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IMAGES BY DIRK (Part II)
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Part of Herb's job at Fireman's Fund was putting together American Express advertising material & he commissioned me to do a cover for a special fund report.
COLLAGE COVER FOR AMERICAN EXPRESS 1973
"GOLDEN GATE/ SAN FRANCISCO" was a collage of sorts, created by wetting large patches of colored paper &, applying them unevenly to the media surface, then pulling them away. Over that background, pieces of colored tissue paper were pasted.
A variation on Ernie's cowboy for a Gay magazine. Chalk on black paper.
"Chuck" oil on canvas, date unknown - sold at Ernie's or The Stud.
"A Study in Sepia" ditto
"HERBERT THE GOOD" AKA "MONA HERBERT" - oil on canvas - 18x24 - 1972
Herb was a weekend-hippie (& so was I) & called himself "Herbert-the-Good." He made & sold "Jools" (he was Jewish) - macrame necklaces made with rare beads which he scrounged from second-hand shops & antique stores, & sold at the many Peddler's Fairs in the area. One such creation is the turquoise-covered-shell-with-genuine-Indian-trade-beads necklace he is wearing in the painting.
"ELF" - oil on canvas - 24x30 - 1974
One of Herb's Gay Peddler-buddies was a very small man who called himself "Elf." Indeed, he looked like an elf - always up to some kind of mischief. I never knew his real name. He had a scrappy little brown wire-haired terrier named "Buffalo." He made "Magic Jewels" & sold them beside Herb's "Jools." He had vanished from San Francisco by the time I finished his portrait. No one knew where he had gone or what had happened to him. It really looks like him.
"ELF WITH MAGIC JEWELS"
Study his eyes; first they are looking at his magic jewel, then they are looking right at you!
"DIVINE BM" ACRYLIC ON CANVAS - 24X30 - 1972
Then 4 of us took Acid & went to see THE DIVINE MISS M at the Boarding House, on her second national tour. This painting is based on the picture on the back of her first album. She & her all-Gay audience made for an unforgettable, truly divine experience! "Rapture!" expresses it.
I was totally unprepared for the next time we took LSD, at Dave's Baths, on Christmas day. Quite literally, it blew my mind!
"ICDLITE" (My GMC Pickup's license plate) oil on canvas - 24 x30 - 1972
FRANK & ERNIE in my old Jimmy pickup.
Years later, after we'd both got "vanity plates" his was CHEFONE & mine ICDLITE. One dark night, we heard a crash outside that sounded much too close & we ran out to find that some hit-&-run idiot had totaled my old Jimmy pickup, parked out front. This license plate was all I salvaged. But that was later. Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, I tried to express what I had "seen" on LSD
"TAKE AWAY THE CROSS!" - oil on canvas - 30x40 - 1971
"TAKE AWAY THE CROSS" featured some my favorite Rock Stars. That's Herb to the right of Michelangelo's"Jesus Rising."
"JUMPING JESUS" - oil on canvas - 16x20 - 1971
'HAPPY LITTLE BLUEBIRDS" - Acrylic on canvas - 48x48 - 1975
"RAINBOW SEED FARMS" - Acrylic on canvas -18x24 - 1976
This painting turned out to be prophetic. In 1976, Herb's job of Art Director at Fireman's Fund moved with the company to Marin & he decided he didn't want to go with it, so we packed up bag & baggage & a White German Shepherd named Luv & moved to Roseville, a suburb of Sacramento, then to our own little farm in Fair Oaks, another suburb, fairly near the American River, with a view of the mountains!
"LUV IS PURE LOVE IN THE SHAPE OF A DOG" at home in Roseville, 1977
"ALMOST HOME" oil on canvas 36x96 - 1976
"ALMOST HOME" DETAIL - check the reflection of a dog in front of the first horse. He's there in the top part, but you have to look very closely. That's Luv, leading Herb and me, almost home.
There's a light in the window.
"A PLACE TO GO (FOR A VISIT)" - acrylic on canvas - 36x48 -1977
"A PLACE TO GO FOR A VISIT" Detail
"PURPLE RAIN" acrylic on canvas, 1977
"PURPLE RAIN" Detail.
"RAINBOWS AT MIDNIGHT" - acrylic on canvas 1976
"RAINBOWS AT MIDNIGHT"
That's me in the window with my dog by my side
"RAINBOWS IN DISGUISE" acrylic on canvas - 36x36 - 1980
It was painted for a Lesbian couple; the central balloon features their favorite colors.
Gay Real Estate company's Rainbow Festival T-Shirt - 1991
LITTLE RED HEN ENTERPRISES
In 1978 Herb & I had settled down on our own little farm - 1 1/2 acres on Leedy Lane, in Fair Oaks, (where I grew organic vegetables, grapes & berries, which Herb used in his catering) - working together in our new business - LITTLE RED HEN ENTERPRISES - we combined advertising (Herb had been Art Director at Fireman's Fund, so he ran the business & I drew & painted & wrote ad-copy & answered the phone) and Gourmet Catering. (He was also a phenomenal cook.) He wanted to open a restaurant called "GOOD EATS" featuring "California Cuisine"
"CHEFONE" (licence plate on his Volkswagen Bug) - oil on canvas - 36x54, slightly larger than life.
"CHEF ONE" Detail
This painting hung in the entry of Brewster House in Davis (the background is supposed to look like the smoke from the fire that destroyed his previous, very successful "BON APPETIT" in Fair Oaks) until he "retired for reasons of his health" - having tested positive for HIV in 1984. He had been known as "Sacramento's Celebrity Chef" & had his own little show on channel 13's noontime news, showing how to cook "gourmet-style" using a microwave oven. He was the Litton spokesman in the area, demonstrating their microwaves. He cooked for Governers& catered for Presidents. He died of AIDS January 22, 1987, at age 51.
Us in happier days.
He has 2 panels in The Quilt, both from me. We had a good thing going, & I really miss him.
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