Late last fall, Heather and I were both thrilled to have discovered this great local artist, Rudy Rowell. Rudy, also known as "Vigo" (www.vigoboom.com),has been focusing on capturing some of the local color in the form of musicians, mardi gras indians, and vernacular architecture, to great success. His paintings usually sell out before the markets even begin to open, especially at holiday time. Heather gifted me with this painting of the Olympia Brass Band last Christmas, and since then we have begun to accumulate a new one just about every month.
This past market, Rudy suprised me with a portrait of Billy Bob Hopson, a local art car maker and folk artist extraordinaire.Billy Bob is/was a good friend of mine, and happens to be the subject of my thesis film. Billy Bob lost his wife, his home and most of his art cars due to Katrina and has only recently begun to rebuild his life and vehicles in the past year. This painting reminds me of friendships past- Billy- and friendships new- Rudy and how more important than ever it is to keep good people close to you. I am inspired to sek Billy out and I will be reporting this news from the fringe as soon as possible.
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