BLUE FUTURE

BLUE FUTURE - 12"x43" Acrylic on .25" Board (Too bad it's so dark because a lot of detail and colours are lost.)

          I created this painting over 50 years ago, and sadly, the direction I envisioned human beings headed then is probably more true today. This painting has never been for sale and very few people have ever set eyes on it - it's hardly the sort of painting someone would hang on a wall. When I painted this morbid, depressing, dark and ominous painting, which seems odd because I was living in Vancouver, BC during the hippie era; love, peace, flowers and beads, which were at the forefront. I was also clear-headed - no drugs or alcohol stimulants were necessary when I did this painting, although I may have had a couple of beers at the time - I really don't remember. Needless to say the 60's and the 70's were a psychedelic blast for me - stretched out on a floor in bell-bottom jeans with friends and sharing a bong was not unusual.

          I was living a somewhat out of control existence then, so a lot of things I painted, drew and wrote about simply faded away. Man! It was a great era! Bra-less chicks, free-love and mind-blowing music - in my estimation, a renaissance-extraordinaire! I'd like to think I've always been pretty much a free-spirited person and actually as I recall, it was only when I began taking more interest in making money, and lots of money, that I lost touch with myself and my life so to speak went sideways. It's hard to believe that I was once basically a millionaire, a time when it wasn't a quiz-show prize and the best thing that happened to me was when I blew it all; every fucking penny. I felt guilty for taking a year off afterwards, having gone from working 12-16 hours a day pretty much 7 days a week and then working only 2 days a week (weekends). Later on I gave my motorcycle to a friend and bought a bicycle, it was 5 miles, mostly up hill to where I worked. The last job I did professionally took me a month but I earned 17 Grand, enough for a down payment on a beautiful sailboat (had to put it in my girlfriend's name - too many creditors after me). Unlike Trump, like Mark Twain, when he went tits up, I eventually paid off everyone; I refused to go bankrupt. I owed money and figured I had to pay it. Of course my credit was shot but I didn't give a shit - business and me parted company forever. Incidentally, I was 42 when I went bust. 

           I haven't painted anything that ugly since then and think perhaps I should start again, at least it seems more meaningful than a landscape or a seascape. The problem with beautiful natural settings is that they camouflage the clear cuts, the poisons, the plastic choked lakes, rivers, and oceans - the utter pollution destroying our planet. Don't get me wrong though, I enjoy painting those sorts of things because they're easy to do and I sell them - still have to earn a living, even at age 78. No money set aside or retirement fund here! Fortunately, I was born in a country that gives away money for simply reaching a certain age, so I get by alright - certainly not going to complain - people the world over are in far worse shape...cheers, eh!