Bob was an Artist...
One of my first chats with Bob Bagnell went something like this:
"Whaddya think about this one, eh?" Bob sat on the pavement next to the front door of the 7-11, pointing to what looked like a piece of paper inside a plastic sleeve. I crouched down beside him to get a closer look, and was amazed by his array of art pencils all neatly laid out beside him. I looked at the colour image as he handed it at me, and then at the binder of plastic sleeves containing a bunch more.
"I got all my artwork under this to keep 'em dry. This here's my tattoo gear, and over here's all my paints."
"Nice. Right on." Bob had more drawing gear, pencils and paints, with him than I did when I got myself equipped for my first year at art school.
"And check out my new cell phone too." He handed a small silver phone to me. "Holy crap! That's nicer than my old phone." I still had a six year-old analog Nokia.
"Can you surf the web on that thing?" I asked.
"Probably, but I don't know how!" Bob laughed.
Bob told me about the dragon picture he was painting and how some local tattoo places would sometimes buy laser copies instead of the originals, because it looks "more professional." It's weird, but I know what he meant.
I told Bob I wondered if he could ever sell some of his tattoo art on eBay, and (in spite of my advice about web surfing being too expensive) suggested he check out ebay.ca. Bob said "Right on. Thanks!"
A ghost car pulled in between the gas pumps, cutting the corner around the intersection and sped north up Nanaimo. Bob didn't look all that healthy to me, and I said that it was probably a good thing that there were some cops in the neighbourhood. Bob opened his jacket and tipped out his rolling papers, and snickered. He said a while ago a cop car had pulled up earlier and busted some asian kid on the other side of the parking lot.
"You're still safer", I said, smiling and shaking my head as he laughed it off. I shook his dry, slightly flaky hand, and he gave me a big cross-eyed grin. "Take it easy man" he said.
Bob was painting and drawing most of the times I saw him. It was a key reason why I began talking with him and sympathizing with his situation. We both liked to draw.
One of the last things Bob said to me was "Hang on to those drawings. They're going to be worth something after I'm gone."
Some of Bob Bagnell's Artwork
"Chase the Dragon", by Bob Bagnell.
This is a closeup from an amazingly detailed and revealing pen and ink drawing that was sent to me by Bob's family.
Click on it to view the full work.