In the last hours before the election below our border, I
thought I would take some time to show off some art I made earlier this
year.
Normally I consider my work
to fall under the heading of “crafts” rather than “arts” but sometimes I feel
like I straddle that line, and this is one of those times.
Bill Hicks was a satirist that I discovered a decade or so
ago, a handful of years after his death from pancreatic cancer, at only
32. I have watched and listened to
nearly every bit of recorded tape that exists of Bill, and his is the voice in
my head that guides me when I strive to be an intelligent, thoughtful, and compassionate
human being. Although I never knew
of him when he was alive, I miss his presence in the world in a heart-wrenching
way, and often wonder what he would have to say about so many of the issues we
face, today.
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| Front of Quilt - click for bigger |
Four years ago, as George W. Bush’s second term as President
was coming to a close, I was inspired to make a quilt with Bill’s words on
it. I bought the fabric and
planned it out, but once Barack Obama was elected, I felt (like so many others)
a new day was dawning in world politics – that perhaps things might turn
around, after all. Perhaps people
would no longer be content to let the wool be pulled over their eyes.
As this year’s Presidential election loomed ever closer, I
see again the lies, the partisanship, the way the media tries to distract us
all from the real issues by focusing on petty politics, shoddy statistics, and
inaccurate facts. I pulled out my
old quilt design and slowly put it together, thinking of Bill and all of the
things he would say, were he still here to say them.
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| Quilt Back - click for bigger |
I hope that, in some way, his dream will be in
your thoughts, if you are one of those going to the polls to vote. I hope that you will think of a country
where honesty and intelligence matters, where integrity is something of value,
and where a voice like Bill’s can guide us.
If you want to see the stand-up routine that encompasses
this quote, please go
here.
“I left in love, in laughter, and in truth, and wherever
truth, love, and laughter abide, I am there in spirit.” – Bill Hicks
