Monday, April 22, 2019

Milestones



 Milestones






This post, on the day after Easter Sunday, marks a milestone  in the project. As of today I have the first eight archives of paintings, writings, and miscellaneous items of Pete’s work photographed, catalogued, and boxed. Several of the files have minor sketches or illustrations that I catalogued, but did not photograph. Thus far there are four hundred and two pictures recorded.  All the material is boxed up in five large picture & mirror cartons, and ready to return to the storage locker. Tomorrow I’ll get it all over there, and bring home the next series of paintings for photography.  



I was under the impression that I had the majority of Pete’s work here in these eight boxes and bags. But I paid a visit to the storage last Friday to see how much stuff remained to be recorded.
I doubt if I’m half way through.
But like any job, the more you do it, the easier it gets. At this point in the project I have established my routines, and the work goes much more smoothly and quickly than it did at the start. Still, I have months of work ahead. 


 The paintings in today’s post are mostly from archives  five through eight, all of which are collections of Lost Canyon, and Lost Era paintings. Again we see how frequently Pete used the wide aspect ratio for these pictures, the better to fit on his “Arc-A-Vision” screen.



And I left off last week talking about my friendship with Pete during the late 1960’s. Might as well jump straight to 1968. Pete was in his late twenties. The hippie thing was in full swing. Flower Children, wannabe or otherwise were  sprouting up  everywhere. Everyone wanted to turn on, tune in, and drop out. Viet Nam, and the draft were hanging over our heads.  This was Southern California, the epicenter of the whole cultural blowout.  Pete was a natural for that age and time.  The hippies, such as they were, adopted Pete as one of their own.

  Dee Gayer/Pete/ Tommy Malloy
So did the hippie girls. Perhaps for the first time in his life the chicks actually paid attention to Pete.



He was a good looking guy. He had the long hair, the love of nature. And he was the genuine item: a really for real kooky artist with his all too natural kooky, artistic personality.  



  Soon enough, one gal by the name of Gay  got close enough to date Pete for a while, but only for a while. She was Pete’s first love, and within a few months became his first heartbreak.




October 27, 1968:
Horrible torment future prediction dream./Just before I lost little Gay- 2 weeks later- she broke up with me-An everlasting nightmare./Skeleton was the symbol of the shock of it is December 1968 and the fire was everlasting suffering mourning that evil life. “Eternity” without you, Gay.



 Dozens would follow. Pete probably got laid more than any other guy I ever knew. But all his brief affairs went pretty much the same way,  summed up here in this picture from the cloud sketch file in Archive #3.



It was on a very unhappy night 2 days after a chick named Barbara pulled a fast one on me./ Seen looking west July 5, 1973/ no rain yet since April/ The only thing I had left was to enjoy a sunset and a can of beer.

Next Week: A Rock in the Stream>

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