GJ Willis' Art Notes

I'm very saddened to hear that Mel Karamzin has left Infinity Broadcasting, a company he has helped to build. I hope that Sumner Redstone does not decide to sell off the radio division. The only company I can see capable of buying it would be the dreaded evil empire that is, Clear Chanel. If he does do this would most of the radio people who work for Infinity like Howard Stern, Don and Mike, Miles and Thrill, Ron and Fez be out of a job? What would I listen to all day? I'm having nightmares of being forced to listen to that laughing hyena, that is DC101's Elliott in the Morning.

Sunday, May 30, 2004

Earlier in the afternoon I really tried to walk down the street to the Sowebo Festival but I felt afraid. There were all these cars parked in my neighborhood that would not normally be there. Also there was this group of white youths standing on my corner who I knew did not live in the neighborhood. I feel uncomfortable when I see groups of people standing around in one area. I feel like there either going to rob or harass me. So yes, I admit I felt frightened and went back inside. I don’t recall if they were all wearing black leather, smoking cigarettes and brandishing chains, and guns. I just recall feeling weirded out because it was a group of people on my corner! A group of people I had never seen before a day in my life! I suppose I’ll make another try after the people have left my corner, that is if they ever leave my street corner.

On second thought maybe they were drunk teenagers or wanted to drink they kept asking asking each other if any of them brought along there ID’s. Eeek! Juvenile delinquents on the corner! I recall that when I first stepped out the door a girl who was with them said, “Ewww!” I know I’m no beauty contestant but I’ve never had someone look at me and go, “Ewww!”

So I decided right then and there that I would not be intimidated by teens. I promptly went back inside and waited for them to leave. I passed the time by going over to the Union Square web site to look at photos of last years Sowebo Festival. When I had exhausted those photos I went over to the Sowebo web site to look at even more photos. The photo’s seemed to mostly consist of freaky looking people. Maybe this would be almost like visiting the fabled, Land of the Misfit Toys.

When I finally ventured out the door the gang of teens were gone. I felt safe. The first stage I went to there was this band playing. They sounded really good. They played a mixture of rap, reggae, and rock. The two lead singers were a black guy and girl the rest of the band was white. I was feeling good bopping my head along to the intensely rhythmic music. So good that I gathered the courage to walk down to the Carriage House to see if my two paintings were still intact. As you may recall these two paintings are in cased in cheap Walmart frames. My main fear was that they would fall apart. They were in fact intact and prominently displayed.

I decided right then and there to explore more of the festival. I walked down the street and found myself at the food court. I bought a $1.00 egg custard flavored snowball. I recall that one of the men tending the stand had pretty light brown eyes. I then visited all the music stages in the festival. My only regret was that I only have $8.00 to my name. I saw so much pretty jewelry there that I wanted to buy but couldn't.

The last place I visited before leaving the festival was the place I think used to be Gallery M. I went there because I wanted to visit my poster. It was at the very tipy top of the wall. When I went there I was also surprised to see that an artist named Gabriel Kroiz had contributed a poster this year. I wonder if this is the same Gabriel who used to run the festival? It’s kind of hard to say. I can’t recall Gabriel’s last name. The only thing I can recall about Gabriel was that he had a hard to forget unusually angelic first name.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen I finally did it! I went to the Sowebo Festival!

Saturday, May 29, 2004

I saw the William Inge play, Picnic today at Center Stage on today. I was pleased to see that my new favorite stage actor, Eric Sheffer Stevens was in the play. He was in the play because one of the actors who was originally slated to appear in the play had to drop out. I wonder what happened? Was the original actor awful in the role and had to be let go? Did he get a movie or tv deal? Did he die? Anyway, the play was great. The set reminded me of the one that was used in the Rainmaker.

Saturday Unusual Occurrences:

On the way to Center Stage I ran into a wedding that was letting out. It was unusual because I know that the church is predominantly white, being that it’s in a white neighborhood, yet I noticed that the vast majority of the people coming out of the church were black. It kind of made me wonder what was going on. It turns out it was an interracial wedding that was just letting out. The bride was black and the groom was white. The majority of the bridesmaids were black all of the grooms men were white. The members of the wedding party gathered around Mount Vernon Square to take pictures. I wanted to take pictures of the family members taking pictures of the wedding party but wasn’t sure if that was ok. I wasn’t sure if anyone would pull a Sean Penn on me. You know come up to me and say in a confrontational manner, “How dare you take pictures of us taking pictures!”

Also on the way home from the theater I fell down, yet again! I hope this doesn’t turn into a monthly occurrence. Last month or month before as you can recall I had the bus incident where I fell down in the street and became a semi-cripple. One thing I have to say the sidewalk was pretty torn up where I fell down so it wasn’t entirely my fault. Both of my knees were badly skinned, my right elbow, and my right knuckles also were bruised. I have a purple bruise on my right knee along with various scars and scabs on my arms and face. I look like a domestic abuse victim. Luckily, I did not reinjure my right leg. Yaaaaaaay!!!

Friday, May 28, 2004

Finally, my nephew got in contact with me! He only wants $100 from me for his birthday present. For a while I thought he was either mad at me or forgot about his birthday (highly unlikely). Unfortunately, I will be unable to give him anything until next week.

Thursday, May 27, 2004

This morning the bus was on time. I suppose the late bus incident was solely the result of the rainy weather. I’m a little worried about tomorrow. It seems that they (bus drivers) usually switch off on Fridays. So I will have to get to the bus stop a little earlier or walk. There is no telling when the new driver will arrive. My bus usually arrives at 5:45. I don’t know if it will be earlier than usual or late as hell tomorrow.

I didn’t watch American Idol yesterday. I’ve never watched the show before. I have no idea who won. As I understand it, it was a showdown between some woman named Fantasia whose a black teenage mother and a fat white chick named, Diana. I have no idea whose the better singer between the two. But from what I hear on talk radio Fantasia is the favorite. Don Geronimo going against the popular grain has his money on Diana winning. Also from what I hear some girl named LaToya was the better singer of the two and got voted off a couple of weeks ago. There was some kind of a big controversy over it.

Last night I worked on my polymer clay sculpture. It looks like it’s going to be a goblet. All I have to do to complete it is to smooth out the rough edges, bake it in the oven and paint it. I like working with polymer clay because it remains pliable for days and you can bake it in a regular oven. The reason for this is that polymer clay is a plastic based clay. It first came on the market in the 60’s just like my favorite paint, acrylic, which surprise is also plastic based. I feel almost like that guy who was giving advice to Dustin Hoffman's, character of Benjamin Braddock in the 60’s classic film, The Graduate. "Plastics!" , truly is the wave of the future. Heck, I’m using it in the 21st century and can not imagine making art without it.