Tomorrow I leave Minneapolis to go back to Normal for my fifth or sixth court appearance in connection with my September arrest. I really hope it’ll be the last and I really doubt that it will. After that (aside from the time I’ll spend in Jacksonville for One Spark) I’ll be back in Minneapolis consistently until mid-May when my show at Instinct Gallery ends. The opening for that show was last night and went pretty well. I’m looking forward to reading some reviews this week. All of the press for the show, that I saw leading up to the opening, featured one of my pieces – which is pretty cool since I’m just one of nine artists in the exhibit. Also, tomorrow, there’s going to be a spot about the show on Minnesota Public Radio, which (I believe) will include (at the very least) an excerpt from a brief interview I gave last week. So that’s kinda exciting…
I still haven’t finished writing the statements for the large pieces I made late last year but I added one of them to the Gallery page anyway; it’s one of the pieces being show at Instinct right now and it’s called “The Last Unfinished Work.”
“The Last Unfinished Work.” 12/24/14. Acrylic. 4×5′.
At four by five feet, it’s also the biggest painting I’ve made to date.
Here are some more photos from my Instagram and Facebook in the last week or so:
My buddy Zack’s putting us up right now. Here’s the view from his back porch earlier tonight.A couple highlights in MPLS papers advertising the exhibit and featuring one of my pieces.Posing for a photo with my buddy, Chris (of the legendary Rational Anthem).Pete took Wallis ‘n’ me to an arcade in Iowa City, where the three of us beat the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game and became the undisputed ninja champions of the midwest.I took this photo of Noelle, Wallis, and Chris in the midst of a super important conversation about blink-182.Wallis, riding in style, a couple weeks back, while we were staying with Mary Beth in Atlanta.
I’m not good at writing lately. I think I’m gonna blame it on running out of my meds. Maybe I’ll get better about writing once I find a doctor here.
I left Jacksonville last Wednesday and went to Delray. A friend there commissioned me to paint him something. It took about 22 hours, spread across three days. I haven’t gotten it professionally photographed yet but here are some images he sent me.
Next, we went to Miami to visit Wallis’s family, then crossed over to the other coast to stop “home” before leaving Florida. Now we’re in Atlanta, visiting some friends including my buddy Caleb who’s using his mechanical expertise to ensure that the van doesn’t fall apart in the foreseeable future. From here, we’re gonna make our way up to Iowa City to hang out with the Rational Anthem kids for a few days, and then trek the rest of the way up to Minneapolis, where my next exhibit is being held.
In early April, we’re planning to run all the way back to Jacksonville for One Spark and then flip right back around back to Minneapolis for the duration of my show there. That ends in early May, at which point I’m not sure where we’ll be headed…
On Saturday night, I was selling prints in front of Rain Dogs. At the end of the night, as I was packing up, somebody rode by on a bike, grabbed my print case, and rode off into the night. I was at the van (parked just a few doors down from Rain Dogs) putting up my easel so I didn’t even see him. Wallis did though and called out to me. We jumped in the van and tried to chase after him but once he had turned the corner, he was gone into the night. We drove around the neighborhood for awhile, hoping to spot him but no luck. I don’t think the guy knew what he was stealing; after all, my prints aren’t exactly the kind of thing you can take to a pawn shop. So I figure he probably ditched the case once he opened it and saw what was inside. I spent a lot of yesterday driving and walking around the neighborhood, checking back alleys and dumpsters but… again – no luck.
There were about 120 prints in that case so I’m out a lot of money, time, and energy. Toward that end, I’m reposting the GoFundMe page that I created back when I got arrested.
The night after the theft, I was back outside Rain Dogs, painting and selling prints. ‘Cause I’m not gonna let some asshole fuck me up and slow me down. My buddy Steph took this photo of me and Wallis hard at work.
“Rainbows and Puppy Dogs.” 1/3/15. Acrylic paint. 10×8″.
The statement for this piece was written two and a half weeks ago (on January 13, 2015) and is proof that I’m really terrible at predicting my own future.
Coming out of my tumultuous autumn relationship in Chicago, I guess you could say I was kind of a wreck when I got back to Florida. And although the circumstances of the day it happened were somewhat unusual, it certainly didn’t seem like much of a coincidence for me to relapse so quickly. I started this new painting before I even had a week clean. And while the general premise of the painting is one that I’ve had in my head for months, the rest reflects the time in which it was painted.
Here’s how I spent December: I came down to Miami with Nicole; shipped her back to Chicago ahead of schedule and cancelled my pseudo-plan to return to the Midwest to reunite with her anytime in the at-all-immediate-future; I went to Jacksonville to rekindle my relationship with Heather; Heather declined to immediately jump back into it with me, saying she wanted to take it slow; I drove down to Palm Beach County for another one of my drug-addled ex-girlfriend rescue missions; I relapsed; I went to Sarasota and started painting this (the initial sub-caption was “nothing ever quite goes my way” but I later painted over that); I returned to Jacksonville, where Heather was now interested in picking up the pace but I, nevertheless, proceeded to start fucking up a storm; I started to feel better and I wrote a new sub-caption, incorporating the title: “Life can’t always be RAINBOWS AND PUPPY DOGS but I guess it goes my way often enough. (I certainly have a lot of sex at people).”
By the time it was finished on January 3rd, I definitely didn’t feel like “nothing ever quite goes my way.” I mean, how could I think that when I’m fucking a different girl every night? That sure seems like things going my way. And, honestly, while being promiscuous isn’t always the most fulfilling, in this case – right now – I’m pretty happy. Maybe it’s ‘cause I got so much other stuff going on with my art and ‘cause I’ve been so productive lately and ‘cause I’m not in a dysfunctional relationship anymore but… I’ve been on a pretty good streak of happy lately. And all the sex (and feeling attractive and desirable) is most definitely bolstering that. It’s a big part of it.
Heather and I hit the pause button on our relationship a week ago and are planning to talk about it / evaluate our feelings tomorrow. In writing this (and revealing the extent of my recent promiscuity) I’m almost certainly going to be destroying what little shot we had left together but maybe that’s what’s supposed to happen. I’m also seeing another girl with whom there’s been no discussion of exclusivity but who – nevertheless – probably won’t be super excited to read this. I’m supposed to meet up with her tonight and am planning on putting all the cards on the table with her as well.
So now that I think about it, I really shouldn’t publish this until I’ve had these two conversations. And I won’t. Which is to say: by the time you’re reading this, I’ll have already had those two discussions and there’s a good chance that I’ll have inadvertently hurt a lot of feelings and will be feeling pretty shitty about myself. Life’s definitely not gonna feel like puppies and rainbows by this time tomorrow but I guess that’s okay but – fuck – why does love have to be so exclusive? Why do the concepts of love and sex have to be so inextricably connected? Why can’t I be in one (or two) relationships and still have sex with other people?
WHY CAN’T I JUST HAVE EVERYTHING THAT I WANT?
It sounds so dumb when I put it that way – like I’m such a spoiled little brat – but, shit… I don’t know. Wouldn’t it be nice?
Rainbows and puppy dogs, right?
So – as I mentioned – that statement was written in early January. If you’ve been following me, you probably have an idea of how it all played out. I told both girls that I was sleeping around and couldn’t be exclusive. And then last week, while on a date with a girl I met at my art show, I fell in love with one of that girl’s friends and wound up in an exclusive relationship. (That in itself is kind of a funny story but I’ll get to that later).
Coming very soon: images of (and statements for) three new works, including two from late last year that are among my biggest to date. We’re talking giant pieces with long, detailed, embarrassing, fucked up stories. I’m excited!
Fun fact: I first tried to paint “Rainbows and Puppy Dogs” in the spring of 2014, got frustrated with my inability to paint a dog, went in another direction, and wound up with this piece.
It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. I had been referring to my trip up to Normal to face my charges as a “sex vacation.” (I had six different girls I was gonna stop to fuck along the way up and back). Instead I invited this girl that I had just met a couple days prior and wound up falling in love. It’s a total aside but I feel a little bit bad because I had a few different things going with different girls that have now – consequently – been totally shut the fuck down, but when this sort of thing happens and just clicks, what can you really do about it? I’m in love and it’s wonderful.
I’ve got a whole, whole lot more to say about all this; some of it’s as dopey as that last sentence, some of it is sobering realizations that I’ve had about past relationships…. whatever – that can all come later. Here are some photos from our li’l road trip.
Our first stop was in Atlanta to visit Mary Beth. Wallis fell quick for MB’s new rescue pup, Barnsley.
After my court appearance in Normal, we went to Chicago and found us a Chris Spillane. Which is sorta great, seein’ as I’m kinda givin’ Wallis the Chris-Spillane-treatment right now. And ’cause – you know – he’s my best friend.
After playing tourists and eating Chicago deep dish pizza (something I never did while I was living in Chicago), we braved the winter night and headed out to the abandoned factory on the river to go exploring. The underground river in the basement was frozen but Wallis wouldn’t let me try to walk on it.
Back at old 1752 (a place for Shitty Children), we reconnected with the old crew. Mike apparently hates me now and acted like a real bully and an asshole all night. It was a bummer but I did my best to take his abuse gracefully and (luckily) he passed out pretty early in the night. Travis, on the other hand, was definitely on his shitty-children-A-game and was really fun to hang out with.
On our way back down south, we saw a sign for Dinosaur World and decided we needed to stop and spend the night so we could go when it opened up in the morning. We were the only people there so we got away with climbing the ropes and taking photos. Wallis makes for a pretty cute dinosaur.
I don’t think you’re supposed to climb up on the mammoth’s tusks but I do what I want.
Wallis uncovered the bones of a stegosaurus in the fossil dig. I’ve never been so proud.
After Dinosaur World, we went to check out the world’s largest (400 miles) cave – Mammoth Cave (in Kentucky). Hung out there for two hours before heading back to Atlanta where we’re hanging out now, back at Mary Beth’s place again. For lunch I ate black truffle macaroni and cheese with lobster ’cause I’m a fucking millionaire now.
Today, I’ve got a couple people in Atlanta to meet up with and then we’ll head back to Jacksonville later tonight or tomorrow morning.
Exactly as uneventful as ever. No progress on my case, no news, no real reason for me to have spent my time and money to travel across the country.
My next hearing is in the last week of March so… at least I don’t have to come up this way again until then – and that’s when my exhibit at Instinct Gallery (in Minneapolis) starts anyway so… At least that sort of works out.
Wallis and I are on our way to Chicago now to kick around with Chris Spillane for the day and hopefully catch a little snow. (She hasn’t seen any since she was a kid). We’ve got a couple more stops after that and we should be back in Jacksonville by Friday.
After a month of fucking every pretty girl who so much as smiled in my direction, and Tinder dates every night of the week, I have once again wound up in a “relationship.” We met three days ago and are already saying we love each other because we’re both out of our minds.
Right now, I’m on my way to face my charges in Illinois and I’ve got her along for the ride. Last night we stayed in Atlanta, where we had our first fight. (I couldn’t cum and she didn’t wanna lick my asshole). I adore her.
#cutestcouple
Before anybody flips out on me too hard, I should note that she’s not really all that drug-addled…
