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Wally Hedrick (page 4)
The Battle of the Figs
There were these two painting philosophies going
on at the time; they were going at it. It was serious. They would
have a faculty meeting, and it would end up in a brawl. If it
wasn't Clyfford Still and David Park, it would be their surrogates.
Every year, there would be a softball game between
the "Figs" and the "Creepy Crawlies." The
Figs were the figurative painters and the Creepy Crawlies were
the Abstract Expressionists. I couldn't be on either team. I was
the umpire.
Meeting Jay DeFeo
Bill Morehouse was a teacher at the Art Institute
and a friend of mine. He said to me one day, "There's this
woman in Berkeley that I think you should meet -- Jay DeFeo."
Turns out, she was the star of the Cal art department at the time.
So I went over there and there was a bunch of lumber that had
been delivered to her doorway. The bill was attached and I thought
that I would just collect the money. So I rang the bell and she
leaned out the window and when I saw her I decided that I didn't
want to do that.
So I said, "There's some wood down here,
do you want me to bring it up?" And she said, "Sure!"
So I threw the wood over my shoulder and went up there. I said
to her, "Well, I'm not actually the delivery guy." And
she said, "Well then, who are you?" And I said, "Bill
Morehouse sent me." And she said, "Who's he?"
So we got to know each other. And eventually
I just stole her away to San Francisco and we got married.
"The Rose"
I was living with her when she painted "The
Rose." I built the stretcher bars that it's on. It was an
experience. A lot of people have asked me about that painting.
Initially where the points come together, the center, was at her
eye level. It was sort of like a mandala. But it's centered on
her; she was where the perspective disappeared. The eyes were
centered on infinity. That's my interpretation; she never said
that. Actually, we never talked about it.
The paint she used came from the old Bay City
Paint Company. And we used to buy it by the truckload. It came
in gallon cans, four gallons to the case, the same oil paint they
used for billboards. I used to carry it up the stairs for her.
She used Pro white, which means it was a mixture of titanium,
lead, white and flake white. And it was cheap.
She used to smoke two or three cigarettes at
once and with all that lead paint all over her hands it went into
her lungs. And I used to tell her not to do that, but it didn't
do a bit of good. Luckily lead is now illegal in California.
When she finished the painting that was the end
of us. We had to tear off the front of the building to remove
it. The landlord just went bananas. As soon as he saw the condition
of her studio -- there was paint a half a foot deep on the floor
-- he raised our rent by a factor of 10. And we couldn't afford
that. And so we had to leave after the building was ripped up.
And Walter Hopps, who was a friend and a supporter, had the building
put back together -- I don't know where he got his money.
To me that painting was just a white elephant.
It practically destroyed my life. (Hedrick and DeFeo divorced.
She later died of cancer in 1989.)
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