Soon

It's not too soon to start thinking about what you are going to enter in CAM's Thunder show.

What you haven't heard?The deadline is Friday, March 26, so you have just over a month to get ready.

I don't do motorcycles.

Why not? There are as interesting as anything else and in the right light more interesting than some. If not the machines themselves the people who ride them or the clothes they wear or the shiny bits of chrome they buy for their bikes, what more could you ask?

But I don't associate with that sort of person.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm? Just what do you think a bike rider is like? Do you see Marlon Brando or Harvey Lembeck? Oh come on you know you did. You watched the Wild One or one of the Frankie and Annette beach party movies and you enjoyed it. But that isn't a very good way to learn about mototcycles.

To buy a Harley takes as much cash as buying a house and the folks who fork out such hefty stacks of dough take much better care of their bikes than you do of your lawn. No offense. There are collectors who only ride Indians, guys who have to have Milwaukee Magic or guys who ride only the latest screaming rocket from Japan. Does that sound even a little bit like Marlon Brando?

And they aren't the scary guys you see in the flashing light dramas on the tube, but lawyers, doctors and Indian chiefs, the motorcycle variety with no connection to the Native American population. These guys have white hair and big personalities and wear denim jackets and have wives riding on the back and houses and cars and big mortgages and they have bikes. Maybe you should go talk to them, it might change your attitude.

No matter what you do you need to get a project going for the show. This is a chance to do something different, it's not the same flower, boat or fish you've seen a dozen times before. You can meet some people you've never met before and do some preaching about why artists aren't sissies and why art is important to the whole community and why they should let you do a painting, sculpture, sketch of them and their ride. Sure, don't you think a two-stroke would make a fantastic piece for your coffee table?

And for the textile folks out there, the bike folks have their own textile industry. They buy a lot of things that come in cloth and they pay for it, but they usually pay the Harley shop and not some local artist. Why? Because artists don't do things that bike folks like. Why is that? They don't have cash and like to look great? I'm not giving away any ideas here 'cause you guys are tough enough to beat out but I'm thinking that a lot of the things bikers love would make great subjects for two-dimensional art.

So instead of just sitting on your hands and whining about why the art world never gives you a chance to enter the things you love and create, get busy. Find a way to enter this show.

Naw, can't be bothered. Okay, but don't be surprised when you want to see a soft drink show at the museum and they won't do it. Coke's the real thing, right? It is if its in that next prospectus. But you can't expect the guys who thought up the motorcycle show, went out and found the money, designed the promotions for the show, begged, borrowed and , well I guess they didn't steal but they did work hard to get it on the schedule and if you don't support their passions do you think they will support yours?