The Breners

I grew up across the street from Art and Linda Brener. Theirs was the coolest house on the block as far as I was concerned. They had all this really great art that, as a kid, I didn't understand, but couldn't stop looking at. Every time I went to their house to play, I was always much more focused on the things on their walls and shelves. And the fact that some of it was actually signed by them, well, that just astounded me beyond comprehension.

You mean someone who lives here, in this little town where I live, is actually a real artist?! Impossible. No, possible!

Art (or Buzz as his wife called him) and Linda Brener (always Mr. and Mrs. Brener to me) encouraged me without words to become an artist. They inspired me without even trying. I remember everything about that house on Mather Road. The way the spherical spindles on their modern, metal-framed couch could screw off; the fake flower held by the knight statue at the foot of their stairs; the Jasper Johns painting in their living room; the jade and bonsai plants on the dining room window sill; the massive collection of family photos on top of their black upright piano; the way I felt when they bought one of my raku sculptures my senior year of college!

The Breners are special people. I hadn't seen them in years, and then the other night I was out to dinner with friends and there they were. Even without my glasses on, I spotted Mr. Brener from way across the room. I couldn't get up fast enough, and my legs were much too slow to take me there! They moved to NJ to be closer to their daughter and grand kids, and are now practically neighbors again after all these years.

The painting in the photo is by Linda Brener, and I have to thank my childhood friend Betsy for giving it to me. I treasure it. In fact, it hangs directly above my computer and I look at it every day. Good, good people, the Breners. I look forward to getting reacquainted after all these years.