West Texas Adventures

Once , shit it had to have been in 96-97 i was trying to sell chicken painting out in wimberly before it got totaly taken over buy the Austin boom, and there were folk out there in this town it was like a tourist town real nice at one time, but i think some where in the 90's its like whats going on to all of America there are to many idiot people out to make a buck but with no idea on how to do it the factors that make it, , basicly rich people playing round with there capitol,. . With the glut of rich people trying to move into downtown wimberly a new project i suspect was underway to clean the place up an kick out those run down retial antiqu shops that people have been owning for god know how long and start creating a coutry homemade artistan village, all brought to by realitors and the city council, not any who actual is a "artistian" so
there was this campain i fell into, once!, they want the town to be bussling with aritst trying to hack there wares, like they just live in a log cabin right off the square, so they got people to come and set up, a 25$ set up fee and they would like a cut in sales, somehting like 10% and they waved the right to require a tax id, this time!, whoa what a deal, they created a map, for where they thought artists should be set up, and it was an organized event, etc, but there was on problem, nobody came it was in the middle of sumer and they placed you in places they people would discover you, i sat there like all day didn't sell anything, and i procratenated in paying my 25$, they came around at the end cause they thought i was pooor, to colect after the event, this real slick realor wanna be city council guy started lectureing me about my commitment to be an artist and go to the event this is the way to make it , i told him i cann't pay caus i have no cash to do it they said next time you show up, etc, i thought your out of your fucking mind no real artist would waste there time one this, i ended up bolting sorta making fun of them, but it got me thinking about the idea of the public alot and how people really (rich people) really have no clue about how this works if they ain't in the buisness of it. i rember on arument i had,was, to this guy how do you expect people to come here set up , pay for it, and with little expectiations to sell, who, and like a person who only sees this as buisness not risk , that the exposeure was to the advantage of an artist, they , the artist should be kissing there ass,,. this dude had no idea, i told him the exposure is not that great iand i think your taking advantage of artist who will do anything to show, is that all the pathic losers non aritst you know say, that this is a good idea, ?
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it was cut off some where i walked around alot and talked to folk , left my table etc, hell you could have put free on the table nobody would have cared, but one thing i realied is that every small town there is a group of art humanitarians willing to cut the local artists some slack and do something, all the anitque retail nick nack stores, int he world all have some fat older lady with to much make up and like to gosssip and judge the shit out of people, they like the public and like to contect people the busy midddle man with their nose in everything, they can spot the next fad , and talk about what the public wants, you got to make this its what they want , your stupid if you don't!,.
I remember one of my classic conversations, man i wish i had a utube for this was once in columbus miss. i walked into this really wierid art studio gallery shop very victorian , like paintings form the south, girls looking out a window in an old house , very ornmated lace type of stuff guady, the lady who ran the thing was an artist and i think a history teacher, she was interested in who i was like to talk so we did for a while , she was giving me advise on how to be an artist, i liek those kinda pep talks, no really i do, . so she went on about the goal of ever artist is to get intot the publiishing companys and have your image or genra smacked on everthing thats the goal if your good enough, i thik she fancyed herself like a Rubens or Delexoux(sp) she asked me what i do , "paint chicken" which wa slow barn painter trash , lower that bob ross maybe, we she felt supiior to me and started off about who i am , etc, my life of loserdom or something, it was a riot, after the spill of how a chicken artist won't make it, i started into on contepary art and what looked to be a local museum/ art place there i asked her about what is that? is that art, then she went off about people there who ran it,. funy thing was right before i walked into here place , i was probing that place for show, figureing out the organzation etc. i started bring up key issues about what kinda art that is and like come on ther has to be other sucesful art venues besided regudrated (throw up), pictures form the old south that your gallery has, but then it down on me she is the town royal queen bitch, and has mostly likey pissed everybody off at one time, she was there here whole life from what i can tell, man now this is folk art. i ended up leaving blow away by here she was colorful but a bit nasty, i like it.