Tom Ray

It had our son's new checkbook in it that he just got after the rental scam . But he was more concerned about losing his notebooks.

It's just frustrating sometimes still as we lose our summer.

Even as I drew this I was questioning if I do remember doing it or if I dreamt it. And yes my coffee mug is actually that big.

It's not like I was going to be offended. I'm no professional. Plus, knowing these back rubs don't lead up to something seems pointless.

It's hard to shake years of historical signals, even if they are unintentional.

This week I meet painter Philip Salamone One interesting thing I find out in this conversation... my studio is literally across the street from his and we have never met before. So I'm glad I got a chance to talk to him. Philip's work is all over town, including the " Faces of Incarceration " exhibit at the Overture Center. He teaches at both the University of Wisconsin - Madison and also has classes at his studio, the Atwood Atelier. Listen to the episode: Links: Website - https://www.philipsalamone.com Philip's studio - www.atwoodatelier.com Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/philipsalamone Wrote about painting his closest friend and the experience. Painted my best friend today. It's a pretty great experience if you haven't tried it. #contemporaryart #portraitpainting #figurepainting #allaprima #fromlife #rideordie #boundarywaters A post shared by Philip Salamone (@philipsalamone) on Jun 17, 2017 at 8:53pm PDT Mentioned

Discovered later that they connected the front buzzer for the building to my phone. Asked them to do it almost a year ago so no wonder I didn't know what it was. But mystery solved at least.

I would think about what I forgot and that would keep me from thinking about the next thing I had to do. It threw off my regular routine.

This weekend I dove into a new medium. Block prints . I met a guy that told me he made designs on t-shirts using block prints . That never occurred to me! Traditionally I always thought of this process only as pressing the print on paper. I mean, I felt so silly when he told me because of how surprised I must have seemed. I think conversations like this are important. Sometimes you just need a little nudge to try out new things. I doubt he even knew the cause and effect that this conversation would have. I got a block print making kit of my own and figured out how to do it. I decided to use this activity to help me pass the time as my wife recovered from her surgery last week. I was sitting at home as she slept, ready to get her anything as she needed it. I wanted to accomplish two things: I wanted to learn how to make block prints I wanted a t-shirt with the American Bandito logo on it.  So that's what I set out to do. I printed out a backwards version of the logo

How does something as little as seeing her at work again have that effect?

Truth is, I didn't really know what pathology was, I asked her when I got home. All I saw was it was gone.

She was moving around pretty easily a few days ago. Now the pain is back.

The eclipse was actually kind of lame compared to what you saw on the news everywhere else. It didn't even get dark here.

I miss so many unexplainable photo-opp moments like this.

This week I meet Robin Leigh Kling . Robin is an artist that has made watercolor landscape paintings over the years. She took time off to raise her son but still managed to find ways to stay involved in the arts. She recently launched a Facebook page to showcase her portfolio called Memories In Watercolor Listen to the episode: Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts , Google Play and YouTube . via Memories in Watercolor via  Memories in Watercolor Links from today's episode Watercolor Tubes - http://amzn.to/2vcylzy Watercolor Paper - http://amzn.to/2uSxqcp Engineering Pencil - http://amzn.to/2fVlqjw Technical Pens - http://amzn.to/2vNS77W REO Speedwagon - http://amzn.to/2fV53U9 Music by Rom-Comm at romcommtheband.com

It doesn't take very long for her to feel like our son Dexter has abandoned her.

She can't explain it but I do think I understand where she's coming from.

Many of the people I've met on the show have talked about having something with them when inspiration hits. How creating something can be done anywhere. Holly in the first episode talked about this . It was something that was easy for me to take with me all the time... there's always a pencil, there's always paper, so that was the really easy part I would say one of the problems I've had over the years is the opposite. I can't find a pen and paper and I always seem to forget to bring one with me. I have a sketchbook like every good artist is supposed to. But I set it down and forget it or it's in my bag that I usually left somewhere. But you know what I do always have? My phone. Not gonna forget that thing. So I've been trying to work on perfecting my art skills drawing on that. I sketch my daily comic on my phone or my Galaxy S Tab (Which has a stylus pencil that does make it easier). But those are quick drawing exercises, not meant to be precis

One minute our son surprises us, the next minute we have no idea what's going on. So is life.

She claims she was savoring it. But I say she was pretty wiped. I'm just happy she's home.

She told me it was actually better I wasn't there because they discussed a lot of what they were going to do. She would have just been worried about what I was thinking. Didn't matter, I still felt awful.

I'm not sure if these were the exact words, I only woke up slightly. Glad our son found a place though. Would like to point out this is the day before surgery number 2 also.

As we watch all the people move out we are still trying to help our son a place to live by next week.

This week we get to meet photographer Melanie Jones . Melanie is an editorial photographer now based in Madison, Wisconsin, specializing in making portraits of companion animals, families, small business owners, and contemplative landscapes. When she moved here continuing her photography business was a hard thing to do at first but she's finding ways to make it work. Listen to the episode: Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts , Google Play and YouTube . via http://www.melaniereneephotography.com Learn more about Melanie http://www.melaniereneephotography.com https://www.facebook.com/melaniereneephoto/ Music for the show by Rom-Comm at romcommtheband.com

I'm not even sure I can properly convey how she spoke for 10 minutes straight in this comic. It was pretty amazing.

Next week is surgery number two. And hopefully the last.

The podcast is finally happening! It's out there. You can listen to it right now. I wasn't sure for a while if I was even going do it. When I first started this site, this wasn't even what it was going to be. But then, my wife and I had a big life change. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and I just wanted to express myself and meet others that did the same. You can read all about what's going on in my life in my daily cartoon journal "Then This Happened..." so I won't go into that here. What I do want to talk about is how over the past month I met all these amazing people that came forward and told me about their own lives. AND, How they manage to express themselves in their own ways. This was an inspiration to see what they do and interact with all of them. The first person I met, Holly Meyers , was just a great inspiration. Because, like me, she has older kids and still just does it! Puts it out there. It's hard for me not to just te

I think this was the first time I didn't go to an appointment with her? The doctor even told her I seemed uneasy when she met me last time.

I don't know why but I love it so much when she's tough like that!

We fully believed that this was going to go the other way. It's the little things that make the most impact after awhile.

We jump to help our son find a new place after being swindled and we are happy to do it. But sometimes he makes it seem like we're just bothering him.

It's funny, you don't know how hard it is to explain Instagram to someone until you try to do it.

I begin my quest to meet artists in Madison, WI with Holly Meyers . After moving to Madison she was inspired by life changes and her new city's creative energy to devote herself more fully to art. She tells me about how early in life she lost all of her artwork in a fire. Then took that opportunity to reinvent what she does. We discuss how, even with kids and a job, she finds the time to create. Plus, she found out that claiming your living room as a studio on your taxes is an actual thing you can do! Listen to the episode: Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts , Google Play and YouTube . via Holly Meyers at  http://hiraethart.weebly.com/ via Holly Meyers at  http://hiraethart.weebly.com/ via Holly Meyers at  http://hiraethart.weebly.com/ Learn more about Holly http://hiraethart.weebly.com https://hollymeyersart.wordpress.com/ https://www.instagram.com/hiraeth_art/ https://society6.com/hollym14 Other notes from the show "Patterson&qu

We've had this exact conversation a million times over the years. The funniest part is I usually know what she means.

Finally, someone at least tried to help.

Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts or Google Play Introducing "American Bandito" a new show about artists. Join animator, cartoonist, and musician Tom Ray for weekly conversations with fellow artists about how they create, promote themselves and in the meantime still manage their own well-being. Music: " Where did it go " by Rom-Comm - cc-by-sa ( http://www.romcommtheband.com/2017/07/where-did-it-go-single-release.html )

The timing of this charge on his card is just so coincidental. Is it the same person that did the rental scam? And no one we've contacted has tried to help us and our son out.

I don't know what I thought I was going to do? But it felt empowering to be inside the house.

We realized we were just being silly and soon made up. This rental scam really took us by surprise and all we wanted to do was help Dexter.