Artsy Fartsy

This particular drawing has a special meaning. The style was something that I created in Art Class in High School in the mid 70’s. It started with poster board. I tore off ragged chunks of tissue paper, laid it on the poster board and wet it with vinegar on a brush. The vinegar transferred the colors to the poster board. The tissue overlapped so the extracted colors formed new colors. I then did a pen and ink drawing over the colors. The theme was a mixture of intertwined feathers and/or flames (in all of these years, I can’t decide which).

I gave that first drawing to the girl who sat next to me in Art Class. Later on, she hooked me up with my first job at her father’s BBQ joint. Her dad taught me all of my best stuff. There were lots of jokes and bullshit, but also I was taught how to treat people, to be responsible for my actions, and that there were right ways to do things, even if it didn’t make sense to my fifteen year old brain. The guy’s name was Beene. I owe him a great deal.

The 80’s gave me acrylic paints and felt tip pens. I continued to create these same images with newer, different tools. Roller balls are fucking awesome! I’ve thinned acrylics to be more like watercolors. There was a time in the 80’s and 90’s that I wrote nightly notes on the backs, with how long I drew, and what lady was driving me to drink and draw. There’s a stack of them on a music stand in my living room that you’ve never noticed, as we never spend time in there. They hold the secrets of that past life. I honestly doubt that I could make much sense of the postings on the back anymore. Or maybe I can. They are feet away from me right now, but maybe those close mysteries should just stay locked away in plain sight.

When I got my first copy of Corel Draw and discovered the “smear” tool to blend colors, a friend exclaimed “Oh no, he can do that shit with a computer now” or something more colorful, but not in a flattering way. I may have to go Seuss with this: I’ve done it with a mouse, done it in my house. Drew it in my den, drew it with a pen… I’ve used Wacom tablets, iPads, and all kinds of toys to produce essentially the same kind of images. I’ve gotta say, the iPad with “undo” to delete oopsies is pretty awesome. The old techniques were pretty painful. I used talcum powder to keep my hand running smooth, cover wet ink to not smear it, and just wasted a lot of time waiting on stuff to dry. iPads Rock!

The reason that this drawing is special, is it’s the last one I sent to that fifteen year old girl in Art Class. We had reconnected after many years. We still giggled and carried on like the teens we once were. We were still connected by the values and work ethic that her father had instilled in both of us. We still had love in our hearts for one another as deep, true friends. We talked on the phone during my parents Alzheimer’s and passings. We talked about retirement, selling our homes one day, buying a spot together to keep an eye on one another during our last years. I lost her in January of 2024. It was quick and jarring.

I made a one of a kind t-shirt from the drawing. I was wearing it the other day and a lady at the grocery store commented on how she liked it. Of course she had no idea of what it meant to me, or how much her nice comment still means to me this day. It’s a lesson that I’ve always known. Probably taught to me by Beene at the BBQ joint. You never know how much a random kind word can mean to a stranger. It could make their day, or even change their life. Art. Friends. Kind words. Weird, huh?