I am an Artiiiiiiist!!!

Toshi eyes the 3000 page ream of dot matrix printing paper his dad brought home from work. His long delicate fingers on his little hand grab a pen as he races across the living room floor. Toshi is twice as tall as the cardboard box housing the paper, so the ream makes a perfect desk.

Leaning down he meticulously scribbles what's on his mind. The intensity of his concentration is expressed by the pictorialized thoughts that give voice to his existential awakening. Suddenly, with all the tumult of a frustrated eccentric artist, he rips the top page off and flings it behind his back, bringing with it a stream of connected paper as his daddy shouts in unison, “Gah! I am in Artiiiiiiist!!!”

Before the white rainbow can settle on the floor, Toshi is furiously creating his next work.

***

Over and over, day after day, Toshi hones his skill. The cycle of intensely creating something and dramatically discarding it finally begins to give form to what is on his mind. At first the face seems too abstract to comfortably identify, but each rendition is clearer. Finally on his dad's birthday he creates his first Master Piece at his grandmother’s home. He signs it with a dot in the right hand corner, his Grandmother frames it for his dad, and we learn that Toshi is a happy boy. He turns 22 months in another week.