A Wild Goose Kind of Guy

The most interesting person I met at the Wild Goose Festival was not connected with the festival. We had taken advantage of some free time to explore Hot Springs. Set up in a vacant lot on the main street was Jim Hickey and his art. Colorful pieces of found wood were displayed on portable tables. They were hand painted with bright colors and fascinating designs. Closer examination revealed writing on each piece. Often the writing started on one side of the object and snaked around to the other. Some were philosophical saying, others romantic musings, and still others hopeful dreams of a better world. But the best part was Jim himself. He took absolute delight in telling us where he found the pieces of wood, lying by a stream, stuck in the mud, or hanging from an overhead branch. His wife would outline the images and Jim would carve the words and paint the colors. And he could recite all the things he had written, without looking at the words. He knew them and he loves them. Jim Hickey loves sharing is view of the world and his art with you, whether or not you buy it!
I realized that though Jim was not a part of wild Goose, in his own way he embodied the best of Wild Goose. He intrinsically knows that the world is a good place, a place where beauty and joy lie hidden in the mud or lying on the bank. And he takes immeasurable joy in sharing what he has found. Each of us came to Wild Goose looking for ways to celebrate the Spirit that we know in our own ways. We know that despite the pain and dirt and confusion of it all that we live in a world of beauty and joy. We came together to share the art of the Goose herself expressed in the wildly diverse people she has gathered together.
That’s one of the things I want to keep alive from my Wild Goose experience: not only celebrating the sheer joy that life is supposed to be, but also the joy in sharing that realization. In a society that seems to revel in the garbage and mire of life, it is important good news that despite all evidence to the contrary, we really do live in a world of beauty and joy. Like Jim, I think that is part of why I make art: to keep creating evidence of beauty and joy and hope.
And that is what I dream for the Urban Abbey: that it can be a place where we share with each other the delight of lining in a world of beauty and joy. And that those who have lost their vision for anything but the wounds and anger and degradation of the world can glimpse from us the beauty and joy that can be created from a simple twig rescued from the mud. Thank you, Jim Hickey, for your art, your joy, and delight in sharing it!