CHESHIRE - The steady hand of Sarkis Antikajian pulls a glob of thick, red paint onto a tiny brush. With a motion of whimsy, and what some might call carelessness, he swipes tiny strokes of paint onto the canvas, where an emerging figure sits in a red dress, staring off into the distance.
    All around him digital cameras click and flash, as ten or so students watch his every move. They study every stroke, note every detail, and most importantly, laugh as Antikajian cracks jokes at his own expense.
    It is Wednesday, and the artist, who lives minutes out of Cheshire, off the highway and behind the seclusion of tall trees, is teaching a workshop miles away in downtown Springfield.   
   "I have only taught one other time, watercolors, a long time ago," he says, wiping mixed tints of blue and yellow from his hands. "This might be the last time," he jokes, throwing a sarcastic glance at a passing student.
   The class is only a small blip on Antikajian's career map. More exciting than his one-week course, his first book—a collection of paintings, drawings and poetry—is in the final printing stage.
   The book, a hefty, 192-page, hardbound edition, will be ready for order this month, and Antikajian is obviously pleased that nearly two years of drafts, redesigns and long nights at the comuter screen are finally over.
    Sitting in his studio, a two-story building just down a gravel path from his home, Antikajian

gazes out the wall-to-wall window at green pastures and hills that roll in all directions.
    On the coffee table in front of him, an advance copy of "Sarkis: Paintings, Drawings and Images In Words" sits open, its glossy pages shimmering as sunlight pours into the room.
    "We got them yesterday," he says with a smile, leaning forward to pick up the book. "Oh my yes, I am very excited."
    For Antikajian, the book represents how he likes to appreciate art. It boasts page upon page of colorful pictures and nearly no commentary.
    "Most art books are so much talk, he says. "They don't let the art speak for itself."
    The book was always on the back burner for Antikajian, but it was a simple question from his son nearly two years ago that launched a journey to assemble what sits in his hands today.
    "My son called and asked, "What ever happened to the book, Dad?" And from then it started," he explains, adding that his two sons, an architect and a graphic designer, pushed him to develop the project. They also helped along the way.
    At his sons' request, he went to work taking pictures of a variety of his paintings and drawings, cataloging them on a computer. He then sat for hours at a time, moving the pictures around in a layout program, trying to mold his ideas into a book.
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