Pop Shield

We had an outsider artist in the Little Sister kitchenette yesterday called Sam B Halley, who claims to be one of 27 kids and was swapped for a bottle of whisky when he was four years old.   He became an artist in the 70s upon carving two tomb stones for his sister’s two children who died in a fire.

When I got to reception, I was greeted by a sixty-four-year-old African American with seashells and other paraphernalia woven into his hair.  He did a funny little thumb handshake thing and said, ‘Thumbs Up For Mother Universe!“ to which I inexplicably found myself replying “Yes! Thumbs Up For Mother Universe!”

We then recorded over an hour of spontaneous jazz improvisations (all over 8 minutes long) interspersed with some funky extra-terrestrial cosmic chat with Milles Beaterman in-between that I confess had me floored.

After the session Sam gave me this piece of pink paper for my forthcoming child with some instructions.  (a) It’s the baby first official piece of art. (b) It’s half pink and half blue with glitter on because he does not know if it’s going to be a boy or a girl (c) It belongs to the baby not me (d) I can take a photocopy and put it up at work and that way I’ll be connected to the baby at all times.

Wow.