Bob Collins
In the category of “What’s Your Passion?” we give you Mike Dennison, 37, of Stoneham, Mass., who invites us to consider the source of our various inspirations.
Three years ago, Dennison, a dispatcher by day, vowed he would draw a picture of Bea Arthur, of Golden Girls fame, once a day, every day, for a year.
He’s still at it, the Boston Globe says.
Some people are into politics. Some people are into the Golden Girls. Who’s to say what passion is appropriate or not?
This Stoneham artist draws Bea Arthur of "The Golden Girls" every day: https://t.co/NvoCaDCuFXhttps://t.co/HxC4j0HKeK
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) April 7, 2016
“She’ll just quickly put someone down, in most cases her mother, and just be quick about it,” he said. “That’s how I react to people. I don’t do it with malicious intent. I just kind of make light of situations. And I relate to that.”
Denison readily acknowledges that he got the idea to paint his snarky heroine when he learned that a nude painting of Arthur by the artist John Currin had sold for $1.9 million.
“I was, like, ‘I could paint Bea Arthur!,’ ” Denison recalled. “Before I knew it, that’s what I was doing.”
He called his project “Bea A Day;” and over those first 365 days, he became a prominent member of an active subculture that surrounds “The Golden Girls,” which ended a seven-season run in 1992, but still has an active message board, a fan club, and a podcast.
Denison posts his daily sketches on his Twitter account.
