Hub Miller and B.B. Thunder – Excerpt from essay writtien in 1999
Hey Dude!
Self Portrait of B.B. Thunder in Mid Life
Hub Miller and BB Thunder met on a pier in Elliott Bay while Hub was living in Seattle. BB had a most interesting story to tell. He was born somewhere in East Texas where his parents had a farm sometime in the twentieth century. In addition, he said, his parents owned a vast land and cattle operation some where on the high plains of West Texas or Colorado. He added that he was ingesting impressions and atmospheres for a burgeoning art career. "Do you know of anyone who would be interested in investing in an artist who holds the potential of making a lot of money later?"
"I myself am interested in promoting emerging artists." Hub said. "Could you show me some of your work?"
"I know the greatest poet who ever lived." BB began. "She thinks in poetry..... she hasn't actually written any down. The important thing is that all her thoughts are in poetry.
"I'll furnish the art materials so you can begin to make it visible." Hub said. "That way we can all begin to prosper sooner rather than later." This wasn't exactly what BB wanted to hear, but since it was the only offer he'd had all day he agreed to it.
Most of what is known about his life is found in his correspondence, much of which Hub has gathered with considerable labor from widely scattered places. There is no evidence of any specific address.... which requires one to search for him on the Seattle waterfront, or to send someone to search in order to communicate with him, or else wait for him to make contact. He first emerges in literature in a letter from San Diego to a Bugsey Nosedive, somehow discovered in a landfill at Lila Lake in Texas, wherein he asks ".... How have you been? I've been down on my luck again lately, need some cash so I can go into the oil business with this dude I met yesterday at Lucians' Corner.... could you put me in touch with some investors?.... etc."
In the first of a series of letters to a Trixie he says "I'm finding myself at last.... been studying the poetry of O.K. Jenkins and… ah… Farnsworth.... much to learn here... about the world, about me and my buddies. This guy left me some art stuff so I started painting yesterday while lying on the pavement.... damn the rain. I wonder if you could help me out with a little...."
In the famous letter to Jackson Ratface written from Seattle, B.B. says in part: ".... This has been an eventful year! I have finally come to grips with reality.... found my true mission in life. For over a week I've been taking art lessons from this guy in a warehouse where they.... anyway.... He taught me that if I want to be very rich someday, I must learn to strive with all my heart for mediocrity. Boy!.... I'm on an upward trajectory now! I'm planning a major exhibition of my work at a great big art gallery in New York…. then on to London and the rest of Europe. Of course I'll need funding.... "
B.B. claims that all his work is portraiture even though in many cases the subject of the portrait fails to make it onto the canvas. In other cases only a small glimpse of the subject will be visible. His usual procedure, particularly if a large canvas is involved, is to place it flat on the ground and paint only as far out as he can reach while propped on an elbow. When he has painted down one side he will turn the canvas and paint down the next side and so continue on in this way until he has forgotten what he started out to do.
Much of his work concerns his early days in East Texas; celebrations, family reunions and the daily life of the time.... and above all, portraits of his family and friends. The family property out west is depicted in copious drawings and paintings. He likes to show the high plains of West Texas (or Colorado) during the dust bowl years, and the good years that followed when, he says, they added tens of thousands of acres to their holdings.
The rest is history, almost. In the intervening years it seems that he has gone from success to success, his fame reaching a high point recently when, as he says, he was declared the greatest artist in the world by Albanian authorities after a year-long residency and exhibition in that far-off land.
B.B. Thunder artist Statement:
What?
©2012 Hub Miller Online
Website Design by Terry V Henderson
Website Design by Terry V Henderson