Writings & Art

Above is the artwork I painted for the cover to We’re Not Down. Rocky is in the doorway waiting for Brock. The window to the right, with the blue light from the TV glowing behind the window, is where Ted is also waiting for his son to come home. You can view the actual book cover here.

I have more to explain about this book, and especially where the seed for it came from.

Here's a short excerpt from the first chapter:

They drove the next couple of miles in silence, until Ted turned down Nick’s...

Artwork by Gregory Payette

Richard took off the apron tied at his waist and tossed it in the bin with the other dirty aprons and cloths. It had been a busy night for a Tuesday. Good to see the register ringing.

Luckily, most of the regulars from around town still showed up, even though times were tough for everyone.

Richard was happy to have them—the regulars. Some came in the morning, shivering in the cold outside with the sun barely up, waiting for him to unlock the door. Others came in the...

by Gregory Payette

Artwork by Gregory Payette

EDGAR PUT ON THE TV and turned the UHF dial, tuning it to channel 38. It didn’t come in very well, as was the case with most of the channels lately. It’d been like that for a while, and Edgar kept meaning to go up on the roof and see what was wrong with the antenna. But he hadn’t.

The picture was snowy and the image kept rolling, but he could still see it was Carlton Fisk up to bat.

The Red Sox were playing the Tigers.

Charlie was asleep on the couch,...

Artwork by Gregory Payette

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When I wrote “Want” as a poem, it was seven stanzas long, but it wasn’t very good.

What I did have in my head, however, was the exact painting I wanted to paint to go with it, even if the poem was a bit raw and unfinished.

So to set up the scene I’d paint, I went out to Goodwill and somehow found the blue mug I had in my mind, and after going to numerous thrift shops, luckily found the perfect vintage ashtray I pictured. (The book in the painting is an Elmore...

By Gregory Payette

Artwork by Gregory Payette

LEONARD PULLED THE NOZZLE FROM THE gas tank, gave it a little shake, and placed it back on the pump. He looked through the station wagon’s rear window and couldn’t believe all the bags Claire had packed. How long did she think they were going for?

He went inside the brick building and handed cash to the man behind the counter, then left and walked across the lot back to the car. He smelled gas, along with exhaust from a pickup truck left running by...

I'm afraid most of us have spent a good part of our lives worried about all there is we need to do, and what we’re supposed to be doing to make each day more “productive.“

I often wish I could go back and enjoy the things I now miss. Or, the people, really. Like most people, I took the opportunities to spend time where it mattered most for granted. Maybe I thought there was something more important to do. Maybe I had to go to work.

But now I'm at the age where I look back and see clearly what...