On a night in June of 1989, after a long day with the brush and wine, the painter ventured outside as the sunset began to danc

The Silent Man and Paintings from Rugby Avenue.

On a night in June of 1989, after a long day with the brush and wine, the painter ventured outside as the sunset began to dance with the local scenery. Armed in more "grape" and with an adequate supply of paint, a local night of history was at hand.

The first of two paintings, interestingly enough called # 1 , was more about painting a painting of painting than anything else, and as such, accounts for the fact that the major object in said # 1

is the canvas. Its thickness represents the last vestiges of Vincent, and coupled with about half a gallon of California's best, was an adequate preliminary for what was about to happen.

Relocating to the corner of our yard, behind a huge yellow hedge, and looking down Trafalgar, old # 2 began in a flurry. By now the entire neighborhood had fallen silent and just the painter and

the wind moved through the night air. Still, in the corner of # 2, another indication of canvas though the view proceeds down Trafalgar, and within this doing, around the corner came "the silent man".

The painter and the "silent man" talked, at about four o'clock in the morning and it went something like this:

Painter: "put down that hammer."

Silent Man: putting the hammer down, takes out a blanket

from under his arm and spreads it on the ground.

opens a tool box he was carrying and takes out various tools,

spreading them on the blanket.

(without a word) moving his head in a sweeping motion,

palms up, reflections of the streetlight flash upon his questioning eyes,

he wordlessly asks "do you want to buy anything?"

Painter: most interested in the drama, with a wine induced slight lurch, asks

"where's the hammer?"

Both the Painter and the Silent Man move in a circle around the blanket of tools, the Painter looking for the hammer (which was where the Silent Man had laid it) and the Silent Man; just looking for a sale. After about two and a half circles, by mutual and unspoken agreement, the tools were picked up, stored back in the toolbox, and the blanket folded.

Silent Man: A smile at the randomness of the play, he, putting one hand in his pocket, under that arm, the blanket. He reflects with his eyes, thank you, and moves off towards Arnett Blvd.

Painter: The Painter could only think "good bye", no need to say it.

This is just about the time the police showed up. Rugby and Trafalgar being a corner provided a perfect place for multiple police cars to show up from different directions at the same time,

the effect adding to the now on-going drama. In the searching out of just how this happened,

it was determined that not just one, but several of our new neighbors were up at three or four o'clock n the morning and had seen the "circle dance" of the painter and the silent man, and not

being able to understand what was happening determined it was bad, and summoned the police.

Painter: As the warm wind swirled down the avenue and the Silent Man disappeared into the night, whirling red flashing lights from different directions, yet obviously converging, broke the calm, magic spell. A large male policeman broke free from one of the cars while a smaller female strode from as second.

Police: the male spoke first, "what are you doing here?"

Painter: looking around, gesturing with his eyes, still

speaking with the silent man said "painting" .

a fact made obvious by the large amounts of paint and two finished pictures.

Police: the female moved in for the kill, "do you live here ? "

Painter: "yes, why?"

Both police officers looked at each other and walked briefly towards the painting equipment, as if to make an assessment as to the believability of their eyes, and upon verification they stepped back, withdrawing with an uneasy acceptance.

Police: "seen anything unusual tonight?"

Painter: at about a time like this, and these moments happen too infrequently in life, all the absurd questions and events bubble up, and I, for one, with my usual lack of

respect for the unfortunate authority figure asking such a question, usually gets into trouble with sarcasm, or a misplaced insult or two. This time the painter said "nope".

Painter: "nope", best answer to date.

Puzzlement set in and the first thing the police did was to step back, about two paces. The painter moved closer towards them by a step. The police huddled together for a few private words, and wrote a few things down in the note pad of the small female and they jumped into their police cars.

Police: from the car of the smaller female, “have a nice night.”

One of the things I like about painting is that you never know what's going to happen.

June Night # 1 ( 1989 )

June Night # 2 (1989)

Toby the Parrot on our Television (1989)

"Toby's a gooooood bird".

Living Room # 1 (October 23rd, 1989)

Everything’s as clear here as can be.

Dining Room # 1

Bluebird

Rugby Bedroom (1990)

An intense warm from this picture,