I carved this grinning creature on a linoleum block in 1979 for the cover of my book Kidz, whose blunt text was a brash as the figure. I had returned to the Bay Area following two years of peregrinations in Europe having left in the fall of 1979 with the fabulous sum of $1700 in Traveller’s Checks (rent for a one-bedroom apartment was about $136.00/month in Oakland in those days). I had managed to travel for two years on this money having many adventures (and lovers) in various countries and cities. With a girlfriend I shared a cave-house in the village of Oia (population 200) on the island of Santorini, and eventually travelled to Amsterdam (by way of Athens and Milan) where I ended up squatting a flat with a formidable Dutch woman who later became the Green Party representative to the Parliament. But in summer 1979, nearly two years after I had left, I returned to Oakland eschewing the prospect of a marriage and family in yet another foreign country, sparing the fine soul who thought he would brave a life with me from taking the risk. The idea of self-determination and autonomy had a strong pull, and the Bay Area was familiar, a safe place to which to return. The punk creature was a pretty good indicator of my attitude.
Marching right out of that little house in the 2200 block of Rittenhouse Sq., bravely inventive and forthrightly self-absorbed where did those personas come from and where did they go? Who now sits at the table surrounded by scholarly investigations and ventures into the early morning mists for a run or a session weeding in the spring garden?
Marching right out of that little house in the 2200 block of Rittenhouse Sq., bravely inventive and forthrightly self-absorbed where did those personas come from and where did they go? Who now sits at the table surrounded by scholarly investigations and ventures into the early morning mists for a run or a session weeding in the spring garden?
i love your punk self. hilarious.
Our many facets, an inventory of characters. I love that.
OMG, I need to see that picture in person, and so many others!