Pensamientos

This wonderful wood engraving by James Todd brings back a flood memories of growing up in Montana.Charlie Russell was a legend in my home town of Great Falls. As a boy of ten, selling the local evening newspaper (The Great Falls Leader)in the dowtown bars on Central Ave., I daily admired Russell's paintings hanging behind the bar at the Mint Club in a smoke-drenched atmosphere peopled by drunks, indians, poker players and construction workers. The smell of smoke, whiskey, vomit, and body odors permeated the air of the Mint. Often in the back alley behind the saloon I would stumble over a bloody, unconscious drunk who fell victim to to an awful beating.

Aside from the nostalgia of my newspaper selling days, The artist James Todd was a boyhood friend of mine. We grew up in the Parkdale/Bill Holt low-income housing projects of post WWll Great falls. Jim ended up as a college professor at The University of Montana He was a precocious artist and an intellect who influenced me and my other friends greatly. Most of our circle attained college degrees and served in various professions, despite the poor circumstances in which we were reared. As teens we were a snooker playing, beer drinking, jazz listening, rowdy group. Today at 65 yrs. old, I find that James Todd's Charlie Russell wood engraving satisfies my nostalgic thirst. Thanks Jim.