“Gate to the Bay House” by Dick Hawes, One Eye Open

Our friend Dick Hawes (who we all call “Tricky” for reasons obvious to those of a certain age) sees the world differently. Actually, though it’s not grammatically correct, I think he sees the world not just differently but better. I’m not necessarily talking about his ‘point of view’ or his opinions or attitudes – I’m talking about his photographs.

Mmmmm Good! by Dick Hawes, One Eye Open

I guess all artists have that special gift of sight and Tricky is an artist extraordinaire, though he would probably be the last to say so. His medium is photography and he takes his pictures for his own pleasure. He’s done so for years. Only in recent times has he ever put his work on public display under his new business name “One Eye Open.”  He had some of his work up at Bailey’s Café in Nahcotta a few years back and was more surprised than we were when he made a sale or two. Since then, he’s had a few exhibits on Bainbridge Island where he lives. I don’t know whether he’s sold any more work or not.

I think of all the art forms, photography is probably hardest to sell (except, of course, if your name was Ansel Adams). I say this having been married to a photographer in one of my former lives. I remember clearly at one of his exhibitions at the San Francisco Art Museum overhearing a viewer say, “Oh, I took a photograph exactly like that recently.” Yep, everyone is a photographer – even more than everyone is a writer or a painter or a maker of fine jewelry.

“High and Dry” by Dick Hawes, One Eye Open

For the forty plus years I have known him, Tricky has quietly photographed simply for his own pleasure. The glimpses we’ve caught of his work come in the form of cards – Christmas cards, birthday cards, thank you cards. They are always ‘personalized’ in that they are photographs of something he has seen here when he’s been visiting or maybe something we all saw when on a trip together. And whatever the image, it is instantly recognizable to us yet absolutely a product of Dick’s singular vision.

To say that I delight in being the beneficiary of his work is truly an understatement. I wonder if I ever say “thank you” enough? Especially for his enduring friendship.