This was what I used as a paint rag for the last few years. I think it makes a pretty cool piece on its own.

The Story
The paper in this painting is from a book that was given to me a present. A school was closing up North in Marquette, MI and all these books were going to the trash heap and would be gone forever. Someone was nice enough to save one of them and we can now do something with it that will hopefully last forever. (Well, I won’t be that presumptuous saying it will last forever, so I will just say it will last “a while longer”.) Either way, it is better than ending up in a trash pile somewhere under other books and garbage and plastic and diapers and banana peels and old socks and everything else we throw away because our time with it has come to an end. Well, hopefully, the ending of this school results in a beginning for the rest of us to enjoy for a long time to come.

… Enjoy!    

All Found Outside The Perimeter
On the wall to my right is a list of things to do this year and only one item on the list is checked off. I’m thankful the list means nothing to me and to be honest I am not surprised because things don’t work like lists or at least I don’t work like a list and life doesn’t work that way and maybe the real purpose is to remind me that time and place and moments and thought are all found outside the perimeter of the paper.

… Enjoy!    

The Altered Money Series #2
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This is the second painting in the Altered Money series. I know the name of the series is not very profound but that is on purpose. For once, I feel like there is a statement in these but that statement has nothing to do with what I think about them. All of the money in this series is no longer in circulation by the country that it was distributed by. It is safe to say that if it is no longer in circulation, something has happened in that country to cause great enough change that this particular bill had to be removed from circulation. This 10 Won bill issued by the North Korean government is a perfect example. I suppose I could go into the whole part about money and what it means or doesn’t mean and what is it’s true value but all that stuff is different to each of us and each of us can make up what we want about the defacing of money. (Not to mention, wouldn’t you rather look at a Keemo on your bills that some dictator or dead president?) Yeah, me too.

… Enjoy!

The Story
I have settled into this wonderful chair for the evening and I am hoping that the words that fall off my fingertips are better that the thoughts that are swirling around up top. The last six (or more) weeks have not been right. Where there was motivation, there is now apathy and where there is apathy there is not much else.  

I am drawing the line here. I am drawing the line now.

Did I tell you that she bought me this chair? She has connections and knows people and snuck it into the house when I was away and everyone should be so lucky to write from chairs like this and without her I know I would have given up on all this long ago and it isn’t just the chair but it is everything else over the years that kept the words and paints moving and it is because of her that I am drawing the line here and now and tomorrow when I awake she will be there and the apathy will be gone.   

 … Enjoy! 

Portrait of the Devil With Clouds, Sun and Tree

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Another from the devil series. I know it is contrary to popular belief but I am sure the devil loves the sun and clouds and plants just like all the rest of us. Of course, I am just guessing but I figure if he was to sit for me while painting his portrait, it would be like this and it would be summer and we would be drinking lemonade with big ice cubes… Enjoy!

I’m Not An Expert

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This painting has undergone three complete transformations. Under this painting is another painting and under that painting is another painting and if you look closely (it is hard to see in the scan) you can see hints of the underpainting showing through. I suppose the same thing could be said about each one of us, although, I would guess there are many more layers and I suppose each one of those layers still show though at different times. That is just my guess but I’m not an expert. I’m just a painter. Either way, there is a message in all of this and tonight it just seems sufficient to let it be what it is and for all of us to find our own reflection in it… Enjoy!

I Can No Longer Count On One Hand
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It is warm and a breeze is coming through the window and I am listening to The Basketball Diaries and it is Father’s Day and I can no longer count on one hand how long it has been since I have spoken with him.

When I was young I kept striking out in baseball so he drilled a hole through a baseball and then ran a rope through the hole and tied a knot to keep the ball from falling off. He would swing the rope around and around and I would stand just outside of the arc with my bat and take swings at the ball as it passed by. Later that year I hit a home run and the ball landed on the hood of a car on the other side of the fence.

Out the window I can hear my neighbors air conditioner running non-stop even though they are gone for the week and someone else mows their yard on a diagonal to make it look nice and and it is Father’s Day and I can no longer count on one hand how long it has been since I have spoken with him.

(Yes, this paper is really 121 years old.)

So, lets see… this page is 121 years old, I am 37 years old, the wine I am drinking is only 4 years old, this painting is about 2 hours old, this story is minutes old and this moment is right now. I suppose all time and history always come together at this point of now. By the time you read this, now will gone and I was going to say something like, “it’s funny how things work” but that really isnt appropriate. It is just the way things work. Portrait of the Devil, 121 years and it’s here now. With that… Enjoy!

It Doesn’t Have To Be About The Notes Or The Words

This is another one of those paintings that doesn’t need a story. It’s OK for these to stand on their own once in a while isn’t it? Yeah, I think so too. So, let me ask you, Oh where has your little dog gone? … Enjoy!