June 21, 2005
Leaving for Montana in the morning. Heading for the Custer Battlefield to see Thom Ross do his Christo-Bananarama deal on the Crow section of the “park.” I hope there is some resistance and hopefully some senseless violence. Why else do art? Eh, Thom?

Rand Carlson came by at noon today and we went to lunch at the Bad Donkey (I had the Rueben and an iced tea, he had a salad—Atkins—he bought). We worked together at New Times way back in the eighties and he is a fellow cartoonist so we had a lot to talk about. He has a studio in downtown Tucson. He's into tin art collages nowadays and doing quite well. Lots of art groupies, etc. Not that I'm jealous. Just envious.

Worked on several pieces of art. Finished two Curly Bill’s; the outlaw leader as an apparition in the sky with a stubborn burro and rider in the foreground. The dust from the burro rider drifts up into the desert sky and creates the galloping mirage of Mr. Brocius in full stride. I did a scratchboard version of this scene for the July issue but wasn’t happy with it. I had an image in my mind and wanted something more atmospheric and colorful for the book. I think I got it. Gus scanned one of them (the skinny one) and we shoe-horned it in. Looks very nice. Went home at lunch and finished two more paintings. One of Ike Clanton standing in front of the Harwood house looking dazed and confused. "All talk" is the name of it. The other one is a cool horseback rider firing at unseen assailants. Lots of dust, great gunsmoke and action. My signature stuff. Of course, here I am, on fire, cranking it out, and tomorrow we go to Montana for a week and I’ll be rusty as a Lake Mojave nail when I get home. Ha. Such is my life.

"I slept and dreamed that life was beauty. I woke and found that life is duty."
—Ellen S. Hooper