Press Release ’BUSH LIES’ tour

My name is Michael Callis and I have been on tour painting ’Bush Lies’ in watercolors. The tour began this past Sept. 11 at the site of the World Trade Center also known as the Twin Towers, ( see Liberty Rings on 9-11, Bellaciao ). This was followed with a painting on location of NH’s ’Old Man of the Mountain’, ( see ’From the "Old Man of the Mountain" Bush Lies’, Bellaciao ). This Press release is about recent paintings from location on the summit of Mt. Washington and the White House during the anti war demonstration. The titles are, ’From the Top of Mt. Washington Bush Lies" and ’From the White House Bush Lies’.

FROM THE TOP OF MT. WASHINGTON BUSH LIES

The summit of NH’s Mt. Washington is very familiar to me because I do stone work for my living and spent several months restoring the Tip Top house on the top of New Englands highest mountain. The summit is renowned for the extreme weather and the highest recorded wind speed of over 200 miles an hour, was recorded there. I drove my truck up the auto road to the summit and was greeted by wet, windy and cool conditions. After an inspection of the Tip Top house I unloaded a 4’x8’ panel on which to paint.

The wet weather and wind were actually ideal for the technique of painting known as Vitreous Flux. The water colors explode on the wet semi porous surface creating fractal patterns which are manipulated by the brush and elements. Several onlookers braved the conditions to witness the process. With a small sponge brush I painted ’Bush Lies’ and the letters were immediately influenced by the strong wind. I demonstrated the part the wind and elements played on the art by turning the panel in the wind and drizzle, to the approval of my youthful audience. This caught the attention of an older mountain lover who grabbed his camera and asked if he could take a picture. I told him he should take several as the patterns were constantly changing because of the wind and rain, he did. He commented that some of his friends who would get a big kick out of it, but some would not.

After a short amount of time and some more Bush Lies painted on the panel, I wrote Mt. Washington across the 8’ length of the panel. I then placed the panel, still wet, on the back of my truck and drove briskly down the mountain. About half way down I added another ’Bush Lies’ and finished the drive to the base of the mountain. The result has received many compliments for capturing the wind swept feel of the summit. The Mt. Washington phrase painted on the panel was blown so hard that only the first four letters are recognizable and the remainder morphed into a beautiful pattern, capturing a feel for the high winds.Because ’Bush Lies’ was painted on the bottom of the panel and that end was behind the cab of the truck, it remained intact and prominent.

FROM THE WHITE HOUSE BUSH LIES

I took the opportunity to visit Washington DC the day before the Anti war demonstration with the Lincoln Memorial in mind but did not attempt to paint it, because I was inspired by the White House and the focus it was receiving. I brought several of the paintings for display, to get a feel for the publics reaction, to an admittedly sympathetic audience. I also brought my fiddle along to play and leverage music and art to get attention for the point of my tour, Bush Lies.

The reader should be aware that I am not accustomed to travel outside the sate of NH and the small town of 180 residents nestled in the foothills of Mt. Washington, where I live and work. Every person I met, whether they agreed with me or not, left a strong impression on me of how diverse and great this country is. This is especially true for the even handed way Park officials and the police patrolling the demonstration dealt with me in spite of lapses of protocol on my part. I was also treated with kindness by the organizations which allowed me to use their permitted locations even though I arrived unannounced. I was pleasantly surprised that one of my new found friends was associated with the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization with long and solid roots in NH. I showed my gratitude by helping set up tables and assisting with the stage set up and was rewarded by working along side Patriots working to restore Democracy and sanity to a government drowning in the pathos’s of a rogue President and White House. A House I was determined to paint.

I began the painting on Friday during an hour lull in set up. The edge of the permitted area offered a straight on view of the White house and that is where I chose to paint. After getting the general outline I moved the painting and leaned it up against one of the tents along with three other paintings of the same 8’x4’ dimensions and all filled with ’Bush Lies’. After 5:00 PM I stationed myself beside the Paintings and played the fiddle and struck up conversations with Washingtonians enjoying the calm before the storm.

I am particularly interested in speaking to Republicans and I was not disappointed. An older Republican couple started a conversation with me and I explained how a local fellow from Conway, that used to be head of the NH Republican National Committee was replaced by hand picked RNC members by the Beltway RNC. Those individuals were recently found guilty by the NH courts for illegal conduct during the elections. Now several Beltway RNC members are the subject of the widening investigation. Patriots, no matter what affiliation, understand the importance of free and fair elections. I ended the conversation by saying "I am not Anti American I am anti Bush, I am not Anti war in Iraq, I am anti war of lies, I am not anti Republican I am a Republican, America is great because of it’s people and we can do better".

I was referring to the President and his loyalists occupying the White House and critical agencies committed to the safety of Americans, even when they have no experience in safety management or know just enough about foreign policy to be dangerous. I do believe some steps have been taken to correct these ingrained practices and both party’s should be on guard of these political nepotistic blows undermining America’s safety. Of course any thorough house cleaning begins at the top.

There were many poignant moments but the most memorable was when I was in the parade and playing the Civil War tune ’When Johnny Comes Marching Home", a toddler on her fathers shoulder recognized it as the ’Ant Song’ a popular rendition for children. He placed her on the ground as I played and she danced a toddlers jig and twirled around. It made me think of why I was doing the ’Bush Lies’ tour and how it was worth it.

The paintings are suitable for exhibit and anyone or organization interested in hosting a showing can contact me at Info@Frankensteinweb.com.