I found this old photocopy from 1989 when I was preparing pitch art for the show that became Captain Nintendo.

(Click here for the previous post which tells about the pitch to DIC and Nintendo)

I've decided to show you the exact condition of this photocopy so that I can tell you it's tale of woe....

For 14 years from '96 to '10 and I were working in Los Angeles. I used to trust people way too much back then and allowed the artists working for us to continue to use our home as a studio while we were absent. I expected that they would respect our books, art and equipment. I even let one of our employees live in our place, rent free, in return for taking care for our plants and belongings. He saw no reason to care and let things die. Queensland Australia has a sub-tropical climate, very wet and humid in Summer. I left strict instructions not to leave the windows open in my studio in Summer and to keep the blinds closed from the morning Sun that belted in at 4am directly onto my prized books. My instructions were ignored. Exposed to humidity, my paper art began growing mould which also blotted into the pages of my books, whose spines were scorched white from exposure to the sun.

Our General Manager who ran the studio was also meant to keep an eye on our property until we got back. As our 3 month trip turned into a year, our General Manager grew tired of the commute and, against our wishes, moved our studio/house and all our belongings to a property closer to him. Having lost our home, Helen and I had nowhere to return to. Sony had no intention of letting us leave at that time. So we stayed and worked our butts off.

One of the anxieties I had while living in America was the state of my art and books back in Australia. We hit hard times in 2001 and the Australian studio was regrettably shut down, my General Manager became uncommunicative at that point. Our stuff was moved to his dank garage to rot away.

What was precious to me was worthless to him.

In 2010 we returned to Australia, rescuing our stuff was my last loose end. With some financial help from my brother, we made the 3 hour flight from Melbourne to Brisbane and met the removalists to pack and freight our stuff home. Now we have the remnants safely in our care, our furniture was sold off, Helen's jewelry is lost forever, rare and expensive coffee table sized photography books are now in some artist's collection. However most of the art is ours again, boxes of rare originals that could have been lost forever, like the one posted here.

Long ago Helen warned me about letting people into our home and I didn't listen, I wanted to help and share with others. Now Helen's opinion is the most trusted council I have. I am left wondering what would have been if I had followed her advice to begin with. I am ashamed to admit that she has lost the more artwork and personal possessions than I have, and yet she holds no grudge towards me. I hope to make it up to her going forward.