My father, Barney Edelman, should have turned 82 today. But instead, I lost him on January 27, 2009, when he was only 76. I’m missing him, and one of the ways I’m dealing with that is by communing with his artwork. Luckily, he left behind a lot of it.

I’ve shared many of Dad’s paintings with you before, and here he is with four more, a quadriptych of birds he painted to fill a large wall in our new home.

He was an artist his entire life, and his output consisted of far more than the oil paintings I’ve previously posted. Earlier this year, I brought home more than 100 pieces of his artwork, and this morning I looked through them again. Here are just a few.

For 22 years, Dad worked at McGraw-Hill, where he was the art director for multiple magazines. I came across many examples of his design work from that time, all (the period being what it was) done by hand. From the perspective of our digital desktop publishing world, I’m astounded by his craft.

That mock-ups like these had to be done as part of the publishing process is remarkable. That his talent allowed him to do them so cleanly, so precisely, so beautifully is also remarkable.

Others might take a book to the beach to pass the time, but Dad would bring along his watercolors, and quickly capture everything he saw …

… such as these two moments from Cape Cod in 1982.

In addition to his oils and watercolors, he also took life drawing classes, sketching models with chalk, always seeking to improve his craft.

So much talent …

My father, of course, was more than his artistic skills. He was the calm voice, the kind word, the giver of support, the teacher of the meaning of love. But since I cannot share those with you except through my witness, accept these as a token of his true self, and mourn with me today.

I miss and love you, Dad.