The Clam Gatherers

This drawing is inexorably connected to the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles. Here is its story and how unlikely a drawing totally unrelated to sports became tied to it. I usually was the fastest sprinter in school and the schools I attended were fairly large in size. My high school, Tascosa, in Amarillo, Texas had around 2,000 students. Only one person could outrun me in the 40 yard dash which a speed marker for NFL athletes. The strange thing is I was a distance runner with my specialty in the mile. Because of my sprinting speed, no one had ever outrun me on the last lap of a race. I did hold the school's 600 meter record for awhile. I grew up on the high plains of Texas and its flat and mainly treeless landscape. There were no rivers or creeks nearby. When I moved to northeast Oklahoma in 1977, to me it was a wonderland of woods, creeks, and hills. I loved adventuring out and hiking for miles through the woods. I had always had a dream to compete for my country in the Olympics in the 1,500 meter run which is about a hundred yards shy of a mile. By 1979 I started training seriously for the Olympics. My sites were set on the 1984 Olympics games in Los Angeles. My training over the next four years consisted of running nearly 15,000 miles, riding a bike 10 to 20 miles a day, swimming 1 to 2 miles a day, weight training 4 days a week, resistance and breath training, and using all the techniques in improving my times. So many days were spent running miles out on little country roads and through the woods. These runs a lot of times turned into hikes in the woods and along creek beds. I would find fossils, crayfish, and even fresh water clams in the rocky creeks. I decided to design a drawing of a scene of gathering up clams or crawdads from my experiences, but felt that trying to draw a believable scene of water running in a creek was going to be difficult. I designed the scene and put a group of girls gathering up clams, but the project was put on the "back burner" until I felt confident enough to accomplish it. Meanwhile, I continued to train and ran in around 140 races. By 1984 I had made it to the finals of the 1,500 meter run in the state championship of Oklahoma. This race was part of the Olympic qualification trials. I was outrun by the then state champion in the mile in the last 50 meters of the race. Needless to say, I did not qualify for the final trials in Provo, Utah. I came close but could never break the 4 minute barrier which was necessary to compete. I was short 10 seconds in the mile, needing to run a 3:52. Ten seconds does not seem long, but on a track it is an eternity. But I gave it my best shot. I will never forget that race in 1984 and will never forget the runs and hikes through the wooded and hilly countryside of Oklahoma. Years later I was finally ready to do the drawing of the girls gathering clams. Sometimes designs are imagined in my mind and it takes years to finally create a drawing or painting. Finally, after over 30 years, the drawing was started and completed. It took around 100 hours to complete which is standard for me in doing a major drawing. I put the drawing into print. My "The Clam Gatherers" print is in some clam bars on the northeast seaboard of the United States. Now, when I look at the drawing, it brings back memories of those times in the woods and walking along creek bottoms and how I treasure my runs through that landscape. I never made the Olympic team, but it did inspire a scene for a drawing.