Pulltight, Texas

I sat on the back porch with Bud Powers and we talked about old times. Bud worked with and for my dad in the fifties and the sixties. Bud was dying of cancer so he could only smoke one cigarette a day. He kept a pellet gun by his chair to keep the squirrels away from his bird feeder. He was glad I stopped by. Bud talked about how he and my dad worked hard; sometimes getting pissed off and getting into arguments. Happened on a regular basis. Bud would just stand up and tell everyone he was “going to the house. “ Few days later he would come back and start working again. Bud Powers was known for being contrary.

Bud bought a place with some acres outside of Oglesby. He made a sign and put it up at the gate. It said “Welcome to Pulltight, Texas.”

This exhibition is about people like Bud Powers. Everything in it makes up a place inside me. My “Pulltight, Texas.”