Welcome

Somewhere in America a small town has been dying a slow and painful death.  Not unlike a lot of small towns in this nation.  We all know the story; a town built around a single industry, the industry fails or moves to another country, and leaves its children behind to flounder.  Some of those children move to greener pastures, some stay behind and try as best they can to hang on.  Most of these little enclaves fail to thrive.  But some, like a phoenix, survive the fire and once again take wing and fly.  We need more of these small town survival stories for we are too quickly becoming Generica.  No more mom an pop five and dimes, no more family owned corner candy store, no more local burger joint where the proprietor knows every customer by name and their children.  Every thing is becoming homogenized.  The same double golden arches in every town, in every city, in every state.  The same retail establishments, the same theaters, the same houses.  Hell I can’t tell a neighborhood in one of Atlanta’s suburbs from a neighborhood in a Washington suburb.  They all look the same, have the same master plan.  There is no diversity, no flavor, and no room to be original.  These things will be the death of out nation.

I grew up in these small towns, from Iowa to California, about 10 of them in 7 states.  They nourished me.  Small towns can be cliquish. Any one who has ever lived in a small town knows this.  However small towns also nourish the soul.  As youngsters we can’t wait to get away, spread our wings.  As adults we crave the familiarity of knowing our neighbors.  We long for a sense of place and community.

In recent weeks I’ve been introduced to a particular small town by a friend of mine, I’ll call her Miss C., she and more than a few others are making great strides towards bringing this forgotten place back to life.  Miss C. has opened an art center and does a vast amount of work with those in the community that many over look, and she does it with art and a whole lot of love.  Which brings me to my little “endeavor”, I intend to be part of this revitalization and more participatory with the arts in this area.  So, I’m purchasing a small house, very small, where I can stay when I’m there.  I also intend to use it as studio space and provide other artists with a place to stay when they come to visit.

Over the course of my life I’ve seen many a small town and abandoned down towns escape the grim reaper via artists.  This little town will become one of those success stories and I’m overjoyed to be participating in that rebirth.

I’m an artist, but I do not make my living as an artist.  I make my living working in a grocery store, and by the grace of whatever powers may be.  I’m using what I have of my savings for a down payment on my dream and selling my paintings at ridiculously low prices to raise the rest.  I am asking everyone I know who has ever admired a piece of my work to go to my little investment page, take a look, and consider purchasing one of my paintings.  Every $100.00 makes a big difference.  Please forward this link to anyone you think might be interested.

I’m new to this web site building thing so check back frequently as I’ll be updating a lot.

Thank you so much to those who have already assisted in making my goal more attainable.  You’ll have to come visit some time.