Caruthersville man draws intricate scenes using Etch A Sketch

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — A soft-spoken man, Andy Kingston says he's surprised by the fuss people make when they see his artwork.

The 52-year-old Kingston works the dials of a red Etch A Sketch as he talks, making dozens of minute turns to create a gray-lined farm scene.

Kingston's talent with the popular children's toy created in the 1950s is something he rediscovered in early June after he was admitted to the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center for diabetes complications. In all, he will likely spend six weeks at the VA and is keeping his Etch A Sketch and sketch pad nearby to help pass the time.

The Caruthersville, Mo., man first realized he could recreate landscapes in a continuous-line drawing on an Etch A Sketch while sitting beside his grandmother's hospital bed more than 10 years ago. But it wasn't a skill Kingston had used much before he was hospitalized.

It takes only 30 to 90 minutes for Kingston, formerly of Dexter, Mo., to create the most intricate sketches.

Yet after viewing Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" at the Louvre in Paris and the Sistine Chapel in Rome, he doesn't seem to consider himself an artist.

"I've never really thought of myself as an artist, especially with the artwork I've seen," said Kingston as he directed the Etch A Sketch stylus through the aluminum powder on the back of the screen to reveal portions of a barn. "I consider myself an amateur."

Kingston joined the Air Force at 19 and served from 1975 to 1983. He used his time overseas to see the castles of the German King Ludwig II, the artwork that has been handed down through the centuries in Rome and the cultures of Amsterdam, Belgium, Austria, Thailand, Turkey and Guam.

"We're a young country here, and there are ancient civilizations that have been around for thousands of years," Kingston said. Seeing the Sistine Chapel, "it's hard to put into words. I can understand why people who go there feel an inspiration for God. [Art like that] gives a rich impression of the people and history that came up before to build all of that. So much remains today that people will be able to see in the future, it gives you a sense of immortality to be connected to that."

One of nine children, Kingston went from picking tall cotton in the fields at age 7 to working at a cotton gin after school during high school. His brother, David Kingston, lives in Poplar Bluff.

"I joined the military to get an opportunity to see what the rest of the world was like," he said. "And the military gives you a broader spectrum of the American culture, it's a blend of cultures."

Kingston would use his leaves to travel Europe at a time when a three-day trip to Paris, including train tickets and hotel, cost less than $80.

"I got off the beaten path and connected with the real people," he said.

While hiking through Austria once, he came across an older man chopping wood and stopped to help.

"The couple invited me in for supper and even though we only half understood each other because we spoke different languages, we still connected," Kingston recalled. "I found out, most of the time, people are the same the world over. Everyone is just struggling to survive."

Outside the hospital, Kingston doesn't have much time between his 12-hour shifts at a Blytheville, Ark., steel factory and his family, two sons and two grandchildren, but plans to continue with his artwork as time permits.

In the meantime, he doesn't let things like a stint in the hospital caused by his diabetes get him down.

"There are a lot of people worse off than I am," he said. "We're only here for a short time as it is and if we look for the negative stuff, it just makes life that much shorter and less meaningful."