GOING DOWN IN FLAMES...

      Well as you remember last time, I had escaped the leggy barfly and was heading off down the road, outta the Lonely City...  I looked in the rear view mirror to make sure the leggy brunette wasn't following me...she wasn't.  I decided to head out to a little bar and grill on the Ortega Highway ...a biker joint where I thought I might get a good margarita and set up my easel to paint the local color. It wasn't in the cards, I guess...I seemed to be drawing nothing but jokers...and not the good kind. As I rounded the corner I heard shots ring out..."the broad has tracked me down after all, " I thought...I swerved onto the shoulder and tried to figure out where the shots came from...I was disoriented and there was dust and smoke everywhere...and then it all began to become clear...they weren't shots at all...(though I could have used a couple by then).... it was my engine, making all kinds of unfriendly noises and smokin' like a hooker after a three day weekend...

Damn, just my luck...I popped open the hood and burning smells hit me in the nose like a prizefighter...it was still running though, (the van, not my nose) and I was in no mood to be sitting beside the road, so against all good judgement I pulled a fast U-turn and floored it back toward home.  Luckily I wasn't too far away by then, and I figured if I drove really fast it might not have time to burn up completely.  Somehow, against all odds, I made it back to my little casa.  I pulled into the driveway and killed the engine, which wasn't hard...it was already dying. By then there was so much smoke I thought it might catch fire,so I sat beside it and sang it a lullaby while it cooled off, but I could see it was falling into a coma and I wasn't sure if it would survive.  Gradually, sobriety began to take hold and I could see there was only one possible solution...I went into the house, pulled the blender off the shelf and made a pitcher of Margaritas.I sat out on the patio and looked out at my van, still smoking in the driveway...this was gonna put a serious crimp in my  plein-air painting travels. Nobody said the life of an itinerant artist would be easy...and they were right.  I poured myself a second Margarita and settled back...I was taking the rest of the day off. 








                                                     Which brings me to a major announcement...I am having a "BROKEN DOWN VAN SALE!!!" on my facebook page...starting now and running until the end of the month all my paintings are...HALF PRICE...yes, you heard it right...just go to my albums at http://www.facebook.com/BarryHowardFineArt...they are arranged according to price range...click on the painting you like and take 50% off the price marked...write SOLD in the comment box...pay me through Pay Pal...message me to get payment and shipping details...I probably won't be doing this again any time soon, so if you ever wanted to get one of my paintings, this is probably the time to do it....