To hear from artist Duke Russell, click play below.
I love this photograph, the wet streets at night. It kind of really shows a different vibe of Anchorage. You know, Brewster’s, being in Mountain View, Mr. Brewster would be on his commercials. He would famously say something like, “If I'm here, I'll wait on you myself.” And he lived to be about 105. He was endeared by the community. And you know, what was Brewster's? You know, it was kind of a Western wear store. You'd walk in there, it had that kind of smell and sort of fresh jeans and, you know, it was just very old fashioned.
We just hang on to stuff, man, we hang on to memories. You know, when I did the Kut Rate Kid for Bob Gillam, you know, he worked in the back in the warehouses. His dad worked the store. And I had a little Polaroid that was kind of slowly eroded, very poor reference material. And I kind of restored it as best I could to do this painting. And, when I brought that painting in, I think he cried real tears. It was something that he held on to so, so tight. And I kind of get that. I have this saying that, you know, we live our lives from say 20 years old to 40 or 50. We're living our lives. We're playing a role in our life. But then after that we start watching our movie that we made, and we reflect on those times.
And, you know, those long-term memories are the things that seem like it was yesterday. And, you know, when you can revitalize that image, revitalize the memories, it's very powerful. And I think it resonates with people. And as someone who didn't go to college, you know, I think I know people very well through the kinds of jobs I've had. And this is one thing that really stands out to me, and this is why I do a lot of this kind of work is because it reflects on our lives and in the most honest way that I can.
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