After Thanksgiving and dropping off my grandmother back at her house, I thought I might go to Miami to begin my Art Basel Miami festivities. This year I was understood to have an arranged mural-wall collaborating with my friend and painting partner, Blues. I had no luck getting though to his phone, so I made the trip back up to Jacksonville to bide some time before going so far south.
I felt great back in Jacksonville, largely because I was most of the way finished with a good looking show on cigarettes. I opened my studio door, set up a few paintings, and binge-worked for a few hours. I got a call from my friend Mark, notifying me that one of the buildings that Shaun and I had painted in the late spring of 2014 was in the middle of burning down. I grabbed my camera and rushed downtown to catch some of the destruction. I felt giddy watching our paint-job crumble, burn, and get blasted with water from diligent fire fighters. After taking several pictures, a surreal sense of perversion began to set in. I knew fairly little about this building, but how I enjoyed seeing it burn. Among the spectators that night, myself, Mark, Weird (an artist friend), curious denizens, and cameramen, there was a sense of community in the still night. Back in the studio, I worked for a few more hours before resting.
