Anthony Bourdain
16x20 charcoal on canvas
I remember crying out in heartbroken grief on the morning of June 8th, 2018. The scream had awoken my wife next to me and I could barely relate the news to her. I was devastated.
I have wanted to complete this piece for a long time now and I often wondered how I would caption this. What would I say? How could I put into words what this man, his life, and his message meant to me? I can’t, and to be honest, I am still working most of that out. But in leaving the long winded and emotional eulogy of the first episode, the ensuing years of learning and understanding what he stood for, and recognizing that our rocky traveled roads were rough and kindred aside, I’ll say this- he was a fellow troubadour, artist, and poet. One that I certainly felt a special kinship with. I saw so much in him that I wish I could see in myself. He taught me that pulling yourself out of the trenches of drug addiction isn’t enough. Now what...then go fucking do it. Anthony Bourdain was my biggest inspiration for doing just that. Every piece of art I have created over the last 15 months is exactly due to his inspiration to me. He showed me that I wasn’t too old to start again. If he could do anything, then I could certainly do half of that, maybe more.
He was attainable. The anti-star chef, yet everyone’s favorite. He showed us the height of opulence while demanding that we remain rooted in our origins and that absolutely no one is below us...well, maybe vegetarians, but exist along side them regardless.
He is irreplaceable, like so many other of my pirate, thieves, and pilgrim heroes. I have and will always miss him. 🍻😘
I should say now that this is a bit of a mash up from two photos taken by @davidscottholloway
I hope he doesn’t mind that I butchered his incredible photograph. He certainly deserves credit for them