‘Sitting Bulldozed’

‘Sitting Bulldozed’

Originally uploaded by jayfherron.

I sold this painting yesterday-truth be known,I settled a small debt with it…but it was the other persons choice,they spotted it where it was sitting in my house and raved about it from the moment he saw it and even asked me how much I’d consider selling it for. We finally agreed to forget the debt I had carried with this fellow for a while.
‘Sitting Bulldozed’ tells a story of what they don’t teach us in history class.
Theres this story in the old testament about Moses. His own personal story is significant enough and he became a leader-although because he stuttered he feared the people would’nt accept him as a leader-but they did…but the story is about the people he led. They were slaves…Moses too-and they hated it and wanted freedom. So long story short-although much of the best parts are in the long story,but-Moses finally led the people out of bondage and a short time later the soldiers of the rich folks they fled decided to go find them and bring them back.
All of the slaves journey for many miles until they come to the sea-and a dead end and knowing they can’t turn around because they see the dust of the rich folks soldiers horses in the distance-then they start giving Moses the ‘what for’?
So Moses is very connected to God-funny,no matter what religions book you read,Moses is there. Interesting. And Moses asks God what to do and darned if the water in the sea did’nt seperate right before all those peoples eyes-and they were able to cross on the floor of the sea…of course,once on the other side the sea swallows up the rich peoples soldiers and again all the now freed slaves saw that too.
People as people can be…they are now free,no soldiers to catch them and a whole new life in front of them-seeing miracles of God and all….but,what do they begin to do? Complain!
So move along into the future-some folks in a place that did’nt much like them (because of religion) fled thier homeland and came over here and founded Jamestown and soon it became Virginia and soon they had enough people together they decided they needed a fort and so they chopped down loads of trees to build up the fort and eventually these people decided to say everything they did was in the trust of God-and thus they printed it on the money to make sure everyone knew we were ‘God bound and land found’.
Then it changed-someone heard about gold and the rampage began-and soon folks found out there was a need for oil…darned if it did’nt turn up too all of it on land belonging to the original nation of people,just like the gold.
Soon the land the people came to claim was free because God led them there was in a rampage to dig up all the gold and suck up all the oil and everytime it came to finding these grand things on land previously promised to the original dwellers-the new founders of the land would shove these people further away. The trail of tears!
‘Sitting Bulldozed’ and its relationship to Moses is easily seen on a crixmix day when all the family ( or so it goes in the crixmix card scenes) gather around the tree to find all the gifts in wonderous wrapping…and they plow into that pile of goodies and rip and tear the pretty paper into shreds and usually find the gift given is’nt what they were looking for and the gripes and complaints start shortly after the boxes have been opened. Gifts get reciepts and the day after all of crixmix is over the lines at WalMart are like the lines of the people following Moses.
And then-theres Sitting Bull. What a man! A leader of his nation-a leader of the true nation that dwelled on this land for generations before the fore fathers of the bull dozer operaters came. You can see Sitting Bull behind the group of people that are with Moses ( in the painting) and there is Moses pointing out into the sky at a miralce-a sign from God…and the people bow,but are probrebly bitching in thier mind about kneeling on dirt and rocks. In the painting you can see the city of the future…nicely placed where trees once stood and blocked the view,and where the people of Sitting Bull once lived…I think in the end the ones who survived were able to live out thier lives at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.
So yesterday my guest remarks about this painting and we get into a discussion about my art-if it has meaning or do I just scribble,and yes-there is a vision in what I paint or draw or paste together,and I gave him this explaination because that is what I kept seeing as I looked at this piece of cardboard before I began work on it.
Now a day,as I drive into the city nearest me-well,even the small town thats nearer yet…I see another section of old oaks being shoved aside for another strip of stores. Around here theres a nearly vacant grocery store-floundering along in bankruptcy,and heck-why not,lets get a bull dozer and push down them oaks and clear us a parking lot-and sure enough they gonna build a grocery store.Why not renovate the other store and make it work…instead of having now two vacant stores…like we do.
They built a ‘Wendys’ over an old graveyard in a town near here.
Its kind of like crixmix…hustle and beat yourself to dread that you got the right thing for the right person ( all of it made in China) looking as stressed as all the people you are passing in the mall ( where once a forest grew ) only to see the look of this ain’t what I wanted in the recipients face.
Its funny-two vacant grocery stores and ones been sitting empty for years and yet down by the interstate at each exit are a half a dozen folks with a card board sign looking for help. And across town theres a shelter-but it has to reject hundreds because they have thier 80 quota….and there across the county sits two empty grocery stores-empty,but they are bulldozing land to built yet a shiney new one. And the homeless sit by the interstate with hope written on a card board sign.
Thats what this painting means….Sitting Bulldozed!