Arts And Crafts and Me and Jon Gnagy

          Arts and crafts have never given me permission to use them. Oh, there was a time when as a kid I would faithfully sit down in front of the TV on a Saturday morning to “Learn to Draw with Jon Gnagy.” I’d have everything in front of me that he recommended: Plain 8 ½ X 11white sheet of paper, ruler, and pencil with an eraser.

          He would often begin by saying something like, “With your ruler, draw a straight line about 1/3 up from of the bottom.” That I could do, and just as often, that was about as far as I could go to match what would eventually show up on the TV screen. The rest was a rather pathetic attempt on my part to “draw with Jon Gnagy.” Trust me, I wanted to create a picture that people not only recognized what it was, but even thought it was pretty good.

          My parents gave me a Jon Gnagy drawing set one year for Christmas. I was really excited about that for now I would not only have the correct tools of the trade, but a book with step-by-step instructions for using them and illustrations of some of the pictures from his TV show. And I will tell you that I poured my heart and soul into doing the best I could do with the chalks and pencils and a kneaded eraser. Plus I now had official drawing paper (and we all know how important that is), but alas, my art was meager at best and “what is it?” at worst.”

          My favorite was of a covered bridge, and I will say that I didn’t do a bad job of it. No, no, no—not Jon Gnagy quality by any means, but definitely a recognizable attempt. As a matter of fact, that has stuck with me for lo these many years—not the whole scene itself, but the covered bridge with a few little strokes to indicate trees and flowing water. I’ve sketched that in meetings and classrooms and sometimes at home, just thinking aimless thoughts (which many of them are in these days of retirement)

          Several years ago, when I was online one day, I came across a website that was dedicated to Jon.  It was set up and managed by his daughter, Polly Seymour. There was a contact email address that allowed you to send messages to her regarding memories of her father and his program. So, that’s what I did, explaining to her how much her father’s TV program had meant to me. And I thanked her for setting up the website (it’s still online, in case you’re interested Just Google Jon Gnagy.)

          The very next day, I got an email back from her, thanking me for what I shared. But she also told me how fitting it was because I had sent it the day before on what would have been Jon’s 100^th birthday, of which I was not aware. Then I got one from Polly’s husband, a professor I think at Florida State, who told me about something from Jon’s picture lessons that he doodled in meetings as well.

          By the way, I still have my Jon Gnagy Drawing Kit. And here’s a little secret just between you and me (so don’t tell anyone): Every once in a while I get it out and give art another chance to make friends with me.

Jon Gnagy as he appeared on TV