On Behalf of All of the Artists Who Have Been Ripped Off or Had to Fight to Get Paid!

Well Boys and Girls, who knew I would be back again so soon? I certainly didn't think so, but a dear friend's distress has caused me to have the motivation to storm and thunder about something that probably every .working artist has had to deal with, that being in the uncomfortable position of having to fight to be paid. There are precious few of us that are lucky enough to make a living from being an artist. Even though we think of ourselves as "artists", we often have to delegate it to our second job, because we still have to pay bills. We are different. It takes us time to produce a piece, and every piece has a piece of us. I wish I could be a surgeon and whip out a couple of gallbladders, an appendix here and there, pull out a couple of babies, or lift a few faces each week and have more than enough for both gas money and a beach house, but alas, I got the art gene. There is no even playing field, but here is some information for everyone: I have a mortgage, I have an electric bill, I eat and so does my family, I have the urge to wear clothes--some even brand new, I want a vacation, health care, and a pension! I want to impulse buy, get my hair done just for fun, buy surprise gifts for my husband, and go to restaurants even when it is no one's birthday! I went to college for NINE years, yes NINE!!!! I want a vacation home! Why do I have to be dead to be worth enough to have these things!!!! Our work matters as much as everyone else's, and when you commission something from one of us, it is not only a service, it is a verbal contract. We are not frivolous. Is your plumber a joke? If you don't have the money to pay us, don't order something. A deposit is not the whole price and we won't "forget" that it is only half paid for. We are just like other services that repair, we just repair your soul. If God had given me a choice, I might still choose to be an Artist because let's face it, we have a lot of fun. But there has to be some kind of payback for not being taken seriously a lot of the time. I just might punch the next person who asks me if I am an artist because I couldn't do anything else, or the person who is standing in front of me saying that they don't understand why they should buy one of my pieces at a fair price when they can go to Walmart and buy a big "picture' for only twenty dollars. You want to know why a lot of artists are kind of crazy? Look in the mirror. If we lived in France we would be revered, here we are just trying to survive. The conclusion is that there has to be some re-conditioning, you might consider art a luxury, but artist do not live a luxurious life. Pay us, damn it!

Emerging from the Ashes!!!!

Well Boys and Girls, When last I left you, I was dissolved by the Governor, I had lost my studio, no work was coming in, and I was scared! And guess what? It got worse! Last year was a veritable buffet of Cancer, Nagy's heart attack, and then pneumonia. We bought the shaved ice cart, and it saved our house, but it was really hard work and beat us up both physically and mentally. I started the Goodie business, and that paid the bills, too, but more backbreaking work. I don't want to just sit around, but I want to feel like I have accomplished something. Then, even though I had been trying all along, I decided I wasn't going to take "no" for an answer, and decided to become a guerilla artist! I went after everything! Slowly, the sun broke through the clouds (perhaps because it was afraid of me!) The last guitar on Sunset Strip broke the auction record, I got another one, I got not one, but two mural commissions, I joined the mural initiative, and the San Fernando Valley Arts Council, and I am back! Whether this is purely delusional, or I have really re-emerged, I am feeling pretty good these days! I must say, that in the last couple of months, I have met and made friends with a lot of new people who are wonderful. They are artists and it is wonderful to have a peer group of people that are within driving distance. I actually have some place to go sometimes now! Now, if I could just get my horsie to mosaic, life will be perfect. The very best thing is that I am embarking on what will be the most important work of my life, which will be a National Anti-War Memorial. It seems like we have found a place to put it, and now begins the funding finding! There will be a solicitation soon! I am partnered with John Kosh, who was the Art Director for the Beatles, among other astounding accomplishments. He is inspirational just to be around. We are going to try something new, which is to send an open message to the public so that big donors won't be able to censor the content of our piece. Stay tuned for more. So, I have bounced back. I am still trying to not be let down when people tell you one thing and do another, but given a choice I would be the same because the opposite of sensitivity is bitterness, and don't want to go down that road, ever. I will stay a marshmallow. Off we go to a new chapter, and I am getting up there, so I am trying to make these count for something. I love a lot of people, and am lucky that they have stayed with me. Stay tuned, I won't be gone so long this time.