Hello Friends,
For those of you who are waiting for your portraits to be completed or scheduled, thank you for your patience and understanding.
My Dad, Jack Schilpp, received his latest promotion - to heaven - just before Christmas 2013. His health had been compromised by a disastrous surgery in 2005, and although he was always cheerful and witty, eventually his physical heart wore out. His spiritual heart will be with us always; we will remember his many stories and talents. Daddy had a story or a joke for just about any situation. He was invariably kind and hospitable to anyone he met. He found beauty and humor in everything. Although his career was in aeronautical engineering, at heart he was an artist. As his youngest child, I tagged along with Daddy all over L.A., to museums, gardens, beaches, old buildings in downtown L.A., a silent movie theater complete with organ accompianment, even the Long Beach shipyard. Everywhere we went Daddy would enthusiastically point out compositions of form and color. Only recently, I learned he was the president of his high school's photography club! My love of art, nature, design, even animals (he brought us rescued pets - usually without my Mom's consent!) were all encouraged by his gentle example.
For the last few weeks, my son Carl, who assists me with photography projects, and I have gone through decades of photos (I hesitated to say thousands, but actually that's probably correct). Along with my siblings, we created a photo essay of my Dad's life. Some photos, such as the middle image above, I had never seen before (unknown to us, they were stored in my Mom's closet) - and now we won't be able to hear their stories from Daddy. Of course, I've always felt preserving memories in photographs was important, but now even more so. Along with the memories in our hearts, they are truly our most precious reminders of all the wonderful years we were blessed to have Jack Schilpp in our lives.
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Jan 22, 2014, 9:19:02 AM
Jeff - What a beautiful and moving tribute to your Dad. Clearly he left you with a gift for composition and an understanding of how to bring the viewer into the photograph. I have always enjoyed looking at your photography, but now the dozens of boxes stored all over the house make for sense. I will miss your Dad's laugh. I will think of him when I look at your work. I love you. jeff