Summer - 2002 The LockUp
More and more this wrestling theme appeals
to me.
This morning I went to get a drawing to mail to a guy who had
won it on eBay. It wasnt there. I had a funny feeling in
the pit of my stomach, as this had happened twice before, but
with paintings. At first it seemed maybe things were just being
misplaced. But now today Im sure what happened to the paintings
and this and other drawings.
Back during the beginning of the summer I got an email from a
guy billykid (who said he really liked my stuff and
wanted to buy a print of everything. Said he would drive up from
Atlanta and get them, and wanted to see everything youve
got. Sure enough about eleven one night a car drives up
and out gets this hot dude, and walks across the yard totally
naked. Im thinking fucking cool. Hes really
personable, nice, and we spend the next two hours looking- him
at my art, me
:-) He really likes all the frontal stuff,
the bigger the dick the better. Then we get in bed and carry on
just like you think we might. Its really nice, totally.
Next morning hes in no hurry and we have a nice breakfast
conversation, etc. He showers, then I shower, and around noon
he gathers what he wants and asks me how much. Im in the
mood to give good prices, but he still wants a lot for a little.
Finally we strike a bargain. He hands me the cash for a couple
of drawings, framed and a couple of paintings. Then he gets back
in his sports utility, still naked, and drives off and Im
left in the afterglow.
The glow has dimmed and gone. First those missing paintings,
now the missing drawings. Now Ive just been seriously going
thru stuff and find a lot of my best work missing- the full
frontals with big dicks. Its taken me months to realize
they were gone. Doing new art takes so much time, not much is
left over for going thru the old. Whats just so confounding
is how nice the guy was to be with, so intelligent as well as
sensual. When he got my email with my suspicions a few weeks back
(which are certainties now) and he asked me to read A Separate
Peace by John Knowles, implying that would assuage me of
my doubts.
Theres nothing I know to do in a situation like this. Im
locked up. You could say its my fault for trusting a stranger.
So I just wanted to tell the story. Who would think someone would
like an artist work, go to meet him, have sex, charm thru
breakfast and then steal his stuff while he's in the shower?
Whats hard for me is to separate business and friendship.
All of you on my list I like to think of as friends before customers
and this bad apple wont spoil the barrel. But more and more
we must all see that we as a society are hamstrung by the cheaters
and free-riders among us. BillyKid didnt leave me less able
or interested in doing my art, but he did us all a disservice,
in betraying the family'. Im not going to war about
it, Im just telling the story from my side. If you see any
of the art Ive listed as robbed on my website,
youll know it was ill gotten gain. How billy could enjoy
looking at it, i can only wonder.
good luck in the jungle guys, :-)
p.s. i eventually found out billythekid's real name is Bill Hill
and he did live in the Atlanta area. i filed a police report.
the detective said unfortunately even knowing who did it was not
enough to issue a search warrant as there were no witnesses to
the theft. it seems if the artwork comes on the market only then
can they make an arrest for possession of stolen property. so
if you see any of the paintings and drawings listed as 'robbed'
i hope you'll let me know. last i heard he'd changed his ebay
identity and was trying to rip off other artists.
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