‘Tis a sad, sad day for Sammy thrashLife collectors. The original “I’m a Fucking Artist, Guys” drawing is officially OFF THE MARKET.
I’ll confess that I did come down from the $1,000 asking price but I assure you it still sold for enough to enrage anyone upset by outlandish prices for scribbles on scrap paper. 😝
THAT SAID, this is the drawing featured on all my cards and fliers (arguably my TRADEMARK DOODLE), it was one of the very first things I ever made on my own (as opposed to – at gunpoint – in expressive art therapy group), and I think it’s as close to a HISTORICAL ARTIFACT as anything I’ve ever made so… I’m both happy that it’s found a home and a little sad to see it go.
Also sold this weekend: another piece that means a whole, whole lot to me (and had actually been sold once before but came back to me through A SERIES OF WACKY CIRCUMSTANCES): “Have Sex with and/or Buy Art from Me” – arguably the best/most accurate piece I ever made about my self-esteem and the subject of VALIDATION.
The last couple months have been especially great and I just wanna, again, thank everyone that’s been so supportive. It was exactly one year and one week ago that I tried to kill myself because I couldn’t imagine my life ever getting back to (essentially) where I am today. I’ve still not proved myself wrong on my 2016/2017 theory that my life peaked in 2013-15 and I’d never again be that happy or successful, but I certainly seem to be ON THE PATH and, for the first time in years, I think it might be possible.
my current work-in-progress – not done yet but getting CLOSE
Small aside: I recently got pro panels/pop-up walls so that I could show at art festivals (and use them at my little weekend/pop-up events) but I’ve already put them in storage because I only currently have three unsold originals that aren’t currently up on display somewhere (I’ve got nothing to hang on my walls!) It’s not a bad problem to have.
And if you’d like to exacerbate that problem by purchasing one of them, you know how to reach me.
“Peeing in the Pool (of Tears (You’re Drowning In))” 1/4/25. Acrylic paint. 18×24″“”Christian Love (The Grace of a Mountain Goat)” 10/22/24. Pigment and alcohol inks. 8½x11″.“The World Revolves Around Me.” 8/21/15. Acrylic paint. 4×4′.
And just ’cause, let’s say $20 off in the webstore this week when you spend $50 or more. Use promo code STLapril.
Thanks as always for your time and attention. You guys are the best.
Even as a late addition (mere days before opening), I was HONORED to be invited to exhibit my work at THE RINGLING MUSEUM.
And then – two days later (and just one day before my art needed to be delivered and hung on the walls) – I was told that I’d been added TOO LATE for any of my art to be LABELED.
I understand that an institution like the Ringling is BOGGED DOWN IN BUREAUCRACY but I would also think that meeting the highest standards of presentation is a priority. (But maybe not so much when it comes to the Community Gallery?)
I’m deeply hopeful that there’s been a misunderstanding. Maybe labels just couldn’t be ready for the opening but they’ll be added shortly thereafter. The exhibit runs for FOUR MONTHS so there’s certainly no shortage of time. But tonight (Thursday, April 3rd) – the night before I deliver my artwork – I can’t count on that. Tonight, I don’t know if they’ll resolve the issue themselves or even if they’ll allow me to pay to have my own labels made (and put up). Tonight, I need a CREATIVE SOLUTION. And this is what I came up with:
It may be too late for them to print labels – and I’m not allowed to put up any signs or leave any fliers, but I do have the ability to include among my pieces something that I just created tonight – something with the express purpose of EXPLAINING WHO I AM and WHICH ART BELONGS TO ME.
“Creative Solution.” 4/3/25. Alcohol and pigment inks. 7×5″.
So if you’re reading this, you either follow my blog already or YOU’VE JUST SEEN MY LATEST DRAWING (“Creative Solution”) at the Ringling and entertained your curiosity by scanning the QR code that I drew into it. And (for the sake of the latter group), please allow me to INTRODUCE MYSELF.
My name is Sammy thrashLife. I have borderline personality disorder. I used to manage with heroin. Now I make art instead.
I was unknown to this exhibit’s curators when the show was initially booked. (In fact, I was likely not even back to making art yet; that’s a fairly recent development). But when another artist dropped out, I was brought in. If my understanding is correct, I have more work in this exhibit than any other artist. In any case, I’ve submitted nine pieces, including what I believe will be the two largest in the gallery. Hopefully, they all made it up onto the walls. They are:
and, of course, the piece that led you here: CREATIVE SOLUTION
Each of the above links will take you to a blog post in which you can read the full story of that painting (or drawing). Here’s an image gallery to help you identify all of my work in the show:
“The Boy Nobody Wanted Wins the Super Bowl” 7/26/24. Acrylic paint. 36×36″.“Everything Works Out Exactly as It Should (is Something I’ve Been Trying to Get Myself to Believe Again)” 3/16/25. Acrylic paint and pigment ink. 40×40″.“I Look Cool Doing It.” 2/21/14. Acrylic paint. 18×24″.“She’s Cut with Xylazine” 9/29/2024. Acrylic paint. 24×20″.“Stupid Kids With Stupid Dreams” 6/27/20. Acrylic paint. 24×24″.“Peeing in the Pool (of Tears (You’re Drowning In))” 1/4/25. Acrylic paint. 18×24″“I’m Sorry.” 12/26/13. Pen and markers. 6½x9½”.“Common Denominator.” 8/12/24. Acrylic paint and pigment ink. 8×10″.“Creative Solution.” 4/3/25. Alcohol and pigment inks. 7×5″.
Thanks so much for your time and attention. I hope you enjoy my work. You can read more of my story here or just PERUSE THE SITE TO YOUR HEART’S CONTENT. Any questions, feel free to contact me.
And if anyone from the Ringling is reading this, PLEASE DON’T BE MAD at my innovative work-around. As I’ve said many times, “I’m an emotional basketcase. Paints and pens are the tools I use to balance myself out.” It was so exciting to learn that my work would be going up in the Ringling. I’m sure you can imagine how upsetting it was to learn, just two days later, that none of it would have my name on it. I was anxious, I was crawling out of my skin; “Creative Solution” is how I made myself feel better. If that’s not exactly what art should be (in addition to – y’know – visually pleasing and EMOTIONALLY RESONANT, insightful, or otherwise profound) then… we’re just at odds fundamentally and … fuck ME. But hopefully we’re ALL IN AGREEMENT, in which case I thank you for including me and thank you for including CREATIVE SOLUTION.
I wrote this blog entry earlier tonight and just finished up the drawing around 1am. For those of you who are reading this because you follow me and NOT because you stumbled onto my work at the Ringling. I guess this is as a good a time as any to announce that – HEY, I GOT BOOKED AT THE RINGLING MUSEUM. The opening reception is going to be next Thursday, April 10th. All the details are on the Events page. You’ll also find that I’ve added a bunch of other events for April so COME OUT AND CATCH ME. Cool?
I have a lot of artwork from ten plus years ago (when I first started making art) that I still love conceptually but just looks terrible. I never liked the idea of recycling ideas but so much of that early stuff is still so exciting and meaningful to me and I hate the idea of just letting it disappear. At the same time, I certainly don’t wanna promote or advertise anything that looks bad or doesn’t represent me well. That line of thinking’s led me to reconsider my previous stance and become okay – even passionate – about the idea of taking some of my old concepts and making new artwork with them. One of those is already in the works as a major painting (and you can get a look at that process over on my TikTok) while others will be coming soon.
Speaking of TikTok, if you’re not already following me on there, I’ve been making four to seven videos for it every week – and have even started livestreaming on occasion. I know a lot of people have issues with TikTok (I certainly did/do) but if you wanna keep up with my process, I think it’s worth checking out.
Anyway, the drawing in today’s blog isn’t reallya recycled idea because it’s more of an exact duplicate. There’s nothing wrong with the original “My Favorite Cartoon” but I want to make prints of it and don’t have a good photo or scan of the original from which to make them. All I’ve got is badly filtered, altered versions from Photoshop. Since I don’t wanna make prints from those, I simply redrew it.
And if you want one of these prints, they’re now up for sale in my webstore. Or you can buy this “original” MFC 2.0 drawing by contacting me. (It’s since been sold).
Thanks as always for your time and attention. Your support means everything to me.
Just a quick heads up: I discovered an issue with the contact page. If you’ve tried to contact me recently, I’m guessing it didn’t work. Anyway, it’s resolved now so – if you still need to reach me – NOW YOU CAN.
And SO LONG AS I’M POSTING AN UPDATE, I’ll mention that I now hate all social media EXCEPT FOR TIKTOK. I’ve been making a new video for it almost every single day for the last month, so if you wanna keep up with me, that’s now the best place to do so. Instagram and especially Facebook can fuck off forever. (DON’T GET ME STARTED).
I’ve been hard at work on a BRAND NEW PAINTING so I’ll update the blog when that’s finished or when I next write up a statement for one of the pieces that’s still missing one. In the meantime, like I said, FOLLOW ME ON TIKTOK. TIKTOK IS THE FUTURE. TIKTOK IS LIFE. ALL HAIL TIKTOK.
Oh – and today was my birthday. So go buy me/you a present in the print shop!
After packing my entire life into my car, stashing it on the fifth floor of a parking garage, and preparing to go to my grandparents’ ALF to wait out the hurricane (‘cause the building is “hurricane-proof” and has generators), my ex got around my many blocks (phone, email, social media) and begged me to give her ONE MORE CHANCE. And I brilliantly allowed her to come with me. It was fine (even GREAT) for that first night and then – the day of the hurricane – it became clear that nothing had changed and I was trapped in there with her.
It was torturous. To love someone so much, know it won’t work out, and then be stuck someplace together. And she just doesn’t get it. She still thought we were going to sleep together that second night, cuddled up, spooning on the couch. (There was no bed in the room we stayed in). I don’t know if she’s a sociopath or just has the emotional intelligence of a five year-old but I also know it DOESN’T REFLECT ESPECIALLY WELL ON ME that I was ever in love with this person or thought I wanted a life with her. I know I say this all the time but “we are attracted (and attractive) to people with similar levels of emotional health/maturity.” I would like to believe that my reluctance/refusal to engage with this anymore means that I’m getting better.
Anyway, it turned out that even though the hurricane made its initial landfall RIGHT HERE IN SARASOTA (less than a mile from my place), everything was alright. And nothing happened to my car. So I spent all day putting my life/home back together (just finished this minute) and I can LICK MY EMOTIONAL WOUNDS from the comfort of my home.
Things could have been worse. I need to remember to be grateful for what I’ve got. Friends (that helped me unload my car and then FED ME PIZZA), a home that I like, people all over that care about me, I’m clean, back to making art, and I don’t need to rebuild my life from scratch simply because of a natural disaster/GOD HATES ME. (Or maybe he doesn’t, seeing as how it worked out). But he PROBABLY does.
This was originally written simply as the caption for a TIKTOK VIDEO(I wonder if those words will ever not sound ridiculous to me?) because I’m currently operating under the belief that TikTok is my best shot at marketing myself/rebuilding my career, especially as long as I’m still just living in Sarasota. Here are the photos from the post for anyone that doesn’t wanna use that app.
Photo I took from the garage where I parked my car.That’s one of my dad’s sculptures front and center. He died in 2021.Where I write, draw, and do any computer-kinda work.Where I paint.Me, in bed, with a print that I stuck over my head, just to take this photo and make it more interesting. Because I’m both vain and self-promoting.
Have you been following me for YEARS and long for the days when even my old, terrible work was easily accessible?! Have you discovered me recently and want to see just how embarrassing my early stuff is?!
WELL HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU!
The sole purpose of this post is to link to a special, unlisted page that I set up to feature all of my [let’s call them] B-SIDES.
OKAY – how many times have we done this now? Just twice, right? MAYBE three times? Who cares. Here’s the obligatory first-post-after-a-long-relapse post. “WHAT WENT WRONG THIS TIME,” YOU ASK? Again – who fucking cares? Here are the only details that I feel are relevant:
I got back together with Wallis in January 2018 after just three months apart.
Shit went off the rails sometime in the spring when I started using.
Shit went WAY off the rails by October and we split up.
I called Brandon, he agreed to take me to detox the next day.
Before that happened, that same night, I got arrested for more drug charges. (Surprise!)
I got bailed out by my sister ’cause she’s a sweet girl and it WAS ALMOST MY BIRTHDAY.
I went into detox and moved in with Brandon and Amanda.
Two months later, I switched it up and moved in with Ellen.
I started painting again.
I’ve got two new pieces. One’s already sold; the other hasn’t. (I’ll be posting and writing about all of my “new” art (from this year and last year) here, very soon).
I’ve been in outpatient treatment since I got out of the hospital.
Oh – speaking of which – I also had some broken bones around the same time as my detox, from a motorcycle accident. (More on that later (MAYBE)).
Shit’s going fucking good. (Not “well,” but GOOD; fuck your grammar; language is for communication; I don’t care about rules).
I recently started dating someone new and I like her a wholllllllllllle fucking lot but I’m not gonna write a lot about her here just now because I learned from experience that – even when the girl is cool with it – parents don’t seem to like it when their daughter starts dating an artist with no sense of boundaries or propriety and writes all about their beloved child’s private life on the internet. Her name is Juliana though and she’s just wonderful.
Oh – and because I know YOU KIDS WORRY, I’ll just say this much: No, she is not now (nor has she ever been) a heroin addict. And I’m pretty sure she’ll be good for me and I’m gonna do everything I can to be good for her.
Cool? Cool.
More substantive (or at least art-related) posts coming very soon.
Here’s a recent photo of me on a day I was wearing an “employable human” costume – because I don’t want to post the photos of my new paintings just yet but because blog posts should have SOME kind of graphic, right?
I didn’t (proof)read this post after typing it because I’m in a hurry just this minute. If I wrote something wrong, maybe I’ll fix it later, MAYBE NOT.
![Apparently Proverbs 5:19 says: “Like a loving doe and a graceful mountain goat, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love.” So… Christianity is fucking weird, you guys. Then again, I sure could go for a nice girl with ]THE GRACE OF A MOUNTAIN GOAT and, like, really cool tits. Anyone know how I’d go about getting baptized?](https://sammythrashlife.com/wp-content/uploads/Grace-of-a-Mountain-Goat-751x1024.jpg)
