North Carolina's best Sharpie artist lives in Winston-Salem... for now

 As a rule, I don't go around hyping up my Sharpie art.  I don't need to.  These photos are what I do.  It stands on its own.  But today I'm making an exception.  I am the best Sharpie artist in North Carolina.  No one else even comes close.  My drawings take 30 to 40 hours each.  The Beatles drawing I just did took 50 to 60.  I have a two month backlog of work to do.  And I'm moving back home to Southern California as soon as I tie up the loose ends here.  So if you like my stuff and you want an original, now's the time to buy. 

 I left a bad living situation just over a year ago, and I came to Winston-Salem with $15, a box of Sharpies, no place to live, and not a single contact in the Trade Street art scene.  I lived in a tent in the woods behind Bolton Park (near the mall) for 9 1/2 months.  I made a pact with myself not to panhandle, which I've done while homeless in previous years.  Instead, I went to an Aldi's store, where you have to put a quarter in to get a shopping cart.  I walked up to people in the parking lot, as polite as possible, and asked them, "Hey, I'm out of work, would you let me take that shopping cart back and keep the quarter?"  The vast majority of people were cool with that.  Moms with small kids actually thanked me.  As a matter of course, I pushed carts for people in the handicapped spaces, and really old people, for free.  I'd hand them a quarter out of my pocket, and take their cart back as a service.  By doing this, which incidentally doesn't break Winston's panhandling ordinance in any way, I was able to buy a bit of food and ride buses all last summer and into the fall.  I'd like to thank all those people who let me push their carts, and those who offered a buck or two to help me get by.  The artwork in this post and dozens more pieces are the result.

 Then, one afternoon last fall, the uniformed police officer working as a security guard at Aldi's on Peter's Creek told me to leave the property as soon as I showed up.  So I did.  I walked out to the street a couple of buildings over.  I took account of my situation.  I didn't have bus fare to get back to my campsite.  I was hungry.  I had a 2 1/2 mile walk ahead of me.  And I'm really fat.  But I did qualify for EBT (aka food stamps), and I had my card in my wallet.  I decided that I would go back into Aldi's, buy something small to eat on my card, and walk right off the property.  I honestly thought I was well within my rights to do that.  It was not the best decision I've ever made, but I didn't think it was illegal.  (Research since then has proved, I was right, it was perfectly legal, according to multiple precedents and case law).

So I did it.  I bought a pack of 12 donuts, and the police officer watched me stand in line, buy them, and I walked right by him, out the door, and headed directly towards the parking lot exit.  As it turned out, the police officer followed me out, grabbed my shoulder from behind, and I threw my elbow up as a reflex.  I was arrested for trespassing and resisting arrest.  It was my first arrest in my 51 years on Earth.  I spent three days in jail, 23 hours in my cell all three days, without the psych meds I took at the time.  On the third night, I got a federal prison inmate, heading back in after a parole violation, thrown in my cell.  Not the roommate you want on your first jail stay.  As it turned out, we started talking art, and got along fine.

My public defender expected the charges to be dropped, it was a pretty ridiculous arrest by most anyone's standards.  But they weren't.  As a homeless man, I didn't think I had a chance in hell of beating the case in a trial, just because I was living homeless.  So I plead guilty, and took a deal to do 50 hours of community service and pay a $250 fine.  I did 19 hours of the community service as I worked all day every day drawing pictures to simply make food money and bus fare.  I didn't complete my program, and I went back to court. 

I now have a $732 fine and 50 more hours of community service to finish in the next couple of weeks.  I don't know about you, but 3 days in jail, 69 hours of community service, and $732 seems like a pretty serious sentence for buying a pack of donuts.  Hey, maybe that's just me. 

In any case, we'll be raffling off a $100, signed and numbered print of my Dr. Maya Angelou drawing (below) tonight at Designs, Vines, and Wines to help me pay the part of the fine.  You're more than welcome to sign up to win the the print, or if you'd like to help me out.

 The reason I'm moving back to California as soon as I can is because of things like donut arrest, and the continuous harassment and threats I've endured while being a homeless man trying to build a small business as an artist and writer here in Winston-Salem.  There's just too much bullshit here.  I'm going to take care of this fine and tie up loose ends, and head back to SoCal, where entrepreneurship and art is actually tolerated. 

You can check out my work further back on my blog, by Googling "#sharpiescribblestyle", or on my Pinterest page.  If you like it and want an original, now's the time.  I won't have time to draw pictures for people in NC after I get out West. 

Have fun at the Hop tonight folks.  Oh... and if you're one of the douchebags who was outside my tent on the night of May 14th with a baseball bat, threatening to beat the shit out of me, I'd love to meet you.  Come by Designs, Vines, and Wines at 625 Trade in and introduce yourself. 

This original drawing will be on display tonight, at 625 Trade, just as it was at the Garden Party to honor Dr. Anglou's 90th birthday in Bailey Park.  A full size, 18" X 24" print, one of ten signed and numbered prints, is what we're raffling off. 

Blogger's note- It's 2026 now, and I'm doing most of my writing on Substack, a platform designed specifically for writers.  Check it out: 

Steve Emig The White Bear Substack- "Steve Emig Art"

A look at my Sharpie Scribble Style Art

 For the past 2 1/2 years, I've been drawing pictures of people's favorite athletes, bands and musicians.  Unable to find ANY job here in the Triad, I created my own.  This IS my job.  It doesn't pay much yet, but I work 60+ hours a week at it.  Each of these drawings take 30 to 40 to draw.  And right now, I have a big court fine to pay because I got arrested for a completely ludicrous reason last fall.  My normal drawing work makes me enough to just scrape by, but there's not enough extra to pay the full fine.  So if any of these strike your fancy, they're all available, most at Designs, Vines, and Wines at 625 Trade Street tonight (next to Single Brothers), here in Winston-Salem.  Check them out at the Gallery Hop tonight.  Above: "Jerry Garcia #1", Sharpies on paper, 18" X 24".  $250.  #sharpiescribblestyle

 Legendary pro surfer Kelly Slater, the second surfing drawing I've done, from an old photo of him getting barreled way back when.  Sharpies on paper, 18" X 24", $250 (but I'm REALLY willing to deal on this one, if Rachel at the studio is).  #sharpiescribblestyle

 The first woman of hard rock in my book, "Joan Jett: I Love Rock 'n Roll."  This one is at D,V,&W at 625 Trade tonight, but I'm moving her over to Earshot Music (3254 Silas Creek, across from Hanes Mall) soon if it doesn't sell.  Sharpies on paper, 18" X 24", $250 (but willing to deal). 

Below: "The Ramones" (3 of 4 of them, anyhow).  This is one of the earlier music drawings I've done, and it's living at Earshot Music (3254 Silas Creek in W-S), right now.  Jane and Phred at Earshot were the first to let me show my art and to promote me, when I came back to Winston last year, and I try to keep two large drawings on their wall.  But my last few music drawings have sold before even making it up on the wall.  There's just aren't enough old school punkers here who appreciate The Ramones, and that makes me really, really sad.  Sharpies on paper, 18" X 24", $120.  #sharpiescribblestyle

Winston-Salem Art Park #2

 On summer days, these metal bands provide a bit of shade to sit in.  Some nights, they form a stage area for bands.  In a heavy wind, these super thick steel bands actually sway back and forth.  That's really freaky when you're sitting there leaning against one.

 The big red square pipes are meant to hark back to the days of the Reynolds Tobacco and furniture factory smokestacks soaring above town.  Steam comes out of the top of these pipes at time to complete the factory illusion.

 A rat rod in front of the Art Park during the Heavy Rebel Weekender music festival/car show in July 2018.

 A different angle, with a rat rod truck in front of the Art Park during Heavy Rebel Weekender 2018.

 Looking across the street from the art park at a Cadillac which is the same year as the blue Caddy my Grandpa Mayer in Ohio had when I was a kid.  Grandpa's Caddy wasn't lowered and flat black, but this Caddy didn't smell like nasty cigars.

View from the sidewalk inside the park, with Red Dawg Gallery in the background.

Winston-Salem Art Park #1

 Officially called, Artivity on the Green, but know simply as the "Art Park" to most, this place comes alive on the weekends with people taking selfies in front of murals, local bands performing under the big white metals band thingies, and nude forklift driving contests.  OK, the last one isn't real, I just wanted to see if anyone actually reads these things.

 Reflection of the red poles in the Red Dawg/AFAS building windows.  AFAS stands for Art For Arts Sake, and is a big force in promoting art in downtown W-S.

Winston-Salem Art District Murals #7

 These are more pics from the mural wall at the back of the Art Park on Liberty.  These were all painted in June 2018. 

Liberty Street/Winston-Salem Art District Murals #6

On a big wall on Liberty Street now, this is the second incarnation of the big tree, one of the first murals done by the old school Winston-Salem art scene posse.  The original was on the big barn-looking building on Trade Street, which is now remodeled into the Sweet Potato and Miss Ora's restaurants.  This version has much more roots (literally and figuratively) than leaves or than the original.  There are a whole bunch of things hidden in the mural to be found using the small key below it.

The mural on the side of The Chronicle building, before they moved to a new location.  The Chronicle is Winston-Salem's long time African-American newspaper.

Closer view of the protesters in the mural above.

This mural on Liberty was done in 2012, when I was driving a taxi here.  I can't tell you how many times I drove by and thought those silhouettes were actually women there painting the mural.  Since I remember them actually out there painting it, I guess that's part of the reason.

These are a couple more of the new murals on the art park mural wall.

Liberty Street/Winston-Salem Art District Murals #5

 All of these murals are freshly done, and on the back wall of the art park on Liberty, next to the Red Dawg/AFAS Gallery.  When they were being painted, everyone kept telling me, "You have to check out the dog.  They were right, this chihuahua mural was airbrushed, and it's just plain off the chain. 

 The eyes have it.

 Insert spooky music here.

 These 'shrooms probably look better if you're on 'shrooms.  But I don't do that stuff, and they still look pretty dang cool.

 More Shelob than Charlotte.

I don't know who Dumptruck is either.  Photos by me (Steve Emig)

Trade Street/Winston-Salem Public Art #4

 This monolith of art stands at 6th and Trade, and the pieces change once or twice a year, I think.

 It's easy to walk right by this critter without noticing.  Art's everywhere around Trade and Liberty Streets in Winston-Salem, so stop looking at your damn phone.

 Here's the other steampunkish mechanical insect thingamajig.  You may not notice it, but it sees you.

 A little lower on the art monolith.

 This is one of the oldest murals in the Winston-Salem art district, and is at 6th and Trade, right by the art monolith thingy.

When not blogging, I'm Winston-Salem's premiere (and pretty much only) Sharpie marker artist.  You can check out several of my pieces at Designs, Vines, and Wines, which is located in Studios at 625 on Trade.  There are eight different artists that have studios there, plus a few featured artists, like myself.  Rachel at D,V,&W paints and does a bit of everything.  She also does create and sip projects ($25 to make your own art; supplies, laughs, and wine included).  Tammy Ballard does these amazing ink pieces.  That sounds lame, but they're really cool, just hard to describe.  Donell is a painter and muralist, and is there often.  There a couple more painters, an amazing fine art photographer, a travel photographer, and also a bunch of jewelry in there.  625 is also open more than many of the shops on Trade, which are closed a lot for some reason.  Check it out. 

Tradee Street/Winston-Salem Murals #3

 These pieces are up and down Trade Street in the Winston-Salem (NC) Art District.  The chalk board at what used to be outside cafe seats, is now a Do-It-Yourself mural spot. 

 I'm gonna count to a million, you go run and hide...

 Since I come from Southern California, which has a deep sticker culture, it's always cool to see a band sticker slapping spot.

 Say aaaaaaah.

 This little painting is the most obvious, but many people walk by and don't notice it.