Sid Stromsdorfer

My mother’s way of keeping me occupied… for a good hour, and before the concept of pre-school ever crossed her path and mine, was through crayons, pencils, paper scissors, tape, and some form of non-toxic, edible glue-when she was not looking. I still managed to cut my sister, Allyn’s hair with those paper scissors, which resulted in an ultra-pixie hairicure for her, coupled with several weeks of gender confusion.

My first tour of higher education was with The Art Institute of Boston, now linked with Lesley College, Boston, Massachusetts. I majored in Illustration and did my minor in Graphic Design. The class of 1981 produced an unprecedented crop of Illustrators. Successful ones at that. One of the most telling comments made by Bunny Carter, our Illustration Professor while at AIB, was that one day computers would be able to draw just like humans. Our response back to her was one of disbelief and incredulous naive remarks containing: “No way!”  Or, “never in a million years!” How could a machine even come close? Pixar. You know what is even more ironic? I live down the street from those creative folks.

My earliest forms of illustration were done on cotton board, with luma dye, and colored pencil. Very tight in their renderings, and more in a style one would see on greeting cards or children’s books. Let’s all grow up some 23 years now and look into the present. I went back to school in August of 1999, with the intent of doing a BS in Computer Programming. Thankfully, God and common sense or the other way around intervened. I transferred my major over to the Art Department at Cal State East Bay, Hayward, California. I think I actually heard angles signing as I walked through the Art Department door. I felt lighter. Happier.

Below are several illustrations. The first two are for a magazine article concerning the benefits of coffee and its unseen powers of love and addiction. The last one concerns my parent’s family/home life. Their need to fill their household with the pattering of feet  – dogs and cats, the minute one of their offspring left the nest.

The woman is in a lotus pose, holding the coffee bean – a source of health, mixed with daily worship and addiction.

I was not aware, until I read the article, that goats upon chewing coffee leaves become very amorous. Nine months later or however long it takes for incubation, a whole new herd shows up. That’s Mother Nature and love for you at its purest.

This illustration is in tribute to my parents’ love of animals. It was a combined Christmas 2007 gift between me and my brother, Grant Stromsdorfer. He came up with the concept. I just made it pretty. The artwork wraps around a white coffee mug. Coffee being a must in our family. It was the perfect mix of sentiment, joy, and Christmas. All rolled into one perfect cup of Joe.