Life Lesson

The artist oldest son "the fish guy" and his bride visited southeast Asia and in one of the many hell holes they visited on that journey, they purchased a opium pipe and presented it to the Willie on their return. Of course he was thrilled with the gift until he discovered it was empty. None of the local shops in Ballard were able to refill the pipe so it sat empty for a couple of years. Then one day in a flash of inspiration that involved plywood, a twig. construction insulating foam and a eBay crow he knew what to do with the opium pipe. The result is what you see on this page. For may months it hung in the studio and then one day this little bird appeared on the piece. The Willie could quickly deduce from the coloration that this was a juvenile bird. He immediately saw a metaphor in the work, which is that for every adult responsibly smoking opium there is a small child showing up for kindergarten to stoned to properly stack his blocks.