I have two shows coming up.  The first is kind of short notice.  Friday April 25th starting at 9:00 pm and running till 1 in the morning.  I will be showing at a new art center called Contrapasso.  Contrapasso is a multipurpose arts facility with a focus on modern dance and performance art with a large art gallery in the front.  Friday will be a kick off benefit.  Admission will be $20 and there will be a silent auction.  Drinks are being catered by Big River.  Contrapasso is located on Rossville Avenue next to Loose Cannons, which is part of the new South Side Development in Chattanooga.

The other show is on May 16th from 5:30 pm till 8:00 pm at Michael’s Fine Arts and Framing in Dalton, Ga.  I will be showing a selection of abstract work and Dennis Sprinkle will be showing his nature photography.  Admission to that show is free.  Wine and light hours dourves will be served.  Michael’s Fine Arts is located 1/4 mile off of Walnut Avenue on Dug Gap Road.  Take I-75 to exit 333 and go East on Walnut Avenue approx. 1 1/2 miles to the intersection of Walnut and Dug Gap.  Turn at the Walgreens. 1325 Dug Gap Road.  any Questions call (706) 278-8840.

Ok, the story,, I think that she visited me in 2003. I was asleep in my apartment one night and I was awakened by screaming. I opened my eyes and there was a woman leaned over me screaming a high pitched blood curdling scream. She was glowing bright red and her hair was undulating around her. To the best of my recollection she was nude. I bolted up in bed and watched her run out of the room, I jumped up to follow her and saw the living room light up and then heard the front door slam. I made it to the door and checked it and both the knob and dead bolt were locked. I went back to bed and did not get much sleep for the rest of the night. Now I know this sounds like a dream, but I was completely awake and chased her out of the apartment. Within the next two days I did a sketch of her. I didn’t sketch her as I saw her, but I decided to bind her. The woman in the painting The Exquisite Deterioration of Vienne is the red lady. Now for many people who have seen that painting she has come across as creepy as well as strong and defiant. I gave her the look of someone who put herself into that position. Her hands are free, she is not totally bound, and her disposition is calm. She wants to be there. I have had fun with people over time saying that one day she might come up missing from the painting, and if that happens I may be a goner. All good fun, right? I will admit that before the painting was done,,,which was a long time in the works, I believe she visited me again. I woke up another night to find the apartment lit up like it was on fire. I got up thinking that there was a problem in the living room and as I walked to the door the room darkened again, but up till the point that it did I could see everything in the room as clear as day, but when the light went away it was pitch dark again, and there were no lights turned on in the rest of the house. I have heard stories from others who have lived in that area. One man who lived there said that he went walking in the cemetery on the corner from the apartments and saw a beautiful woman walking among the tombstones. He went to talk to her and she disappeared. He then realized that she had been glowing. I don’t know if she was red to him, but it seems like a funny coincidence doesn’t it. I also know that the apartments had caught on fire once, and another building on the property had actually blown up years ago from a furnace explosion. The old furnace is still sitting in the fields where it originally was. I will leave it up to you to decide if this story has any merit.
PAIN 07

Believe it or not, I am finally taking some real drawing classes. A retired professor from Ringling School of Art is offering classes through the Hunter museum in Chattanooga, TN and with help from my boss, seeing as I am to poor to afford something like this, I have been able to join up and get challenged a bit. Below is one of my homework assignments from this class. I will post more as the class goes on. If you are interested in taking any of these classes then you can contact Erin Noseworthy at the hunter enoseworthy@huntermuseum.org and she can give you more information.

I finished a new piece last night. It is called Horror Pussy. It is located in the Horror and morbidity page in the gallery. I don’t really have a cool story to go with this image yet, but I’m sure I could come up with one if I tried. Basically what happened is that I was looking through old search strings for my website, and one of them showed that a person searched Horror Pussy. I really liked the way the name sounded a the image came to life in my head immediately. Check it out.

Getting to go see Marilyn Manson tonight in Atlanta. Twiggy is back with the band so I am super stoked to see this. I hope we don’t have to stand in the rain for four hours to get in though,,,I had to do that last time I saw him at the Tabernacle and I was not pleased,,,,but I guess I will do what I have to.

Got to thinking about it. I identify myself as a Chattanooga area artist, which is true. Nearly everything I have done artistically, such as shows and galleries I have been involved with have been in Chattanooga, but the hard bruising truth is that I was born and live in Dalton, GA. Now I am all for being proud of where you come from, showing respect for your roots,,,,but this town is hard to deal with. It is dying a slow painful death and taking it’s inhabitants with it. There is nothing here but carpet mills and hard working, not too bright people (with very few exceptions). The carpet industry has a strangle hold on the economy and always will. They have kept every other industry out and now the carpet industry is starting to die. You start to see what corruption does to a society on a smaller level over time. Everything stagnates and then starts to die. You can only shit on one spot so long before it becomes to rancid to take. The only thing growing in Dalton is the business area around the main interstate exit, which consists of restaurants, grocery stores, Walmart, and recently, clothing stores. It all looks good if you don’t go over two miles from the interstate. The only people who really have anything are the carpet mill owners and execs. but even they will not buy art in Dalton because they are ashamed to say that it came from here. The local art guild is a pile of crap and has never really been of use to anyone who does not sit on it’s board. Art doesn’t matter here. Whatever. So I sit here in the Trailer Park and wrack my ragged brains on how to be seen. I wave the flag but it remains invisible from here. Now I will save my Chattanooga rant for another day, but things are actually worse there…I will explain later, it’s a good one. I tried to raise the flag there, but someone set it on fire and pissed on the ashes. The frustration of trying to do what I do in the middle of the bible belt is quite maddening. So, what to do. Don’t really know yet, but the harder it gets, the madder I seem to get, and I think that is good. I think that if you live in this country right now and are not mad as hell about something then you are a corpse. The thing is I don’t know if my battle can have a good outcome, but I am going to fight anyway. Maybe the work I do isn’t valid, but to me it is, and it is what I love to do so fuck it. And if you don’t understand or share my struggle then I wasn’t talking to you anyway.

I need to get some of this work into some new galleries. I have artwork running out of my eye sockets. I am hoping to find a gallery in Atlanta that will put up with me, and I would also be open to offers from other major cities, such as Birmingham, Nashville, Knoxville, New York, Paris, Milan, you know, the usual. So if you know anyone, or if you are anyone who has the power to help me out then I am all ears.

PAIN

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