I Wish You Were Here

Let's take a walk to the freight trains

Jun 10, 2025

On nights or days that I go painting, I don’t really care too much about the end results. I’m more in it for the stories, adventures, & things that happen along the way. Sure I want to come out with a good end product to be able to showcase to the world about my creativity & skills, but my mindset is never “Oh my audience is going to love this”. In fact, I hardly ever think about what people will like or dislike. The adventures I go on are for the good of the community & the betterment of my self-journey of being a creator. I love having stories to share with friends & family about my travels & adventures. Especially since some of them will never get to know that feeling of painting on something in the dead of night under the concealment of darkness. Walking along train tracks hearing a train coming & seeking shelter for the first few moments it passes by.

I know tons of people will never get to experience climbing over fences & pouring paint into a tray. I don’t tell these stories to sound cool or look interesting, I tell the stories because they’re funny & dangerous. They have all the elements of a good story. I think that’s where my urge for writing is coming from. I want to be able to express these stories & share my excitement with the world. My view is unique & my perspective is different from others in the sense that I don’t want to just showcase my work. I want to broadcast the works of others in my community & area. They are tons of amazing artists in this world & it’s wild to know some of them live & grew up in the same community I did.

We walked the same streets, but we all grew up different. We saw the same things, but I have a different view from them. That’s why this newsletter is considered my view of the world. I remember painting by the bridge that connects West Springfield to Springfield via High Street & I had climbed to the top of the ledge & shimmed my way over a few feet. I put blue block letters up & I knew no one was going to cover it, not even the city because I was in a difficult spot to reach. You either have to climb over or jump over the ledge. While I was painting, the guy I was with slipped & hit his head on the slope going towards the bottom. He laid down for a few minutes holding his head & claimed he was seeing stars. He said when he hit his head, there was a flash of white light & the pressure rushing to the point of contact.

I think he got a concussion from that slip & fall, but he wouldn’t admit it. His silly self was wearing Yeezy slides in the winter time on a hill with snow all over the ground. Who paints in slides?? I get you want to be comfortable, but think about the environment we traverse in, it’s uneven & unconventional. I wonder where those pictures from that night went, they must be in my camera roll under hundreds of better photographs from that time.

The night I went painting was the 2nd time my girlfriend came out with me for freights. She captured some amazing pictures of me in action & preparing for the journey ahead. She’s a better painter & drawer than me, so I get some creative juices flowing from her. I remember the air being crispy, calm, & cool. Not cold enough to see my breathe, but cold enough to not get sweaty & hot while in action. She was nervous to be there, but once she started drawing, she found it soothing & relaxing to paint something on a freight train that very well could last forever. During one of the times I was on the ladder, she was in between cars painting this amazing moniker! It was a one liner face with curly hair in the shape of flowers with eyes in the center. Truly a work of art that I hope someone sees later in life & cracks a smile. I tried to get a clean picture of it, but the nighttime pictures are a litter harder to come out clean. I took a couple & the best one made it into the post.

The pictures of me carrying the ladder is special, because I don’t normally get action shots of myself. It’s hard when I usually go alone. I have a tripod, but that’s just another thing to carry in my already long list of things filling up my pockets & backpack. I digress, I saw a painting from Bobby (RB) & it said “I wish you were here” & I felt that.

The infamous Payze freight that I got benched on by ELSR. When I saw this freight, I knew I wanted to be right above it. Photobomb if you will. It’s a good tactic to get noticed when you’re not painting something spectacular. I’m a bomber at heart, 1 or 2 cans is all I need to make a statement. It doesn’t have to be pretty, but in the words of Bobby “I try, & that’s as good as it’s gonna get”

I know that guy!

Shoutout to Dang Paint! One of my favorite brands for good coverage & solid color selection. They don’t have millions of colors like some other brands, but they are affordable & reliable.

I call the ugly characters my step children. I still love them, but I don’t claim to have birthed them. It’s a sick joke I say in my head sometimes.

Climb the wobbly ladder, trust yourself not to fall & you’ll be alright.

Could it be? Ichabod the Rail God?

My girlfriend’s photo! She’s an amazing artist! I love her style & creativity. It inspires me to make works of art I’m proud of. Thank you for coming with me on this wild adventures! It means a lot to me to have an amazing friend & lover to watch my back.

This picture is cold! Super cool in my opinion! I love the blur & the setup. I didn’t even realize she was taking a picture, I was just happy to be there.