picture of a face?

 

In any case, the inclusion of this self-portrait in the Four Across series seemed a natural choice. Several years ago while driving home on the 401 after a gig in Hamilton, I was in an accident that totalled the Pontiac Transport mini van that I was driving as well as two of my Ludwig Timpani. Also suffering injury was the mirror on the car of the ensemble's concert master, as well as the driver who caused the accident – he passed.

 

I tried to capture the swollen head, black & blue eyes, & the generally un-kept, scruffy appearance I displayed as I recovered. 

 

It’s the closest I’ve come to a physical “beating” in my entire life.