Christmas 2016 Greetings

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year - once again. 23rd Xmas in here, would be nice if it is the last.

To all of my on-line friends, I hope that you know that I regret being unable to respond to your many kind messages due to my circumstances. Perhaps in 10 to 13 months that will change. For now, let me wish all of you a happy new year and thank you for your friendship and encouragement. My paintings will hopefully provide me with a means of support when I return to the world, without retirement income or much in the way of social security; but painting is what I do.

I make art in prison world. This helps me succeed in retaining my identity. I'm sure that prison invades my consciousness in insidious ways. Artistic expression keeps me centered. It allows me to put the petty tyrants into perspective. I try to see the humor in the daily indignities, small acts in the greater scheme. When i am painting i could be anywhere, London, Paris, Tokyo, Mars. Painting and me have a long history.

There are few corners that i have left unexplored since I began painting in 1963, but nothing compares with the imperative that prison world has brought to the mix. Simply, I paint the best that I can. I hope to continue to progress and hone my craft until I drop dead with a brush in one hand and something interesting in the other. ....just sayin. yours d......