Editor’s Note: Wait, what? An abstract painting with his own Facebook page and backstory? Apparently so … and apparently he hangs out in Henderson County. Here’s the story I’ve been told …
By Phikokaloa Jones
Recently spotted in Athens at Callaway Coffee, newly opened Seed to Table, and ZEN and Beauty Salon, as well as in Mabank, at Lil’ Juice Barn, a 3’x4′ painting with the unlikely name of Clyde,The Abstract Painting, is making the zaniest of waves all over East Texas!
The story out on Clyde is that, this past August, when Clyde first hit town in Kemp, he was immediately profiled by the Kemp Police and locked up in the historic Bonnie and Clyde jail for being drunk and disorderly. (Once you see Clyde you immediately get how he was taken for D & D!) Clever Clyde managed to escape the Kemp jail, however, and is now traveling all throughout East Texas on what he calls his mission: Trying to explain to anyone who will listen that ABSTRACT ART IS NOT DANGEROUS, but rather full of meaning and insight!
According to Gordon Mayhall of local film production company, Eye on the County, who interviewed Clyde just a day or two ago (See Eye on the County facebook page for full video on this.), “Despite his wildly bold colors and frantic energy, Clyde is surprisingly verbal and focused, and was great to interview.”
Anonymous posts online, described as coming from Callaway Coffee TV, have served to build enough hype and interest in Clyde to warrant, – you guessed it – a Clyde, The Abstract Painting facebook page (Only in East Texas, right?), where you can follow Clyde’s day to day movements!
J-son Hart, the owner of ZEN and Beauty Salon, has become so enamored of Clyde and his mission, that both Clyde, and Belle, Clyde’s baby sister, have taken up residence at ZEN and Beauty (Z&B)! Belle has her own place directly next to Z&B, while Clyde stays in Z&B’s main gallery, when he’s not traveling, surrounded by walls and walls of abstract art by Zen and Beauty Artist in Residence, Carolyn Ellis. Clyde is said to be thrilled with his new housing arrangements and, judging from how well he gets along with Carolyn, is beginning to wonder if he hasn’t meet her before. Hmm…
Clyde’s mission, to bring appreciation for abstract art to East Texas, may not be an easy sell but according to Clyde, whom I bumped into at Callaway Coffee just this week, having lunch with his new manager, yep, Carolyn Ellis, good things always take a lot of time!