Today my “Self Portrait as Armadillo” left it’s cozy studio on Lake Beulah to be installed just a half mile away on Lemon Street at the corner of Tennessee.
It was a short drive down Lemon Street and it was fun to see the expressions of the people we passed by. It felt like a parade, only no pirates, cannons, beads or candy. I did bring Krispy Kreme doughnuts for the friendly installers.
It will spend the rest of 2015 under the cover of some shady trees on the Sun Trust Bank property, so please come by and see it and take a photo with Bobadillo.
Thank you to my number one studio assistant Hondo Hernandez. After his work designing the F-16 for the United States Air Force, I felt he was well qualified to be a part of a project of this scale. Also thanks to my good friend and artist Tony Hernandez for his help, Kathy Peacock, Joe Griffith, Rex Dutton, my neighbors Ray and Mark at Tru-Temp Controls, the geniuses at TA Mahoney, the cool cats at the Polk Museum of Art and Katy and the kids for encouraging me this last few months. I couldn’t have done it without you all. Thank you.
Downtown Lakeland will host the Lemon Street Celebration on April 3rd (First Friday) 5:30 – 7:30 PM. It’s an honor to be included in this exhibition and I would love to have everyone come share the excitement with us!