John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 - January 27, 2009)

john updike was a fellow pennsylvanian and an inspiration for me from a young age. i first read a short story of his in an english class at st joe's prep. it was called A&P and it was perfect. the story has such clarity and awareness for detail it should come as no surprise that john updike studied as a painter at the ruskin school of art at oxford before he turned his talents to literature. my early studies were primarily in creative writing before i became a painter. i always looked up to john updike as an example of how to use both practices in service of each other. in fact right now a drawing of mine called 'the storm #2' is on view at the ICA in philadelphia that includes a quote by john updike that reads:

"Why write? As soon ask, why rivet? Because a number of personal accidenss drift us toward the occupation of the riveter, which pre-exists, and most importantly, the riveting gun exists, and we love it.

Think of the pencil. What a quiet, nimble, slender and then stubby wonder-worker he is!"

-john updike