Friday, May 09, 2008

Paintings and Stories

Hanging Out With a Bunch of Hoods (The Origin of the Term,"Magruder")



There's no accounting for the accretion of eccentricities as the years pile up. In this case it was a joint effort, literally. Two ol'boys, the Brothers Magruder, lived in this shack and grew dope of the marijuana variety long before it was a popular career choice of many local residents seeking to avoid the nine to five. Paranoia being the operating imperative of many cash croppers these two built an elaborate early warning system. The cars were left by who knows who and housed speakers and sirens, that were activated by trip wires running everywhere. The scrap metal in the foreground was a booby trap, consisting of holes and cables and nests of razor wire, all guaranteed to dissuade potential intruders seeking to disrupt proceedings. After a successful period of maximizing some rather select principles of free enterprise, the brothers left, probably for Arizona as some of the original "Snowbirds".

Now here's the thing, these pioneers of what has become an important contribution to our economy left another legacy. Its called an eponym, I believe, where someone's name becomes synonymous with a thing he is is closely associated with. In this case the Old Magruders were bachelors or widowers, so we call an old single guy a "Magruder", as in "The old magruder lives in the shack down by the creek."

Painted on a full sheet of Arches C.P.140 using my faves from W/N. The horizontal compo is debatable under epert scrutiny I'm sure, but its just some fun...thats my excuse.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_2015.jpg
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__________________
Ron Morrison

19 comments:

BoneDaddy said...

Haha, now that's a run-down neighbor-HOOD! Ha!

Madison Moore said...

Love the scrap metal...story is GREAT too!

Jeffrey J. Boron said...

Lovely old cars, what style!
Viewing this piece gives me the feeling of the morning after...!
Nice one Ron.

Jeffrey

Michelle said...

This is really nice, Ron.

Holly Lombardo said...

oh...I don't a little red riding one? they're all broken?? NICE painting!

Cara said...

Ron - Love the painting and I love the story -

~Babs said...

"hanging out with a bunch of hoods". I like that.
Try as I may, I see no face in the windows. I do see however, a young girl, bent over, reflected in the (left) car door.
Great story, great work!

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks Grimm, it is...

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks M.,fun with words...

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks Jeffrey, always liked the lines of the old cars, fun to paint...

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks Michelle,these are two of my favourite cars...

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks Holly, Little Red has left the building...

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks Cara, hope you are feeling better...

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks Babs, I don't see anything until someone points it out, usually...

Joan said...

Ron - Great job on all the cars and the metallic foreground!!

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks Joan, the story was fun to cook up to go with the painting.

sandy said...

Love all the new pieces and the stories! Always exciting to see what new art you have put up.

sandy

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks Sandy, I haven't cooked up any stories lately...I better get to it.

Mary Sheehan Winn said...

Great story.
I linked you today in my post of an old car that I painted last week in Nova Scotia, one of my favorite places!
Love your paintings.