The Next Right Thing.
It’s here. The day before the really big shoe. The feeling is new all over again for the very first time — being ready to go to present a body of work publicly. But this time it’s different for me. This time it’s coming from a different place. This time I am sober and I am clean.
Let’s get started.
I WAS TOLD I COULD HAVE A PINA COLADA AND PLAY MY MUSIC AT A REASONABLE VOLUME. watercolor, gouache, & ink, 8”x10”, 2021
First up, in “I WAS TOLD I COULD HAVE A PINA COLADA AND PLAY MY MUSIC AT A REASONABLE VOLUME”, a handsome Marshall Bluesbreaker combo is enjoying a little well deserved R & R & R & R. (Rest and Relaxation and Rock ‘n’ Roll). How better to break the blues than to fight for your right to party against your corporate overlords with some canned opposition in the form of hiding in the dunes? And BTW, where the hell are those cables going?
NO COUNTRY (AS GOD AS MY WITNESS). watercolor, gouache, & ink, 8”x10”, 2021
Check out the desert silhouette in “NO COUNTRY (AS GOD AS MY WITNESS)”. How fateful and chilling was the backlit fear from those headlights in our namesake Coen Brothers movie? Nothing goes wrong quite like a drug deal gone wrong. You want it noir and bleak? You like to run? You want to get down on the ground? Look no further. You will wind up a crime scene gleaner with a hitman/monkey on your back, gunning for you.
THE WAITING. watercolor, gouache, & ink, 8”x10”, 2021
Have you ever waited for them to get back to you?
Have you ever waited for it to get better?
Have you ever waited for yourself?
Can you feel the flames and see the blue sky?
HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS. watercolor, gouache, & ink, 8”x10”, 2021
The last image I painted for this series and this show is “HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS”. Even at it’s driest, the desert has the most amazing colors and life. Although, I have to actively look and remain present to notice, always aware the intoxicating neon circus will always be there, serving it all up.
At the risk of veering into maudlin TMI, I will just say this work is the direct result of 2 years of recovery from drugs and alcohol, and I could not be more relieved to be on this side of it. There is clarity, honesty, hope, forgiveness and redemption here for me. For this I am so grateful to my wife, family, friends, sponsor and AA home group. It has freed me up to make work again. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Maybe I’ll see you this weekend at the pop-up as part of this year Philly Fringe Fest. Do the next right thing, please bring a mask.