So here's how it happened. I wound up broke last summer and wound up camping out in the woods of Winston-Salem. After three days, I ran into a guy who asked about my situation, and he gave me a tent, a big dome one. That became my headquarters. Every night I slept alone in the woods, which is sketchy. Every morning I'd wake up, walk about a 3/4 of a mile to McDonald's, and order a sausage biscuit and a large drink. Then I'd pull my laptop (a gift form my niece Katherine, after she got a new one for college), and get word out about my artwork. Two garbage bags inside my backpack kept it dry through months of Carolina rain ans thunderstorms.
Then I'd pull out my big art pad, also double wrapped in trash bags, to keep it dry. I had a good sized plastic box with my art supplies. I spread out my stuff on a table at McD's, and I'd draw for a while. Other times I'd take a bus across town to a library, and draw there. I sold a 2 or 3 drawings over the summer, and scraped up money when I had to for food and bus fare. Most days I had two sausage biscuits and a drink to eat all day long. I got a lot a ton of drawing done, and lost 65 pounds, to boot. Not the ideal lifestyle of an artist. But I was determined.
One day, a couple of hippie looking guys at McDonald's said they liked my drawing. It was one of the musician drawings, Johnny Cash, I think. One guy said, "You should show your stuff to that music shop across the street. They like music themed art, and your drawing is way better then what they have on the wall right now." I doubted the comparison, but I took the guy's advice. I walked Earshot Music, completely scummy and smelly from my homeless life. I showed my work to the manager working that day. He was stoked on it. A couple days later, I showed it to Phred the owner, and he said they'd be interested in putting a couple of drawings up on the wall for sale. Things progressed, and Jane the art director contacted me. Next thing I knew, they were asking me when I could have enough drawings to do a full show. So I wandered around Winston all summer, scraping up money for food, living through thunderstorms in a tent, and getting helped out by my friends Rick and Ben in times of need. Eight of my drawings went up on the wall, two have sold, and I'm busy doing more to replace those. I'm also working on one for Ben, which I promise to get done soon. Really, Ben. I've been putting his drawing off all summer, trying to get the others done. All the drawings are for sale, $120 each, through Earshot Music. I will also be glad to do one of your favorite musician (or athlete), IF I can find a good photo to work from.
No comments:
Post a Comment