A Sucker for Kids

Arsenal owner and operator, Cliff Collard, LOVES little people. Granted, "little people" is the vernacular of this anecdotalist, but the enthusiastic passion denoted in the underlined and bold capital letters is all Cliff. Emphasis his. In fact, Cliff's adoration for children knows no bounds.

And I reckon that's as it should be.

So for Historic Downtown Bryan's First Friday Part II, Cliff painted faces on the young — whiskers, musical instruments, and animals of all species extant and otherwise. "Now this might be a little cold," he'd say sitting poised with colored brush. "Are you ready?"

Once done, Cliff would pass a hand-held mirror to his most recent favorite customer of all time. Oohs and aaahs followed and then, "Now how about a piece of candy? Would you like something sweet for sitting so well?"

After work, Cliff talked the whole night long about how much he enjoyed the endeavor, recalling names and activities the kiddos talked about ... even laughing about all the lil' sticky hands running around our gallery.

We can hardly wait until February's First Friday — decorating sugar cookies and enjoying a live musical performance from local high schoolers. Plan to join us!