Each year as I begin a series of blogs, I try to find a theme to follow. This year that theme is “something new.” I will try each week to bring a new experience to my blog. This week I am interviewing local artist, Robert Steele (portrait by Wes Gray Photography). I’ve known Robert and his wife, Julie, for over 20 years and we don’t see each other as much as we used to. But like old friends do, we recently gravitated back to each other due to reunions, deaths of friends, etc. And for the first time, I bought some of Robert’s art. He is also the artist for the Q-Spot in Enid and uses many different media for a canvas. His art can be insightful, funny, strange, but always unique, like the artist himself. So, please welcome local Enid artist, Robert Steele.
Peggy – Tell us about your background. Who you are, where you are from?
Robert – I’m a local boy…grew up in Enid, OK born in 1950. High school drop-out drafted at 19 and went to Vietnam, decorations include the Bronze Star and Combat Infantry Badge. Graduated with a BFA painting, drawing, and advertising art. 
Peggy – Besides being an artist, what else have you done in your life?
Robert – Black-Belt in Aikido and Judo, 8th Dan. Security Contractor for the US Air Force.
Peggy – What themes does your art explore and what do you hope people will take away from the experience?
Robert – Life and Death. What I have personally experienced. Honor, loyalty, bravery, honesty and sacrifice. Looking at life Past, Present, and Future. What could have been…what might be…what could be. 
Peggy – What prompted you to be an artist and did you have a specific inspiration in mind? Were you influenced by a certain person, or other artist?
Robert – Inspired internally, I guess. Was going to be an artist no matter what. 
Peggy – If you could compare your art to any other existing works, which ones would it be and why?
Robert – I’ve studied art my whole life….everything I’ve seen inspires me. Other artist inspired…or a piece of wire from the street that’s been run over a 100 times….and natures art.
Peggy – I noticed in the piece I bought of the old Viking, there was an illusion of others in the background – maybe a battle was beginning – does your art normally have a story in the background for others to notice? Why? 
Robert – Always a story….I wish I could ACT, PERFORM MUSIC. Or WRITE NOVELS. I have to tell my stories with paint and pencil.
Peggy – Tell us about your latest work and what inspired you.
Robert – A series of experiences from Vietnam…..Cowboys and Gunslingers…Hot Rods and Motorcycles…Rock Band old and new…portraits. 
Peggy – How can someone contact you? Or buy your art?
Robert – steele.robert62@gmail.com or https://www.facebook.com/robert.steele.10
Peggy – Thanks for taking the time for this interview. All the best!
Robert – Thanks so much for your interest in my work. 
The scent of my mother-in-law’s Italian Cream Cake recipe wafting from the oven for the big dinner tomorrow, I prepare our annual Christmas Eve dinner. It was something we did years ago with kids – snacks and Christmas goodies in front of the fire. There would be plenty of food tomorrow. When I was young you could bet I was cooking for Christmas, probably still wrapping, and the frig was full with items for the family dinner tomorrow. So we had snacks for Christmas Eve. No one ever complained. And years later we still do it.
It’s coming! The very first Author Fest presented by the Public Library of Enid and Garfield County and the Enid Writers Club will be held on Saturday, January 14, 2017. Forty Oklahoma authors have signed up and will take over the downstairs library that Saturday morning. Many will read from their work and will have their books with them for selling and signing. The library is creating a booklet so attendees can have their favorite author autograph it. The fest will be held from 10 am to 3 pm.
The Christmas wreath is a standard in our home. It hangs on the inside of the door. It is too thick to hang between the wooden door and the storm door without being crushed, so I hang it so the people on the inside of the house can feel its Christmas spirit. 
If you spent your life believing your fiancé died in a storm and then found out your father had him killed, what would you do? If you thought the people of your small town didn’t know who your father was – but they knew all along – what would you do?
Thanksgiving is next week and I’m sure you and your family have big plans. Mine has been sending email messages for a week deciding on a menu. The person who hosts the dinner takes care of meat and then everyone brings something. I’m a planner and without a plan, I am sure we will not be able to pull this monumental task off. Probably we could, but what if everyone brought only sweet potatoes! So I plan.
I spent the afternoon with a good friend at the theater. We saw Dr. Strange. It’s nice to find someone who shares my taste in movies. I loved the special effects and story behind the Marvel character. I’ve got to say; I didn’t know this character until recently but truly enjoyed the movie. Hollywood has recently dipped into the super-hero pond and caught some fascinating stories to tell. Dr. Strange was another addition to their stringer.
It’s November! And it is still warm outside. I don’t know whether to gripe or be grateful for the weather. We need rain, but in Oklahoma, when the rains begin in the fall, winter is right behind. Last year we had a major ice storm the day after Thanksgiving. My flower beds need attention before the ice and snow. The over waist-high basil should be dried and crushed for use in soups and sauces this winter. And I just got called back to work for the Christmas season.
It’s Halloween! And in honor of my daughter’s favorite holiday we’re going to discuss The Apocalypse Sucks. It would of course, if it weren’t so much fun to write. I mean, if you can’t make fun of the apocalypse, what can you make fun of?
Peggy Chambers "Views from the Hammock" site 