Jack

Between rallies in the fall of the year, I returned a phone call from a man in Colorado.

“I want a mural of a majestic eagle flying over the Rocky Mountains,” I listened to a gravelly request over the phone, “on the back of my motor home.”

The voice continued, “with an American flag flying in the background.”

Then he added, “and I must have the caption Cherish the Magic underneath.

I visualized this image with the phone against my ear.

“I will be happy to paint that for you,” I replied.

We then discussed the logistics of getting this project done. He was coming to Florida from Colorado for the winter. I would do the work at Lazydays.

            I received calls such as this regularly. As Letterfly, I was in my ninth year as an artist with the specialty of painting airbrushed murals on motor homes. Jack heard about me in Colorado. Having frequented rallies all over the country, my reputation as the premier creator of high-quality artwork was established.

When my tour was over, I returned to Lazydays as the resident artist during late 1995.

The situation at this dealership proved to be right. I found an endless stream of folks who wanted beautiful murals to enhance the appearance of their RVs.

A few days later, my customer from Colorado arrived. He was amazed with this sprawling sixty-acre facility. Once he settled on his campsite, the work began.

During this embryonic time at Lazydays, I conducted my business the same way I did at the multitude of rallies attended throughout the previous summers, and as the resident artist at River Ranch during the previous eight winters. Wherever I found an opportunity, I set up my apparatus and began to paint. I started on Jack’s mural.

His motor home was parked in the shade of the trees in the camping area of the dealership. Curious couples stopped by to investigate my industry. This meant we had an audience. Jack began to pour forth a whole retinue of amazing personal recollections along with announcements about the mural taking shape. I discovered Jack was a gifted story teller. While he talked, he endorsed my product. I kept the focus of my attention on all aspects of the project at hand.

Jack was blunt. He had a salt and pepper beard with a physique that at one time was similar to mine but was now compromised due to a bone disease. He was stoop-shouldered with a hunch back but that didn’t stop his relentless drive to remain the center of attention.

From the start, I was impressed with his friendly banter, the manly references to God and country and the way he poked fun at his plight with bone disease. He referred to his stooped six-foot frame as an egg with feet. Jack traveled alone in his big motor home with a German shepherd named ‘Dawg.’

                The procedure for prepping a coach was the same as it had been for almost a decade.   First, I set up two step ladders and a walk plank behind the back of the coach. I cleaned and sanded the area to receive the paintwork.  I then taped paper and bisquine to protect the adjacent areas of the coach from the protective clear coat applied last.

I harvested reference pictures of all kinds while looking through nature and art magazines. When I discovered an interesting image, I ripped the page out of the magazine to file away in my swipe file. While in the development stage of this mural, I went to my swipe file and found the rocky mountain folder. Inside were images of snow-capped mountains. In the eagle folder, I found an eagle with wings outstretched in flight just as Jack had described.

Using these images as reference, I drew a scale drawing to establish my composition that would also include the caption ‘Cherish the Magic’ across the base of the painting. Once the sketch was complete and Jack approved, I proceeded to draw the image full-size onto the now ready back-end cap of the motor home.

Using the traditional skills of a sign man, learned as an apprentice in the seventies, I scaled up from the reference picture, drew an exact depiction using simple mathematics and a yard stick. The use of these techniques over the years resulted in the development of my ability to see what I am looking at and draw what I see any size. 

Once the particulars of the project were clear in my mind the work commenced. Jack’s conversation continued. Soon I became familiar with the great childhood he had in Fort Lauderdale along with tropical adventures that occurred as a teen. I also heard facets of the varied career roles that took him many places. He told exciting anecdotes. All were fantastic and some difficult to believe. With the steady stream of factoids, reminiscences, opinions and anecdotes that poured forth as I painted, I became acquainted with a being who loved to talk.

“I contain a plethora of superfluous information,” he bragged.

Jack was quick to share an opinion about virtually any topic that came up. I soon found out that it didn’t matter to this inquisitive, analytic mind which side of an argument he was on. What he loved most was the argument. At that time, I still lingered on being shy. I was cautious and wanted to make the best possible impression at this mega dealership. At first, I was meek about the bragging and boisterous banter he produced.

At Lazydays, I found an obstacle to production I hadn’t encountered before. Due to the tremendous amount of traffic in and out of this place, every RV parking space was designated for a particular length of time. If I had an opportunity for a mural but it occurred at the end of our guests stay on the property, they had to leave. I had no place to do the work.

While I worked on Jack’s motor home under the tall pine and oak trees in the guest camping area, he became familiar with this plight. I didn’t know it at the time but his analytic mind had begun to percolate.  Later, Jack became instrumental with the creation of a solution.

            When the mural on the back of his motor home was complete, to say he was happy would be an understatement. He was elated.

“I’m going to head down to Miami and hang around with my old cronies,” he announced.

He had been a Dade County policeman years ago and hadn’t seen his old beat in years.  I bid adieu to my new friend and he drove away. Then I resumed my duties around the dealership.

R.J. Wos had interest in my enterprise. He became familiar with the occasional parking frustration I encountered. He encouraged me to park the next motorhome in the patio area where the guests were served hot dogs for lunch. He appreciated the entertainment aspect of what I was doing. Soon, another motor home was on display for me to work on in front of the guests as they consumed lunch. This situation also helped to sell the next project. I stayed busy.

Two weeks later, I received another call from Jack.

            “Hey Dave,” he stated, “I’m planning a return trip to Lazydays.”

            “Great.”          

“There’s a seafood buffet nearby in Kissimmee,” He continued, “I plan to drive over there one night.”

Then he added, “you can go with me.”

“I’d be happy to go.”

When he got back to Lazydays, Jack told me about his visit to Miami. He went to the neighborhood where he grew up and saw some of his old officer friends. He told additional tales of manly adventure and about doing incredible deeds as a cop that established him as a legend.

While on the way to the seafood buffet, out of the blue he asked, “where are you going to watch the Super bowl?”

I hadn’t even thought about that.

He then announced, “you can watch the game with me in my motor home.”

We enjoyed an extensive buffet that night.

I was flexible in my role as resident artist and had the ability to include a companion in my professional routine at the dealership. On the following busy days Jack joined me wherever I was at Lazydays while I created art on motorhomes. While with me, he provided a relentless flow of conversation.  

Jack befriended a service writer. He soon had a free parking spot with electricity for the winter season.  A week later he asked if I wanted to accompany him to another buffet near Disney where he claimed he would eat his body weight in Lobster. Later still, he planned an excursion for us to Universal Studios. When Super Bowl Sunday arrived, I enjoyed his hospitality and the luxury of his coach while we watched the game.

During a lull in the game, Jack confided, “I’m having more fun hanging around you than I did with my old cronies back in Miami.”

At the dealership we became inseparable, almost joined at the hip. Jack lounged in his folding chair all day, nursed a diet Pepsi, and held court with anyone who walked by. Up on the walk plank between two step ladders, I entertained guests while I painted beautiful airbrushed murals on an endless stream of motor homes.  Jack provided running commentary. As we bonded, I shared with him my concern about the lack of a dedicated parking situation for my guests with motor home projects.  This caused occasional frustration in my role as resident artist.

            I told him about a letter I had written to management that addressed my need for a dedicated area in which to work. He asked to see a copy of the letter. The next day I showed it to him.

After his perusal, he asked; “you didn’t send this did you?”

Sheepishly, I revealed, “yes, I did.”

He winced for an exact theatrical moment of time. Then, as he thought about the letter, confidence surfaced. Jack calculated his next move.

After pause for effect, he announced, “I think I can fix it.” 

A competent writer, Jack revealed to me the story about a book he had written; a novel about a dog handler in Vietnam. Although he didn’t go to Vietnam, part of his military experience was being trained as a dog handler. Before he was sent overseas, his orders were redlined. He spent the rest of his Air Force career as a guard on Air Force One protecting President Nixon.   

Jack wrote another letter and showed it to me.  It started off by commending the brilliance of having an artist in place to not only serve the customer but create the premise of a unique destination which would help the overall business thrive. Next, he introduced the value of maximizing this opportunity to create an attraction for the guests to enjoy by designating a specific area for the creation of art. A place that would become one of the most memorable on the property.

The management of Lazydays selected the prettiest place on the property for my studio: a specific location surrounded by park benches and lush garden areas in an old oak hammock. I erected a carport roof for my studio. This lovely, quiet spot in the midst of large oak trees became known as the art pavilion, a special place in which Letterfly thrived for the next thirteen years.