25 Years of DS Art

On June 30th, 1986, my medical degree was a year old. I had just completed an internship in general surgery, managed to pass the third and final round of national board exams, and had been granted a license to practice medicine and surgery by the state of Minnesota. At the stroke of five p.m. that day I also found myself happily and voluntarily unemployed, exiting the hospital in the middle of afternoon rounds. I did not plan to return.

It has been said - on reputable authority, I might add, by extremely important people who are widely published and thoroughly quoted in the medical literature - that I washed out of the medical profession. Petered out. Rose to my level of professional incompetence, then burned out, bailed out, dropped out.

Could be. I most certainly walked out. (Or, as I like to say, fled – in a quiet, dignified sort of way, characteristic of the noble calling of surgeons.) And on my own terms, at that.

Those who had seen this happen before (rarely, mind you; many may become disillusioned with the call, but few actually abandon this, the most sacred of learned professions) said with an awe-ful and profound certainty that I would surely be back, and sooner than later. The house bet was that I would last a year, maybe, though some only gave me six months – just long enough to get a real taste of life on the outside, stripped of the comfort and respect and social insulation of the Aesculapian mantle. After all, you don’t train this long just to throw it all away. No one does.

“He’ll be back once he gets his head straight,” they said, frowning to themselves and nodding with clinical certainty.

Well, folks, I never did get my head straight. But twenty-five years and well over a hundred brain-tickling drawings later, I'm still in the mood for a party. That’s why, during the month of June, 2011, we’re celebrating a quarter century of art and humor by offering…

A 25% Discount! Twenty-five percent off the retail price of all online print orders from www.DSArt.com, through the month of June.

DS Art Pun-zles for $25 each! Out of print since the late1990’s, these 500-piece, cork-backed, full color jigsaw puzzles were originally produced by the Great American Puzzle Factory, but can now only be found in musty attics, garage sale bins and rusty dumpsters.

Choose from King of Clubs, Jumpin’ Juke Box, and Mouse Bytes (computer) puzzles. Very limited supply. Some new, some gently used, all with a full complement of puzzle pieces. Each box signed by the artist. First come, first served.

A Party at DS Art! Mark your calendars for the quarter-century bash at the DS Art Studio, Thursday, June 30^th at 5 pm. That’s in downtown Homewood, Alabama, at the corner of 28^th and Crescent Avenues. (Come early to beat the rush hour traffic!)