Tuxedo Plumber

by Godfrey J. Ellis – Late Spring 2019

The paintings of Mont St. Michel in 1994 were the last pictures that I painted as I got caught up with life.  Almost 25 years passed.  At the very end of 2018, our bishop, Joe Miller, hired me to ghost write a book for him on business networking.  Since I enjoyed writing and had just retired, I readily agreed and spent the next six months (over 900 hours) writing a book for him. No mention was made of illustrations. In fact, he tried, unsuccessfully, to hire another artist to provide pictures for the book. As I was writing his book, I felt the need to illustrate some of the concepts he was having me write about.  The first one was that business professionals need to dress appropriately for their profession – not underdressing and not overdressing.  Executives don’t put on blue jeans with the knees ripped out, and plumbers don’t wear a tuxedo to repair a leaky faucet.  I provided a first illustration in a cartoon style because the drawing were meant to be fun – though not necessarily funny.