James Gurney advises artists should paint a naturally lighted suject once a day. Yeeps. Filled with fire, committed to raising my art up a notch, I bundled my junk and headed off for “the wild”,i.e., not my studio. I chose as my subject a local hot dog stand called Johnny’s. Everyone goes to Johnny’s. Plumbers, kings, nannies, grandpas,senators. The trucks and cars start piling up a little before seven and the place stays crazy until 10:00, giving the crew a chance to breathe and change gears for the lunch service. Since Johnny”s is attached to the Royall Ace Hardware store, the river of cars and trucks don’t quit whirling around in the parking lot.
I’ve set up a portable studio in the back of my car before when it was pouring rain, but yesterday it was hot and sunny and about a million degrees in the back of the Jeep. I had an easel set up in the trunk and started sketching away and I have to say that Johnny’s customers are no respectors of the art process. A girl could develop severe spinal injuries with all the backing and the three point turns and the loading of the pipes and fence posts or whatever the heck that was that nearly busted both my shins. I repeat, Yeeps. Maybe they have low blood sugar.