Coffee @ Ten: Visions of a Wandering Naturalist, Artist & Occasional Fisherman

Lad will talk about his drawings and etchings of Great Lakes fish that are on view in the exhibition. I’ve been an independent studio artist since 1981, when I earned an MFA – the terminal degree in studio art. My studies took me far beyond the US - to Bonn, Vienna and Prague. In Prague, I apprenticed with Jindra Schmidt, an engraver of stamps and currency and could have been a counterfeiter, but for the dreariness of spending one’s days making money. Those studies set the stage for a life in pursuit of will-o-the-wisps, apparitions, enlightenment, old trees and some good fishing, taking me to the Himalayan Plateau, Patagonia, Peruvian altiplano and many other places one can enjoy exotic vacations or have one’s eyes opened. Everywhere I draw and rake those drawings back to the studio for transformation into etchings.