c. 2003 by Susan Barnes
I first met Frank on the beach in Beach Haven, NJ in 2005.
Often I take pictures while on the beach to use as reference for future paintings. I noticed Frank would come to the beach in the afternoon and stand by the jetty with a fishing net. He would stand facing the ocean with the net held behind him. Something about his demeanor interested me. I decided to use his image in one of my paintings.
The next summer I saw him again on the beach and mustered up the courage to go over to him and tell him that I had used his image as a reference for one of my paintings. I also said I had just delivered the painting to a gallery in Barnegat Light, North End Trilogy. He quipped that he wanted royalties.
We spent some time talking I told him that I also was an ICU nurse and he said he served on the board of a big hospital in Staten Island. We had an instant connection. Frank was the same age as my mother.
The next morning Frank was at the gallery when they opened and purchased the painting. When I saw him again on the beach I walked over to him to say thank you for buying the painting. He told me how much he loved it.
We became friends. Each summer I would see him and we would talk. Frank told me he was also a musician. He played trombone in a band. I told him I would like to to paint him playing music but he thought that would not be very interesting.
We exchanged notes and cards at Christmas. One summer I saw him sitting on his porch. I stopped and we talked. He insisted I come and see where he had hung my painting. He told me how much his family also loved the painting and thought I had captured him perfectly.
I last met up with him a couple years ago sitting on his deck in Beach Haven. We talked briefly. He told me he had been recently hospitalized. I could see his health was failing.
I was so sad to discover he had passed away in November of 2013. He will be missed.
