(Mick)
(Mick’s) original collection in the Archive spans eight years, 1975-1983, ages five to thirteen. The full collection contains 2,511 items, which are reproduced on microfiche in the Reference Edition. (Mick’s) persisting preferences include multiple fields of action covering vast expanses, sometimes covering both sides of a large sheet of newsprint; overviews, often with huge sky and tiny figures; and cross-sectional views depicting actions on the surface of the water and below; in writing, stories may be told from two perspectives. Gesture and intensity is depicted in energetic activity with favored motifs being sports and physical activity including kickball, skiers, motorcyclists, soldiers, Vikings, explosions, bursts, and swirls of brilliant color. Action often exceeds the boundaries of the page and ground lines tend to be omitted. In counterpoint, there is a penchant for precision and detail as in maps, diagrams, football grids, insignia, uniforms, and equipment. In play with this attention to detail is an emphasis on practice in both visual and written work. Vikings have a storehouse for their supplies and practice their swordplay. (Mick) himself practices forms and shapes that serve multiple purposes: an extended “v” shape, upright or on its side used for the legs of kicks and the prow of a ship. Ships, houses, and trees recur across the collection. Writing about animals introduces most directly an element of sweetness that can be inferred elsewhere. Humor, verbal play, visual jokes, and verbal facility span the collection. Later works, especially landscape paintings, have a lyricism not visible earlier. Writing as a preferred medium takes off at age nine, producing adventure stories, drama, and descriptive writing.