My Brother, The Artist

By John Scarritt

Throughout the late 1960s, our family home began to be populated with paintings that my brother Alan had created while studying art at Brown University. I was a high school student at the time. As painting after painting came into our house, I began to realize that Alan was likely to follow the career path of a fine artist. In 1969, he formalized this decision with his application to a MFA program at an art school in California, and he subsequently moved to the West Coast.

Alan, left, and his brother John wearing a Brown University sweatshirt, together with their brother Gordon and their parents.

Since that time, ours was a family with a full-time artist, a family with a bright burning creative light. Having an artist in the family is a blessing for any family. Creative siblings bring a new dynamic to the family unit. Recalling an advertising campaign from Apple Computer in the late 1990s, creative people tend to "Think Different.”  They may see things differently than others, they may interpret things differently than others, they may find humor at something that others do not,  they make connections that others cannot see.

A note from Alan to John for Christmas. John had asked for Gregorian chants, and, expecting a CD, was met with home made dice with Roman numerals and a pun on Gregorian chance.

Having a creative person in a family can also encourage other family members to seek out their inner creative spirit. Each of us has a creative core, but sometimes that creative spirit is smothered by self-doubt or other obstacles. Alan was always encouraging his siblings to be creative. For me, it was his ongoing interest in my photography hobby.

In addition to being an artist, Alan was also an exceptionally good teacher. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of art history and could explain art in ways that facilitated understanding. Over the years, I had the opportunity to visit art galleries and art museums with Alan in New York, Washington, Madrid, and other art centers. It was such a joy to walk through a museum with Alan as your guide. He was thoroughly immersed in the art we were seeing, while at the same time explaining the work and the artist’s ideas as we went along. Visiting art with Alan was an unforgettable experience.

If you have a sibling who is an artist, you are blessed with something very valuable. If you are the sibling who is the artist, please don't hesitate to share your creative light and enthusiasm with your siblings.

Thank you, Alan for sharing your creative spirit and your passion for art with me and our family.

Comment below with how Alan ignited your creativity.