"Emile Norman: By His Own Design" is a portrait of the self-taught California artist Emile Norman, who, at age 89, is still working with the same passion for life, art, nature and freedom that inspired him through seven decades of a changing art scene and of turbulent times for a gay man in America. The film chronicles his independent spirit: how it developed from his early days on a ranch in the San Gabriel Valley; how it brought him success in New York City in the 1940s and '50s; and how it gave him the confidence to leave the New York art community and find freedom in Big Sur. Here on the California coast, he and Brooks Clement, his partner of 30 years, built a house and created a haven for a circle of friends and artists -- a circle that is still growing today.
