Painting Update

I told you a while back about a painting the boy and I did using only materials we had in the garage. It was a fun project and when I saw that the local library was having a call for artwork under the theme “Imagine” we volunteered this painting, cuz, why not, you know?

We were delighted when they approved it and told us it would be on display there for the next two months.

Cool! 

We named it “100 Sunrises” and they asked if we were interested in putting a price on it in case anyone wanted to buy it. We both said “No.” at the same time. It was an easy choice.

They put it up in early January. There it is on display as Item #5 of seven.  It was the only one, it turns out, labeled NFS – not for sale.

A couple of weeks after it went up I got a call from the library asking if we would be interested in being interviewed by a regional paper about the piece. I gave the lady a tentative “Yes” but I wanted to run the idea by the seven-year-old first. I needn't have worried because when I asked him he said “Heck, yeah, I want to be interviewed by the paper!”

It was settled, then. We were doing the interview.

We showed up expecting the other artists and photographers with work in the exhibit to be there but it was just us, which was a little surprising. The interviewer asked a lot of questions and, initially at least, the boy’s answers were short and a little bit shy (I let him do most of the talking). The reporter (a mom) knew exactly how to tease information out of him and he warmed up quickly to her. She was a real professional and made it a fun experience for both of us.

After we were done talking she snapped a few pictures and let the wife help choose the best one. She then thanked us and said that the article would be out “next Thursday or the Thursday after that”.

In the car we asked him how he liked it and he said that it was fun but he “felt like his guts were going to jiggle out of him the whole time”.  Also, he said that “I thought some guy with blonde hair and a microphone was going to be there like on Fox News”. Not sure exactly what show that would be, but, anyway, he powered through his nerves and did awesome. I was very proud.

At home, the wife and I were discussing the interview and it hit us that she never asked the boy “the” question. You know, the one all adults ask kids: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Before I continue here I should assure you that the paragraph that follows is not embellished, exaggerated, hyperbolic, or an out-and-out lie. This happened exactly as I am about to describe it.

So we asked him “Hey, she never asked you what you wanted to be when you grow up. What would you have told her?”  He looked up from his Plants vs. Zombies “choose your own adventure” book and, deadpan, said “Well, by that time I expect that me and my army of clones will have taken over the world”, and went back to reading. The wife and I just stared at him for a bit and then at each other.

Oh. My. God. Where the hell did that even come from? I mean, that interview could have taken a dark, dark turn real quick but Providence intervened and the question was never asked.

A couple of weeks later the article was published and I raced around Hampton Roads during an extended lunch break buying up as many copies as I could scrounge (Like… six.  Noon is a little late in the day to be buying a paper it turns out.)

We showed him the beautifully written article and he was delighted to see his name and picture splashed across the page.

“Does this mean I'm famous,” he asked?  “Well… Sort of. Not like world famous or anything but..”

 "Maybe… city famous,” he guessed.

 “Sure, buddy. City famous.”  I smiled and he smiled. It was enough.

I mean, for now, amiright?  “Army of clones?!” Well, I guess us minions can rest easy in the knowledge that our future internment camps will have Legos and peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches…