Idle Hours

36” x 48”

oil on panel

When I was teaching at Lake Superior State University , back again in my hometown, every morning and afternoon I would walk by this house on the corner with a large yard. All day a group of men would gather around the picnic table as if it were their job, with the houses falling apart around them. There is a sort of comfort in the society of others amidst the desperation of poverty and unemployment. The Taxi building actually was in the other direction, now it has been torn down. If you had to take a taxi it meant you couldn't afford a car.

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