I had a very good day today. I walked around downtown for a few hours because I've needed some time with myself and the city. I had my painting supplies but was not really anticipating to paint. I sat on this bench and a very animated man named Jim walked by and said I chose a great bench to sit on (all the benches are memorialized to different individuals) because that was the bench honoring his doctor of many years and this being the doctor that helped him stop taking prescription pills "because he said he was not going to prescribe them anymore." Jim said he walked into AA that day and has been sober for 40 years since. It's a great story that I might normally discount as a bit cliché, but I had seriously just been sitting there thinking about how little I regarded all the gaudy, glinting bench plaques because I assumed they were by way of rich people donating money. I figured my subject had landed in my lap so I painted Dr. Watkins' bench because Jim seemed like he's wonderful company to keep and I wish I could mail him my painting. It really changed my perception of memorialized benches.
Dr. Watkins’ bench on the South Lamar pedestrian bridge
My sketch and the bench