Here is the letter I just sent the Governor of California. There are scammers out there. Do not share any family information with those who offer their help. They could call up your children and hit on them for money. Don’t give them any addresses and bank names. The economic disaster is just setting in, Victims may become predators, just to survive. People you trusted, can – and will turn on you!
John Presco
P.S. .” I was sent papers to sign, but am afraid I might be signing full financial responsibility, and, may lose my SSI.”
Casey Farrell and his made-up friend, made me afraid to sign any funeral papers. A week ago he told me he talked with officials in Bullhead about who is entitled to get Drew’s cremated remains and belongings. He said “Uncle” was on the list. When I asked why he found our I was – ON THE LIST – he said his nephew was murdered in Bullhead.
“You never told me that! What’s his name?”
Casey Farewell – hung up!
These are the kind of parasites victims of a tragedy – will encounter. They take advantage of your grief. Casey was homeless for a year, until his sister took him in. He hates his family of – NOBODIES! He is CANNABALIZING my famous family. There was a long delay in getting a Police Report because others asked for one – before me! Casey never asked me what the report said. He may have wanted the cremated ashes, and the report to – pose as me?I keep asking him if he is writing anything, and he said he is not. I want the FBI to talk to Mr. Farrell and get the names of his(fictional) nephew, and the guy who told this stalker to warn me – not to pay for Drew’s cremation. They are….one and the same!
Prove me wrong!
P.S.S. Its coming back to me. On the phone Casey Farrell was claiming Drew – was not dead – and I was being scammed, Was Casey after Drew’s Death Certificate? Bosley wanted it. He did n’t get it. I called Farrell a Claim Jumper. Was he going to say he was an agent for Drew Benton in his lawsuit to get most of the property in downtown Belmont? I would own no proof Drew is dead! Farwell my be going after Garth Benton’s Art, and trying to get them Copyrighted. I hereby Copyright them. This includes his mural that grace the walls of many celebrities. Did any of these mural get destroyed in the fire, or, are in grave danger? Is Drew due any artwork her mother rendered? I claim and Copyright Rosamond’s images. Be careful out there. When you become homeless overnight, then they come – the Night Wolves!
Oh! Are any of my readers wondering is Casey helped me pay for Drew’s cremation?
John Presco
Presdient: Royal Rosamond Press
Copyright 2025
Dear Governor Newsom;
I came upon a letter I wrote you in September asking your help in dealing with the suicide and funeral costs of my niece, Drew Taylor Benton. I reread my fears that I was being scammed, an idea that Casey Farrell, fueled. I was alarmed and he said a friend googled Drew Benton, and found a male. I asked for that frinds name, and he refused to give it.
A week ago I pressed him as to why he was conducting an investigation into Drew’s death, and held theories he did not share with me. He told me his nephew was murdered in Bullhead City. I asked for the name of his nephew, and he hung up. I became suspicious after I contracted an attorney about suing the City of Belmont for digging up my founding relatives in the middle of the night. In days he said he believes Carl Janke owned three acres of downtown Belmont, and he was going to file a lawsuit.
I called Casey Ferrell a STALKER, he after private family information – to exploit! Is it possible Mr. Farrell found a buyer for Drew’s incinerated remains, or, he wanted them to fortify his lawsuit – after violating my Copyright? Should I contact the FBI in California – and Arizona?
Please set up a Friends and Scammer Hotline that will help victims of the fires to know the good guys from the bad.
Sincereley
John Presco
President: Royal Rosamond Press
Dear Governor Newson;
I beseech your help in dealing with the suicide of my niece, Drew Benton. She took her life on July 23rd, and is in cold storage at the Desert Lawn Funeral Home in Mohave Valley, I am on SSI and a not able to pay for cremation. I was sent papers to sign, but am afraid I might be signing full financial responsibility, and, may lose my SSI. This is not a Family Matter. The probate court appointed Sydney Morris of Buck, Rose, Morris and Heisinger, a powerful law firm in Carmel, where Lawrence Chazen practices law. He is a partner in PlumpJack. Morris sold our artistic legacy to an outsider giving her permission to hire a ghost writer to author Drew and her mothers story, that would be made into a movie. There is a script. My brother told me our nieces would not get money from the book and move, only the art.
Chazen tried to become executor, but he was the No.1 creditor. I suspect he was going to realize profits from the book and movie – that were flops. They failed to generate interest in Christine Rosamond’s waning art. My nieces have had very little to live on. Drew was decorating cakes at Walmart. She helped her father refurbish the murals at the Getty Villas and was a accomplished artist. Her mother died when she was eight. These outsiders assumed the role of surrogate mothers. They contributed to the mental illness of Drew and Shannon – who had to guess what reality is! Are you confused?
Ask your wife how the trappings of the Movie Industry is detrimental to adults – and children. Drew is kin to Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, whose son, Christopher wilding, married Aileen Getty, thus Drew and I are kin to all members of the Getty family, who are partners of Larry Chazen. This history is too overawing. The Bentons are a historic family. If no one pays to cremated Drew, the mortuary will do so, and a society will spread her ashes – where they see fit.
Sincerely
John Presco
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In Memoriam: Garth Benton
| Mural by Garth Benton in the Outer Peristyle at the Getty Villa, Malibu CA. via Flickr |
This week I was saddened to learn of the passing of a great muralist, Mr. Garth Benton, an internationally recognized artist who was well known for his stylish first-century style trompe l’oeil decoration of the magnificent Getty Villa in Malibu, California.
Mr. Benton “died a after with battle cancer” in May of 2012. I am surprised I did not see it reported anywhere and I only figured it out after I noticed that his website had gone down and began making inquiries. Being a pre-internet personality Mr. Benton was not widely mentioned on the web, but his work was nevertheless world-class, and very well-known in its day.
I had the pleasure of working on a project with Garth Benton many years ago when he came to San Francisco to paint some spectacular Chinoiserie murals in a private residence here. He had arrived in town with inexplicably blank wallpaper apparently intending to paint the murals on site, but with no help and nowhere near enough time. I got a desperate call from the wallpaper hanger (who knew I also paint in this style) and rather than ask what the heck had gone wrong, out of respect for this great master painter I put my nearly entire studio at Mr. Benton’s disposal – scaffolding, buckets, tarps, ladders, brushes, and as many assistants as I could round up – and we all learned a lot from him while helping him complete his commission, some of the crew often working until 3 AM or even all night, trying to meet the deadline. While we painted, we were regaled with entertaining stories about his many celebrity clients and amazing jobs he’d done over the years. It was exhausting and exciting and the job was truly beautiful.
A couple of years later Mr. Benton made headlines for suing his clients, Ann and Gordon Getty, for having painted over one of his older murals in their San Francisco home, which he had hoped to photograph for a glossy catalogue raisonné of his work. The mural had been painted on canvas and could easily have been removed, but the Gettys had not realized this when they redecorated, and had to settle a large amount of money on him for the error. While I felt deeply over the heartbreaking loss of the artwork, the case made me cringe: suing an otherwise supportive client likely didn’t help his future business. The mural is still gone and the book was never published.
We exchanged a few emails over the years, but regrettably never did get to meet again.
So I offer this short tribute to Mr. Garth Benton, to be remembered for his fine work, and his influence on a generation of muralists.
images 2-5 via Internet Archive
Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting
Posted by Lynne Rutter
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Labels: chinoiserie, decorative painting, murals, ornamentalists, trompe l’oeil
20 comments:
Scott WatermanApril 23, 2013 at 1:18 PMI met Garth in ’89 or 90 around the time I first moved to CA. We were both published in the same Rizzoli book which is how I knew about him so I looked him and paid him a visit. Garth was very nice but the thing that really made an impression on me was him telling me he was married to Rosamond whose paintings made into posters were ubiquitous in the 70s.ReplyReplies
Lynne RutterApril 23, 2013 at 1:29 PMYes I heard about their marriage and the really tragic way she died later. She was a hugely successful artist and her work instantly recognizable (to anyone in our age group!)
AlanApril 23, 2013 at 4:05 PMBest post yet. I wish I could have met him, but the anecdotes are fantastic and will have to do.Reply
Mark D. RuffnerApril 23, 2013 at 6:45 PMI have always admired Garth Benton’s exquisite murals at the Getty Museum, but was not familiar with his other work, including the gorgeous Chinoiserie mural that you’ve featured here. I wish he could have published that book.ReplyReplies
- Lynne RutterApril 23, 2013 at 7:07 PMMaybe his daughter can carry on that effort. It’s a book I would love to have. Garth could and did paint in just about any style so the breadth of his work was really something.
Theresa CheekApril 25, 2013 at 4:00 PMThank you so much Lynne for this tribute. The fact that you met him and worked with him has to be special to you. I will cross my fingers that the daughter will see the importance of his work and carry on with the book.Reply
AnonymousMay 3, 2013 at 11:58 AMI worked with Garth and Christine (Rosamond) in the late 80’s in their Carmel gallery. They were lovely to work for – warm and gracious, down to earth, and wonderfully entertaining — and I was so disappointed that things didn’t work out for them.
I hope their children will carry on the legacy. (Isabella)ReplyReplies- Lynne RutterMay 3, 2013 at 2:22 PMHi Isabella
thanks for your comment. Glad to hear you knew them when they were happy.
TamraMay 14, 2013 at 2:13 PMWhat a fabulous post!! The time spent working together in your studio working all hours to meet the deadline, sounds like pure heaven!
I had two Rosamond prints when I was young and so loved them. In my 30’s, during one of my redecorating phases, a good friend talked me out of them only to let his wife get rid of them a couple of years later! Last year my Aunt graciously gave me a small one she has had since they were first sold. It is one of my treasured pieces. I had no idea these two people were related.
Thanks Lynne for not only the great fun factor here but the education as well.Reply- Ed PinsonNovember 3, 2013 at 8:51 PMI just learned today (11/2/13) of Garth Benton’s death. Needless to say I was profoundly shocked after such a passage of time. Thank you, Lynne for writing such a graceful and informative post. My wife and I worked with Garth for the first time in the late 1980’s. Needless to say, I was in awe of the man I knew by reputation from his work at the Getty Villa (in the same way as I was in awe of Larry Boyce and Bruce Bradbury–all of whom were instrumental in inspiring me to take up my own decorative work). Garth was kind, helpful, funny, inspiring and completely unpretentious in sharing any help or information he could offer. I last had the pleasure of working with he and his daughter, Drew, in 2009 on a residence where he created several grand spaces worthy of Villa Vizcaya. I do hope that his dear and very talented daughter finds a way to produce the book that would be a legacy and record of Garth’s incredible work.ReplyReplies
- Lynne RutterNovember 4, 2013 at 9:55 AMThanks for commenting Ed! I also worked with Larry Boyce the last couple of years of his life, which put me int he way of many people who are now close friends and colleagues. I’ve been very lucky with the level of mentorship in my past and I think these guys really influenced the way I work as well as my teaching style, and I owe my success in some part to their openness and fearlessness. I hope a book about Garth Benton’s work happens someday soon, too. It may not be my place to say, but I think Garth really deserves a place in the history of decor in this country. What better way to assure that then with a big glossy book!
- Ed PinsonNovember 4, 2013 at 4:22 PMSweet, Lynne. I so agree. And may I add that I am looking forward to putting a book about your own glorious contributions to decorative art on my shelf one day! The Ornamentalist is such a huge enjoyment and blessing for us all!
- briandavisart.comDecember 4, 2013 at 12:30 PMI knew Garth as well. When I owned Davis-Blue Artwork, an art publishing company, with Robert Blue we tried to get Garth to create artwork for a poster. The project never was realized but getting to know him was a great joy. At the time, he was working on murals in Bob Hope’s Palm Springs home. He was a very gifted artist. Brian Davis
- Mary A VealeJanuary 29, 2014 at 7:09 PMI was lucky to have Garth Benton pass through my life in the late 1990’s. He had moved to Headland, Al for a respite from California life. We met in my antique shop and he subsequently painted many things in a new home we were building at the time. Being on the board of our local museum, the Wiregrass Museum of Art, we arranged for an exhibition of Garth’s works. I am sure that I am the most anonymous person he ever worked with. We remained close friends until his sad death. In our last telephone conversation I told him that I thank God every day that he passed through my life and left a legacy of beauty in my home. As with lots of artists, he will not be fully appreciated during his life.ReplyReplies
- Lynne RutterMay 21, 2014 at 9:27 AMWow, Mary I am so happy for you having Garth’s work in your home! When I was working with him here in SF he had only just moved to Alabama, and he seemed so happy about living there.
- FrancoFebruary 23, 2020 at 3:01 PMI inherited 4 original signed oil paintings by Garth Benton and wonder if there is a Market for them? Regards FrancoReplyReplies
- Lynne RutterFebruary 23, 2020 at 3:41 PMI would have no idea. You might contact an art appraiser or auction house to find out
- AnonymousJuly 4, 2022 at 2:27 PMGarh painted a tromp l’oeil for my home in Bel Air, CA. I removed the canvas when I sold that house in 2004. I am sorry I don’t have a place to install it but it is safely wrapped and living in my basement in the Berkshires. I am sorry to hear of Garth’s passing and that it is so many years later that I found out about it . RIP GarhReply
- KatAugust 22, 2023 at 9:45 AMThank you for this wonderful tribute to Garth. Garth sold me my first 3 Rosamonds.
We now own 2 of Drew’s artwork and many Rosamonds.
ReplyReplies- Lynne RutterAugust 23, 2023 at 12:59 PMThanks so much for your comment, and how wonderful that you have both Rosamond and Drew’s artwork to live with!
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