Dancing the Bolero With My Muse

Dancing is forgiving. To dance, is to forgive. I forgive, so I can dance again.

When I was sixteen I had no money to buy a canvas so I could paint upon it. So, I took Col. Frederick Broderick’s old army sleeping bag, and cut it up. His name was stamped on it. I did a portrait of Jesus. I framed it in weathered two by fours. And, here he come, walking, out of the wilderness, a yellow ocre sky behind him. He was my ‘Dusty Ragged Jesus’. His clothes were ragged. You could barely make out his face. He is walking towards you, forever towards you. He is coming, out of the wilderness. This canvas was about 36 X 48 inches. I placed Dusty Jesus at the foot of my bed, and lay the needle down upon Bolero. I went into a trance, and walked with him. There was…