The Year of the Tent #7

 Michael Stipe/REM, 18" X 24," Sharpies on paper, sold.  My sister had me do this one for my brother-in-law Nathan.  He response, mostly because I'm a (until recently) homeless loser, was, "eh."  If you're an REM fan and want to tell Nathan you actually like this drawing, send him a POLITE email or message to his business, here.

 My take on the badass Bruce Lee poster that made me a fan of his in about 1971 when I was 5-years-old.  18" X 24", Sharpies on paper, sold, living in SoCal.

 Michael Jackson tribute, 18" X 24," Sharpies on paper.  This drawing went on tour at Delurk Gallery here in Winston-Salem as a part of their recent "Creatures of Fortune" show.  It's now back in the front window of Designs, Vines, and Wines/Studios at 625 on Trade Street.

I did this drawing of poet Mary Oliver, and her really cool poem "Wild Geese" about three weeks ago.  I'd never heard of her, and was glad to find out about her, since she grew up a few miles from where my late Grandma Kate grew up in Ohio.  It took 4 or 5 days to draw, like all my large drawings do.  This drawing ended up sparking a firestorm.  I didn't get paid right away, which turned out to be because of a lost piece of paper, and a big miscommunication.  Several of us have been getting a lot of pressure from the forces at be in the world, and the miscommunication looked like a intentional act from my point of view.  I made a business decision that threatened one of the best relationships I've developed I've made here in the Winston-Salem Art scene.  I'm sorry about all the pain that caused.  I'm also sorry that so many lame people will go out of their way to keep creative people from making a living, because of some 80-year-old stereotype of artists not being responsible people or able to run a business.  Communication people.  It's important.   

For anyone bothering to read this, let me tell you how I operate:

If you ask me to do a drawing, and I know you at all, I usually give you the benefit of the doubt and draw it without a deposit.  When I 'm done with the drawing, I ask one of two things from you.  1) You pay me  immediately, take your drawing, and we're both happy.  2) Tell me you don't like the drawing.  In that case, you keep your money and I keep the drawing.  We're both slightly less than happy, but still civil.  But if you don't pay me promptly, or you EVER fuck me over.  That's it, game over, FOREVER.  Period.  I will be asking for 50% deposits on commissioned drawings from now on, unless we already have a good working relationship.