The Return of Jerry Ruiz

Some people join the Palette and Chisel
just to show their work in the gallery.

But some come to the workshops.

And some of those
come several times a week,
like the two characters shown above,
the man on the left being Jerry Ruiz
who has been drawing here
for at least 15 years.






And then suddenly,
he disappeared.

After 6 months,
a lot of us were getting worried.


Tor Muehl Googled the obituaries,
but way too many people
are named "Jerry Ruiz" in Chicago.

Ann McMurray (super-model) reported seeing someone
who looked like him on the street
last month,
but maybe it was somebody else.

And then finally,
Jerry strolled into
the Saturday afternoon
drawing workshop yesterday,
carrying a bunch of new pencils
and drawing pad.


Where had he been?

"I've been around", he answered.