Stu Jenks' Fezziwig Press (I'm just a simple man...)

“Dean Smith, Ash Wood, North Carolina” © Stu Jenks 2021 [Extended Family Series]

“Dean Smith, Ash Wood, North Carolina” © 2021 40 inches.

Price: $250, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

For those of you who are not from North Carolina, Dean Smith was the Men's Basketball coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1961 to 1997. His record was 879-254. He led UNC to national championships twice in 1982 and in 1993. Under his leadership, Carolina went to the Final Four 11 times, won the ACC regular season 17 times and won the ACC tournament 13 times.

Dean and Carolina won a lot of basketball games, but that's not really why he gets a wall piece.

Here's why.

In 1967, Dean recruited Charlie Scott, an African-American man, to play on the UNC men's basketball team. He was the first black player to play at Chapel Hill. It was a very big deal. 

Also, Dean created what was known as the Sneaker Fund. Dean put the money he made from his coaching sneaker contracts into a fund in which former Carolina players could assess those funds if they had an emergency or they were just financial strapped. He thought it was unfair that he got paid by Converse or Nike, but his players got none of that money. So once they left school, players could have some of that money if they needed it. It has been used for medical emergencies, family tragedies, and drug rehab bills. Years after its inception, the Sneaker Fund still helps ex-players from Carolina.

Dean was also a liberal Democrat.

And he and Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke were good friends. Some North Carolinians hate Coach K. Dean did not. Nor do I.

By all accounts, he was a wonderful man. And he won a lot of basketball games.

In North Carolina, Jesus Christ sitteth on the right side of the Father, and Dean Smith sitteth on the left.

In Heaven, may you Dean teach God Almighty how to run the Four Corners Offense properly. It's a offense, God, not a slow down. You just need the right point guard to run it.

 

#deansmith, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

Dementia Blues by Stu Jenks, a free epub for y'all...

A writer friend today suggested I submit one of my self-pub books to this book contest thingy. Win between $1000 to $5000 if they pick your book. It's a bit of a scam, our $65 submission costs supporting who ever the hell Winning Writers are, but I had that much cash in my Paypal and thought what the fuck.

The tricky part was which book. Initially I thought Step Zero, but that's too long. Then I thought Victor Mothershead, but that's Book 4 in the Step Zero series.

Then I thought Dementia Blues, my best selling book of the 15 books I've produced. I glanced through the epub before I submitted it and thought, "This is actually pretty good. It holds up."

So I just did uploaded it to the contest.

But you know I ain't going to win.

But you can.

Download Dementia Blues

Above (and at the end of this post) is the epub edition of Dementia Blues by me, Stu Jenks. Designed by Gail Cross with the photographs and everything. It's a sad but sweet book. I think you'll like it.

And even though the chances of me winning this book contest are slim to none, you can win a free book right now. Pretty sweet, eh?

Love you guys.

Keep your lamp trimmed and burning,

Stu.

Download Dementia Blues

P.S. Hidden track: What the hell. I'll give away my last book Cherry Picking Leviticus too. I'm in a generous mood.

Download Cherry Picking Leviticus by Stu Jenks

“Stu Jenks (Portrait Of The Artist As A Middle Aged Man), Red Oak, North Carolina” © Stu Jenks 2019 [Extended Family Series]

“Stu Jenks (Portrait Of The Artist As A Middle Aged Man), Red Oak, North Carolina” © Stu Jenks 2019, 53 inches tall.

Price: $250, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

I made this stick in 2019 when I was 64 years old, technically middle aged. I'm 66 now, technically old.

I've learned not to joke about being old with Alexa. Took me a year to figure this out. She's 50. When I make jokes about being old, she’s immediately transported to me being dead. And that makes her sad, not laugh.

I don't buy that 60 is the new 40. 66 is 66. But I don't feel that old really. I'm still pretty spry. Then again, you never use the word 'spry' to describe someone young.

And there I go with the jokes again.

#portraitoftheartistasamiddleagedman, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

 

“The Prodigal Son Returns, Beech Wood, North Carolina © Stu Jenks 2019-2020 [Extended Family Series]

“The Prodigal Son Returns, Beech Wood, North Carolina © Stu Jenks, 2019-2020, 51 inches tall.

Price: $250, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

The wood was cut in 2019, the piece finished in 2020, after my diagnosis of severe prostate cancer, before my radical prostatectomy surgery. A tough time for me. I was in Tucson then, away from Alexa, working part time at an out patient clinic, making a little money from photography, waiting for my Social Security to kick in so I could move back to North Carolina to be with my wife. I knew I would return but I didn't know when. Ended up being August of 2020 before I was well enough to move. Longer than any of us expected.

My dad used to say, "The Prodigal Son returns!" when I would walk into the Raleigh house on Sundays during my college days, when I would hitchhike home from Chapel Hill to get a hot meal, pick up a $40 check, and maybe do my laundry too. I think Dad was trying to be funny but it didn't feel funny. After dinner, Dad would drop me off on I-40 west of town to hitch back to UNC (It was a different time in the 70's. Everybody hitchhiked.), As I would get out of his car he would say, "I love you, son." "Love you too, Dad," I would halfheartedly say back to him.

No one ever in my family told me they loved me. Ever. Until Dad started when I was in college.

So the Prodigal Son has returned again. This time to the loving arms of my wife. But this morning, I'm thinking fondly of my father, Stuart Jenks Sr., who didn't really want to have kids, and really didn't like being married to my mother, but at some point in the mid 1970's decided, on his own, to start telling his son that he loved him.

And Dad continued to say 'I love you' until a couple days before he died in September of 2001.

And I told him I love him too. This time, not halfheartedly.

#prodigalsonreturns, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

“Levi Neill, Red Cedar, North Carolina” © Stu Jenks 2021 [Extended Family Series]

“Levi Neill, Red Cedar, North Carolina” © 2021 59 inches tall.

Price: $495, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

 

"A 180 degrees from sick is still sick."

"I know the middle path is where I want to be, but I tend to fly by it at 60 mph, as I'm bouncing off the walls."

"If you're pissed off at someone and you want to be spiritual about it, you can say fuck thou instead of fuck you."

"I had a professor in graduate school who told me that I had the best self awareness of any of his students. I puffed out my chest. Then he said that with all this awareness, I had the less amount of willingness to change of anyone he knew. That deflated me."

”As a therapist, I’m willing to work with someone who has no money but has willingness. I’m willing to work with someone who has money but no willingness. But I’m not willing to work with someone who has no money and no willingness”

 

Levi Neill was important to me beyond words, in my first few years of sobriety in the late 1980's. He was my friend and my mentor. Many a Saturday night, after I got off work at Sierra Tucson, we would sit in his hot tub in Catalina, Arizona, under the moonlight, and I would just listen to all that he said, be him talking about shame theory and shame reduction therapeutic practices, or what his favorite films were, or what Holotropic Breathwork meant to him.

He was a very large man with a very large personality. He was far from perfect and eventually a disagreement over something small broke our friendship, but for those two or three years he was the most important man in my life. More important than my two sponsors. More important than my therapist. More important than my father. He was that big a deal.

Sadly, the last years of his life didn't go well. He moved back to Kansas to take care of his mother, but he didn't do very well there by some accounts. Levi became more and more isolated from others, and his health declined. When he died at home alone, no one found him for many days. He was sober when he died but I don't believe he was very happy at all. It's sad.

But from 1985 to 1988, he had a profound impact on my life, and many of the things he taught me I still believe today. Not all of them but many.

 

"There is a little bit of black and a little bit of white and a shit load of gray." Yep. I believe that.

"That's either a profoundly honest truth he just said, or the best rationalization I've ever heard." Levi said that about a priest we knew. Was funny then. Is funny now.

And lastly, when he would say he was willing to spend a little bit of money for just about any new experience: "I'd spend 50 bucks to watch a monkey fuck a football." Not something I would ever say, but it still makes me smile.

 

Rest in peace, Levi, and thank you for all that you did for me and for others. Wherever your soul resides, I hope you're happy there. I really do.

#levineill, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair: Sharpe's Store, North Carolina" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

 

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair: Sharpe's Store, North Carolina" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

 

All images on this website can be printed by me on my archival printer, using archival paper, then signed, boarded, glassine-bagged, then mailed to you

8 1/2 by 11s are $45, plus S & H. 13 x 19s are $95, plus S & H. (Image rights are also for sale. Cost of those are specific to the client and the job.) Shipping runs between $10 and $20.

Contact me via email at stujenks@gmail.com, through Facebook Messenger, or by text at 520-343-5596 if you want to buy something. Stay safe. Love y’all.

“Juniper Rose-Jackson, Saguaro Rib, Arizona” © Stu Jenks 2021 [Extended Family Series]

“Juniper Rose-Jackson, Saguaro Rib, Arizona” © 2021 Stu Jenks, 49 inches tall.

Price: $195, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

Not for sale. Soon to be shipped to the Rose-Jackson household in Utah.

 

Lauren and Hamish had a little baby girl recently. How about that? I made a stick a few months ago for the little one, and I was just waiting to put a name on it. Well, her name is Juniper. I've seen pictures. She's a beautiful baby girl.

Soon, I'll mail this piece to them, but no rush, Hamish said. They have a lot on their plate. No hurry for a walking stick just yet.

Their first child. So happy for them.

#juniperrosejackson, #stujenks. #extendedfamilyseries.

“Bertie Jenks Lester, Saguaro Rib, Arizona” © 2020 Stu Jenks [Extended Family Series]

“Bertie Jenks Lester, Saguaro Rib, Arizona” © 2020 Stu Jenks, 61 inches tall.

Price: $395, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

 

The story of great aunt Bertie's murder can be found at the link provided here. I strongly suggest you read that. It's a terrible Jenks family tragedy and the story of a shameful family secret. Again, the story as I know it is at a prior post of this website.

I considered writing a fictionalized short novel about Aunt Bertie in 1913-14 Richmond, Virginia, but frankly, it's hard enough just occasionally thinking about what happened to her and the kids. I don't want to live 6 months to a year with this horror as I write the book. I don't think I could emotionally weather it. I'm tough but I'm not that tough.

Honestly, the truth is story enough.

Bertie, wherever you are, I hope your soul rests in peace. I'm so sorry what our family did and didn't do for you, and for Jimmy and Gracie. Shameful  

1)

#bertiejenkslester, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

“Annie Gordon, Two Saguaro Walking Sticks, Arizona” © Stu Jenks 2019 [Extended Family Series]

“Annie Gordon, Two Saguaro Walking Sticks, Arizona” © 2019 Stu Jenks 43 & 49 inches tall.

Price: $295, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

Not for sale. In possession of Annie Gordon. Photos taken by Annie Gordon at her home in Tucson.

 

Annie and I have know each other since forever. We were initially lovers and now we are life long friends. Beside being a renowned massage therapist in Tucson, she is also an accomplished and celebrated fiber artist, pushing the quilt format past its humble beginnings, pressing the form to new contemporary heights. If I were you, I would buy her stuff. The link to her Etsy store is right here.

I own three of her pieces myself.

And Annie owns two of my sticks.

Fly high, Annie. Pet the cats for me, and tell Duncan and Fergus to let you sleep in from time to time.

#anniegordon, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

"Virgin Of Guadalupe by Luis Berrueco, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia" Image capture by Stu Jenks 2021

"Virgin Of Guadalupe by Luis Berrueco" Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia" Image capture by Stu Jenks 2021

All images on this website can be printed by me on my archival printer, using archival paper, then signed, boarded, glassine-bagged, then mailed to you

8 1/2 by 11s are $45, plus S & H. 13 x 19s are $95, plus S & H. (Image rights are also for sale. Cost of those are specific to the client and the job.) Shipping runs between $10 and $20.

Contact me via email at stujenks@gmail.com, through Facebook Messenger, or by text at 520-343-5596 if you want to buy something. Stay safe. Love y’all.

 

This painting is enormous, maybe 6 feet by 9 feet. A recent acquisition by the VMFA.

Seeing it made me both miss the desert, as well as feel like a part of Sonora was here with me right now.

“Tom Hanks, Red Oak, North Carolina” © Stu Jenks 2021 [Extended Family Series]

“Tom Hanks, Spiral Prayer Stick, Red Oak, Haw River, North Carolina” © Stu Jenks 2021, 29 inches tall.

Price: $295, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

Who doesn't love Tom Hanks. Nobody.

I could go through his whole filmography but you know the films of his you like. My top five are Saving Private Ryan, Forrest Gump, The Green Mile, Apollo 13 and especially Castaway.

Note: This is not a walking stick, but more of a prayer stick, that can be hung from the wall or held in your hands. And yes, it feels very good to the touch.

#tomhanks, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

“Mackenzie Scott, Red Oak, North Carolina” © Stu Jenks 2021 [Extended Family Series]

“Mackenzie Scott, Red Oak, North Carolina” © Stu Jenks 2021 55 inches tall.

Price: $250, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

Mackenzie Scott is the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, aka Lex Luthor. When she divorced that selfish prick in 2019, she got $35 billion. As of the first of 2021, she is worth an estimated $62 billion.

But in 2020, she did a wonderful thing. She gave over $4 billion to 384 charitable organizations, such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, native american and people of color charities, and historically blacks colleges and universities that have been hit hardest by COVID-19. Basically, she gave them all a year's budget and is willing to give them more. She has stated that she wishes to give away her money as quickly as possible.

"We are identifying organizations with strong leadership teams and results, with special attention to those operating in communities facing high projected food insecurity, high measures of racial inequity, high local poverty rates, and low access to philanthropic capital," she stated.

Sure, many super wealthy people are profound assholes living in the land of sociopathy, but not all. Not Mackenzie Scott.

God bless you, Ms. Scott.

#mackenziescott, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

“Malcolm X, Saguaro Rib, Arizona” © Stu Jenks 2020 [Extended Family Series]

“Malcolm X, Saguaro Rib, Arizona” © Stu Jenks 2020, 54 inches tall.

Price: $395, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

Most of y'all know who Malcolm X was. Spokesman for The Nation Of Islam for a time until he became disillusioned with the organization. A powerful civil right activist who I believe is often misunderstood. The 1992 Spike Lee-Denzel Washington film is actually quite good. I highly recommend it.

Malcolm X was assassinated at age 39. Tragic.

Malcolm X was the yin to Martin Luther King Jr.'s yang. Or perhaps it is the other way around.

Rest in peace, Malcolm. We are still fighting the good fight for racial equality and social justice 55 years after your death, and we don't intend to stop fighting anytime soon.

 

#malcolmx, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

“Baby Jesus (Santo Nino), Saguaro Rib, Arizona” (c) Stu Jenks 2020. [Extended Family Series]

“Baby Jesus (Santo Nino), Saguaro Rib, Arizona” 36 inches tall, (c) Stu Jenks 2020.

Price: $150, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

I made walking sticks for most of my in-laws last Christmas. Thought the Baby Jesus should have one too.

#stujenks, #santonino, #babyjesus, #extendedfamilyseries.

 

 

“Lisa Mandel, Water Tupelo Wood, North Carolina” © Stu Jenks 2021 [Extended Family Series]

“Lisa Mandel, Water Tupelo Wood, North Carolina” © Stu Jenks 2021, 56 inches tall.

Price: $295, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

 

My good friend Michael Doll says, "In 12 Step fellowships, we have upside down relationships. I know your father molested you or your mother beat you, but I don't know your favorite music, your favorite food or how you voted in the last election."

So. Lisa and I are not close close, but we have known each other for many years. She is a sweetheart, with a kind and good heart. But that's not why she gets a stick. I know a ton of people in the Secret Societies who are fine folk.

No, friends and neighbors, she gets a stick because she answered the call.

You see, very old potato peelers are what I use initially to strip off the bark of my pieces. New peelers are just too sharp, cutting way too deep into the wood. Old peelers have a narrower blade space and work perfectly. Unfortunately, they don't make them anymore. I've bought three on Ebay but those didn't work well at all because they were quite dull. I was down to two good peelers. I was freaking out a bit. I had searched Goodwill and Salvation Army stores in the Piedmont area and had found none.

So I put out the call on Facebook. "I need old potato peelers." A number of friends sent me their old peelers but Lisa, sent me not one, not two, but three potato peelers. One didn't work, another worked OK, but one is fantastic: sharp but not too sharp. Sturdy. Good. Perfect.

That's why Lisa Mandel gets a stick.

I can't thank you enough Lisa. When I visit Tucson again after COVID ends, I'll try and bring your piece with, if it hasn't sold. And if it does sell, I'll make you another one, just as good if not better than this one.

Viya con Dios, Lisa.

#lisamandel, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

 

“Michael Doll, Aspen Wood, Colorado” © Stu Jenks 2019 [Extended Family Series]

“Michael Doll, Aspen Wood, Colorado” © Stu Jenks 2019, 55 inches tall.

Price: $395, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

Michael is one of my oldest and closest friends. We have known each for over 36 years. We talk often on the phone and before COVID, we would break bread together. Yet now I'm in Greensboro, NC and he's in Tucson, so no dinners or lunches for a while but I pray, after COVID has passed, and I'm back in Tucson for a visit, we can eat at The Cup at the Hotel Congress, and laugh, joke, and tell a few lies.

Micheal has helped many men get clean and sober over the decades, sponsored some, mentored others, listened intently to their pains and confusions, and helped these men find some sense of serenity and peace as they progress in their sobriety. He really has devoted his life to helping others, particularly those in Cocaine Anonymous, on both a local level as well as on the World Service level.

Now I'm fully aware that I'm violated a Tradition or two talking about my friend in regards to his commitment to his recovery and the recovery of others. We are not supposed to put on airs regarding our recovery. We are simply supposed to be men among men, and that too much arrogance and ego are sometimes deadly to one's recovery, but I'm not worried about that regarding Michael. He is a pretty humble guy, nor am I concerned that he'll drink or use over me saying a few nice things about him.

Sometimes I think, due to all of us being publicly anonymous, true achievement and sacrifice go unnoticed and unknown to others outside of our circles.

I simply want to sing Michael praises for all that he has done, and for all he has helped in C.A. over the last 35 plus years. He's not a saint, but he's pretty close to it.

I look forward to our next phone conversation, Michael. And when we have lunch in person again, post-COVID, I'm buying this time, hucklebuck.

I love ya, man.

 

#michaeldoll, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

“Norman & Carolyn Smith, Crepe Myrtle Wood, North Carolina” © 2021 Stu Jenks [Extended Family Series]

“Norman & Carolyn Smith, Crepe Myrtle Wood, North Carolina” © 2021 Stu Jenks, 55 inches tall.

Price: $395, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

 

For Christmas 2020, I made all of my local in-laws wall pieces/walking sticks; for my four nieces, my nephew, my two brothers-in-laws, and my two sister-in-laws. Also made sticks for my mother-in-law Carolyn, Alexa's stepmom, and Norman's third wife, and Norman got a stick too.

Thought I was done making sticks for the family for a while.

Then we had this big ice storm.

Part of the damage was a branch broken off of Norman's crepe myrtle tree. As I walked to his house to check out any possible ice damage (Norman and Carolyn live just down the way; during the week they stay at Norman's, weekends at Carolyn's house), I saw the fallen branch on the ground and thought, "Hmmm. I wonder what crepe myrtle wood is like to work with?" What I found out is that it's dense, heavy and difficult to shape. But when its all sanded and oiled, it has a lacy smooth feel which is nice.

The piece is called Norman and Carolyn Smith. What else am I going to name it? It came out of their front yard, for heaven's sake.

I've written often about Norman, Carolyn not so much. Carolyn is a sweetheart too, a retired educator, a life long Democrat, with a wonderfully easy laugh. And the two of them look very cute as they walk around the neighborhood, often hand in hand.

As they say in the South, it's a blessing to have them in our lives. It's a good thing.

 

#norman&carolynsmith, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

“Gay Smith, Aspen Wood, Arizona” © 2020 Stu Jenks [Extended Family Series]

“Gay Smith, Aspen Wood, Arizona” © 2020 Stu Jenks, 59 inches tall.

Price: $250, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

Gay Smith is my wife Alexa's mom. I’ve heard it often said that Gay made everyone she was talking to feel like they were the most important person in the world. I'm really sorry I never met her. Sadly, she died of cancer on November 1st, 2004. 

The photo of her grave was taken just last week. Her husband Norman goes to the old farm every year and plants fresh flowers at her grave and at his parents' graves. Norman is a sweet man, but from what I have heard about Gay, she was pretty much a saint. 

Rest easy, Gay. I'm loving your daughter Alexa strong and true.

#gaysmith, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

“Buddy Miller, Tulip Poplar, North Carolina” © Stu Jenks 2021 [Extended Family Series]

“Buddy Miller, Tulip Poplar, Smith Farm, North Carolina” © 2021 57 inches tall.

Price: $295, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

Buddy Miller, along with his wife Julie Miller, have been fixtures in the Americana Music scene for decades. But that's not why Buddy gets a stick. It's because he is my favorite guitar player and one of my favorite singers. And from everything I can tell, he is beloved by everyone he has ever worked with, from Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, and Robert Plant, to name just a few. And he is a wonderful record producer as well. But it's his singing and his guitar playing that gets me. Top five desert island albums? His record Universal United House of Prayer.

And a personal highlight of my life was videotaping him at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco in 2010. If you want to watch one of those songs, click on the link and marvel at his playing and singing.

And feel free to play "Wide River To Cross" at my funeral.

Live love, Buddy. You mean the world to me.

Photograph of Buddy Miller by Ron Miller (c) 2010

#buddymiller, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

"Gail Cross, Aspen Wood, Arizona" (c) 2019 Stu Jenks [Extended Family Series]

"Gail Cross, Aspen Wood, Arizona" (c) 2019 Stu Jenks, 51 inches tall.

Price: $295, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

Not for sale. In possession of Gail Cross and her family. Photograph taken by Gail at her home.

 

Gail designed 15 of my 16 books. She is a joy to work with. Not only is she patient with me, but she laughs at my jokes and we have very similar visual tastes, which means our creative collaborations are always fun. Add to that, we have become friends over the years. It's a blessing when the people you work with become close friends.

She is one of the most sought after book designers out there. She even worked with Harlan Ellison at one point. I know. Harlan called her a 'peach'. She is.

#gailcross, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries.

“Thurgood Marshall, Saguaro Rib, Arizona” © Stu Jenks 2020 [Extended Family Series]

“Thurgood Marshall, Saguaro Rib, Arizona” © Stu Jenks 2020 49 inches tall.

Price: $395, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

Thurgood Marshall served as a Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1967 to 1991. Prior to that, he founded the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, arguing many cases before the Supreme Court, including Brown vs. Board of Education.

He was a big deal, therefore he gets a big stick.

#thurgoodmarshall, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

Cedar Breaks Winter Song, Utah (c) 2021 Stu Jenks

"Ceder Breaks Winter Song, Utah" (c) 2018, 2021 Stu Jenks.

All images on this website can be printed by me on my archival printer, using archival paper, then signed, boarded, glassine-bagged, then mailed to you

8 1/2 by 11s are $45, plus S & H. 13 x 19s are $95, plus S & H. (Image rights are also for sale. Cost of those are specific to the client and the job.) Shipping runs between $10 and $20. 

Contact me via email at stujenks@gmail.com, through Facebook Messenger, or by text at 520-343-5596 if you want to buy something. Stay safe. Love y’all. 

“Zeeba, Granddaughter of Balthazar, Saguaro Ribs, Arizona” © 2020 Stu Jenks [Extended Family Series]

“Zeeba, Granddaughter of Balthazar, Saguaro Ribs, Arizona” © 2020 Stu Jenks, 77 inches tall.

Price: Not for sale. In the collection of the artist. This piece however can be loaned out to be part of gallery and museum shows.

 

Zeeba is a title character in my Christmas book Balthazar & Zeeba. I love her to death.

It's rare that I won't sell a piece of my art, but this one means a lot to me. I stroke its surface often as I pass it on my way to bed.

If you need an odd but sweet Christmas story to read around the holidays, Balthazar & Zeeba might just be your thing.

Ho, ho, ho.

#zeeba, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries.

“Baltazar, A Wise Man From The East, Saguaro Rib, Arizona” © Stu Jenks 2020 [Extended Family Series]

“Baltazar, Saguaro Rib, Arizona” © Stu Jenks 2020, 76 inches tall.

Price: $795, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

Balthazar is one of The Three Wise Men From The East in Jesus' nativity story. He is also a character in my holiday novel, Bathazar & Zeeba. I know. Again, like prior wall pieces named after literary characters, I'm not going to say much, just in case you end up reading the book.

But he is a righteous dude, as you can imagine. And he loves his granddaughter Zeeba very much.

 

#balthazar, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

“Dr. Juan Chipollini, Crab Apple Tree Wood, North Carolina” (c) Stu Jenks 2021 [Extended Family Series]

“Dr. Juan Chipollini, Crab Apple Tree Wood, North Carolina” 62 inches tall, (c) Stu Jenks 2021

Price: $395, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

Juan is the fantastic surgeon who performed my radical prostatecotomy in late April of 2020. He is not your stereotypical surgeon. He is warm, kind, smiles easily, and genuinely cares about the well being of his patients. He's not just an auto mechanic who takes out prostates.

Since I'm friends with Dr. Tony Lucas, an anesthesiologist who he works often with, Juan and I have become friends. In the weeks after my surgery when we had a couple of hiccups, Juan was there for me in a big way, and I still consult with him on occasion, here in North Carolina, as we continue to watch my ever-so-slowly-rising PSA.

I'm not just saying all this because he saved my life. He is truly a peach. If you ever read this Juan, know that I'm grateful for all that you did for me, for my wife and for my family, and that you are now truly family to me.

Y que Dios los bendiga a usted y a su familia.

#drjuanchipollini, #crabapplewood, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries.

"To The Survivors, Ash Wood, Tennessee" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks [Extended Family Series]

"To The Survivors, Ash Wood, Tennessee" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks, 75 inches tall.

Price: $495, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

Initially, when I started working on this piece, I was thinking specifically of those who had survived cancer, like myself and others. But that idea has since broadened and changed as I finished oiling and polishing this piece.

To The Survivors now is for all of us in the world, who have survived this last year of living with COVID. And to those who have gotten sick with COVID and are surviving. And to those who have had loved ones die from COVID and are surviving that loss.

It's March 30th, 2021, when I typed this. We appear to be having the beginning of a 4th surge. Over 550,000 people have died of COVID in the United States as of today. 2,790,000 worldwide.

We have lost so much. But we are surviving and hopefully will be fully thriving again. But who knows when that will be.

Silver lining for me: I see my wife a lot as we both work upstairs, she in one room and I in the other. We touch often, kiss often, talk often. It's nice.

But I can’t help but think of all the other people in the world in this time of plague. I've had two friends die of COVID, a good number more who have gotten sick, but are now doing reasonably OK. Reasonably.

And most of us are still here. Most.  

You're here. I'm here.

That ain't nothing.

#tothesurvivors, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries.

 

 

The PBRC: Nolichucky Gorge, North Carolina (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Near Zeeba's Rock, Nolichucky Gorge, North Carolina" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

All images on this website can be printed by me, using my archival printer, printed on archival paper, then signed, boarded, glassine-bagged, and mailed to you.

8 1/2 by 11s are $45, plus S & H. 13 x 19s are $95, plus S & H. (Image rights are also for sale. Cost of those are specific to the client and the job.) Shipping cost of prints runs between $10 and $20. 

Contact me via email at stujenks@gmail.com, through Facebook Messenger, or by text at 520-343-5596 if you want to buy something. Stay safe. Love y’all  

"The PBRC, Nolichucky Gorge, North Carolina" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"Zebba's Rock, Nolichucky Gorge, North Carolina" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

“The Artist’s Wife, Saguaro Rib, Arizona” © Stu Jenks 2020 [Extended Family Series]

“The Artist’s Wife, Saguaro Rib, Arizona” 55 inches tall, © Stu Jenks 2020

Price: $295, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

In 2019, I had to move back to Arizona for work, leaving Alexa here in North Carolina. I was gone about a year and a half. It was hard on us, but we made it through. What made it less difficult was making art with my wife in mind.

And yes, this does look just like her. Trust me.

“Dr. Anthony Lucas, Crab Apple Tree Wood, North Carolina” (c) 2021 Stu Jenks [Extended Family Series]

“Dr. Anthony Lucas, Crab Apple Tree Wood, 53 inches tall, Norman’s Yard, North Carolina” 53 inches tall, (c) 2021 Stu Jenks

Price: $395, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

Tony is my friend.

He is also a talented anesthesiologist in Tucson, Arizona. Tony found me the amazing surgeon Dr. Juan Chipollini who did my radical prostatectomy surgery in 2020. Even though Tony is very busy, we still try and text each other once a month or so. Tony has just been hammered since COVID began in March of 2020, but he is well as is his extended family. 

I can tell a number of good Tony stories, but I'll just tell this one.

My surgery had been scheduled before COVID started, but we didn't want to push it back, because my prostate cancer was so severe. Tony was going to get one of his team members to be my anesthesiologist but with COVID, that didn't work out. So on the morning of my surgery, whose smiling eyes behind a mask did I see but Tony's. As he put me under, he asked if I wanted to pray. I sure did. We prayed together. After surgery, he was the second person to tell me, after Dr. Chipollini, that the surgery went amazingly well. Clear margins and everything. And in the weeks after, he made sure I was OK, supplying me with numbing cream for my painful privates, and funny stories to help me heal.

Providence, the grace of God or just good luck? Who knows. But I'm blessed to have had him as my anesthesiologist on April 28th, 2020. And I'm continually thankful that he is my friend.

#drtonylucas, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries

“Chesapeake ‘Chessie’ Dupree, Saguaro Rib, Arizona” (c) 2020 Stu Jenks [Extended Family Series]

“Chesapeake ‘Chessie’ Dupree, Saguaro Rib, Arizona” 59 inches tall, (c) Stu Jenks 2020

Price: $395, shipping not included. All pieces hang off the wall. All work is signed, dated, with its title. I will hand deliver the work to anywhere in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. I'll just need some gas money. Outside of the area, I will ship USPS, FedEx or UPS but it'll be pricey. We'll figure it out.

 

Yep. Another character from my Step Zero series.

Fiction writers: Have your ever written a character for a novel who you thought was just going to be a minor character but ended up being the heart of the book? I know you have. Chessie is the heart of all my fiction. I love her so much.

#chessiedupree, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries.