I was sitting at the Scoreboard on Division Friday night after work, grabbing a quick drink. The Scoreboard is kind of a divey place with lots of sports stuff and all that, but the barstaff are really nice, and they pour a good drink. They also let me watch the Munsters and the Adams Family on TV Land Saturday mornings. My friend G. and I like to sit and bullshit with the bartenders on Sunday mornings and watch Arms Akimbo Theater, otherwise known as Bonanza.Anyway, I had my sketchbook with me, to keep myself occupied. I usually carry it with me when I'm out on my own. It keeps me out of trouble, and I seem to get some of my better ideas when I'm sketching at the bar. I was happily sketching away on a fountain I'm going to be sculpting for Elshoff Manor at the Fright Town haunted house. It's kind of a vampire skull thingy. It's going to have lights in the eyes, and fog coming out of it's mouth. I didn't realize that this was going to put me in a position to be attacked by three people because of a few pencil scratches on paper.
The first person who wanted to see what I was working on came and sat down next to me. She's seen my gore stuff in the past, so I was thinking "okay, I'll let her take a look" and showed her my sketch and explained what it was for. She said, "oh that's interesting but when are you going to bring in your real art?" Apparently, "Real Art" is the Native American designs, rainbows, and flowers that she paints on vinyl. She basically told me I was throwing my talent away.
The next person was a guy I've chatted with in the past. He's some sort of corporate whore artist who paints murals in commercial buildings. He took it upon himself to tell me that I was wasting my time, and talent, and should be doing "Real Art."
The last guy was some old drunk at My Father's Place (big surprise) who told me I was evil and a witch because of my sketch.
With all this negative b.s. I was totally thrown off balance. Who comes up to someone sketching and tells them that they are throwing their talent away? I don't know if they just don't have anything better to do, and I was just a sitting duck, or somehow they thought they were doing me some huge favor. I must be getting better at my sketching to cause this much of a commotion. I do this kind of art because it's fun, and it's what I'm best at. We had 11,000 people come through the haunted house last year, at $20 a pop, just to be scared by some of the stuff I did. Maybe my art critics don't realize that someone actually creates all the stuff that literally makes people poop their pants. I guess we're all a bunch of circus freaks, with the mentality of 14 year olds, but we really have fun doin
g it.
g it.I guess my point to all this is to shut the hell up. I'm not asking for your approval, and this is my "Real Art." Not that I'm anywhere near the talent of people like Francis Bacon, or Hieronymous Bosch, but if you take a look at the content of their paintings it's pretty damn scary and morbid. I guess it's all really just a matter of perspective. I think part of why I do what I do is to get a reaction, so it looks like I am succeeding at my goal. Yay me! At least my photos are pretty.
