Richard Nodine writes: I grew up in a small New Jersey farming community at a time when the state still resembled its moniker, "the Garden State." At the age of 14 I landed my first paying job, robbing banks. It paid minimum wage at a local amusement park known as Cowboy City. Between robberies I embarked on a study of 19th Century, western calligraphy and talked the management into allowing me to paint elaborate signs to enhance the “wild west” atmosphere. It was great fun.

I studied at Parsons School of Design and NYU. Upon graduation, I worked briefly for a major ad agency, but found the corporate creative environment unsatisfying. I took a job in the display department of a small department store on the Jersey shore. I was practically the only one there who really needed a job. Everyone else was having a great time making “art.” So I adopted the corporate culture and found, like other artists of the period, I enjoyed the flamboyant environment of retail.

But good things never last. Small retail was becoming uneconomical so I moved to the local division of R.H. Macys where I discovered a management intent on reshaping department stores in a more relevant and creative form. I advanced through several positions, finally moving to the San Francisco division where I became display director.

During the 1970s and 80s Macys California was noted for groundbreaking merchandising and many exhibits of design and ethnic art. My participation in the creative team's efforts afforded me the opportunity to travel widely and the freedom to produce a quality of work few corporate art directors are allowed to achieve. My staff and I were rewarded with national recognition.

In 1987 contractions in the retail industry once again encouraged a move. I formed Pacific Print Media to assist the burgeoning pool of entrepreneurs in Northern California with quality sales promotion tools. Today, I continue to service a small group of my clients and devote most of my time to self-defined projects.

I learned that art is useful in the solution of real-world problems. It expresses and defines our experience of the human condition far more effectively than data. All that is required is an open mind and the spirit of an entertainer (one who believes the style of a message is as important as the data it contains).