I’ve known for years, in an abstract sense, who Philip Glass is. That abstraction appropriately mirrors his work which is loved by many… and to others is insufferable noise. I remember as a teen hearing one of his pieces played at Ravinia – it sounded discordant, jarring and ugly. A single note held for minutes at a time? “What a waste of talent,” I thought, “if he has any in the first place.”

Then a few weeks ago, as I was listening to the radio while washing dishes, a stark piano etude came on. It immediately reminded me of the soundtrack to one of my favorite films of all time: The Illusionist. The piece ended, and I instinctively spoke the name of the composer in perfect time with the radio announcer. Philip Glass.

So last night I downloaded Etudes for Piano: Vol. 1, Nos. 1-10 and am now listening to it while painting this magazine cover. I’m extremely impressed with it: austere, slightly imperfect, somber, mathematical in its repetition, melodic and haunting. Glad I gave him a second chance.

This past week, our friends adopted a 16 month boy from Russia and as a “semi-surprise” homecoming present, Melissa and I let ourselves into their house while they were in Moscow and painted a mural in his bedroom. It matches the theme and colors of his blankets, bedding and rug.

I didn’t get a chance to take photos of the final result, but I’ll post some when I can. In the meantime, here are the 3 rough ideas I sketched out before landing on a combination of them all. (Note the tiny onion domes in the second sketch, a symbolic nod to this little boy’s past.)

Unfortunately, we’re not going to get a chance to send out actual holiday cards this year – it’s just been too busy around here and it’d feel kinda lame to send them out after new year’s.

Instead I’ll just say that I appreciate all the warm greetings we’ve received from friends, and we wish you all the best for the remainder of 2007… and beyond.

Click to see another shot of my dad’s Lionel.