Hob Nobs First Friday

Last night I set up shop in front of Hob Nobs coffee shop again.

As usual, Hob Nobs was a great place for feedback. There was so much opportunity to talk to people about the work, and so many people gave me interesting perspectives on my own work. I'm always looking for feedback, and last night was the jack pot.

I have a bit of a thing about Firemen. No, it's not sexual. I never knew how little we paid Firemen until I watched Rescue Me. Yeah, I'm a Rescue Me fan. Anyway, it just galls me that we pay such a tiny salary to a group of people who are willing to risk their lives to save our own. I've ranted on this before, so I won't go into it, but as far as I'm concerned, if your job entails saving peoples lives at the risk of your own, you should see a few more zeroes in you annual salary.

So, I've been thinking about doing a Fireman piece for the Numberism series, but I haven't found the right picture yet.

Wouldn't you know it, Hob Nobs is right across the street from Fire Station 4, and last night they all came over to peruse the Hob Nob artwork. They were great. I think it was the Chief who actually went so far as to explain one of my pieces to me. He had it dead on, and I didn't have to say a thing. You always hope that your art will speak for itself without any of your help and last night was probably the most extreme example of that. He just looked at "Almost Time", and laid it all out for me. So this crew really seems to get it.

I've asked Fire Station 4 if I can use one of them as a model for the Fireman piece I've been mulling over. I offered to give them the original but they refused. I'm going to at least push a large print on them. It's almost nothing at all, but I'd like to give it to them. I've never been in a fire, but I know if I was caught in one, these guys wouldn't hesitate to help. I kind of feel like I need to thank them for that. They get paid a pittance for their work, so as I see it, at least I can give them my gratitude. (It won't help pay the bills, but hey, I'm an artist: what do you expect? )