I was lucky enough to spend a few hours with my old friend Wayne at his farm house recently. Wayne lives out in the corn fields, away from the bustle of Lawrence, Kansas. Sitting on his front porch watching the tractors roll by felt like being in a different world. Having the opportunity visit the work space of an artist who’s been creating for longer than I have been alive is awe inspiring. When I decided to hit the road, storing all my art wasn’t an east thing for me to do. I’ve decided to make my own art and share it with you all on this vast internet instead, at least for the time being. 
Wayne being so prolific with his artistic work and maybe just a bit of a packrat really make for a photographer’s dream. Wayne’s studio is packed to the gills with decades of his own work and the works of many others.
Wayne seems to know the exact story of each of the thousands of items in his studios, and it’s very humbling to see the sheer amount of creativity that he surrounds himself with. Like the Jesus piece below, an intellectual collaboration with the great Roger Shimomura, who after in depth discussions on the subject of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War Two granted Wayne ‘a license of irony’ to create the piece. Wayne is a renaissance man, I truly appreciate and deeply identify with idea of living your life as an artist and letting that art grow and change with you.
Wayne’s art spans the spectrum from bitingly political to beautiful to simply grotesque. He seems to have the rare ability to create a physical facsimile of whatever his mind is trying to express.
Going back to Lawrence and seeing Wayne’s pieces sprinkled through the alleyways and around town is always one of my favorite parts of visiting. I’m so lucky to have a friend and mentor like Wayne, he’s one of many who have taught me to live my art and take no shit.
Wayne’s newest works are paintings made using a sledgehammer, the first of which (I think) was shown at my gallery a few years ago. He will be showing at The Cider Gallery in Lawrence, ks opening on the last Friday of this month.
Please remember to reach out! I would love to hear from you. If there’s a spot you think I should check out, you’d like to spend an afternoon shooting photos or just want to chat, post a comment here or send me a message on Facebook. Oh, and please follow me on Twitter and Instagram @roadlyfe to stay in the loop! You can also email me at adam@roadlyfe.com.
All words and images © Adam Smith 2015.
Nice work!!! Your writing is beautiful and amazing. Thanks.
Thank you, Bekah!
Mad props to you! Keep living the dream!
Thanks, Troy! It’s everything that I’d hoped for and more.
Such a nice piece. Pleasure to read and see.
Thanks, Mark. Wayne is a Kansas treasure.
Howdy! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!|
Thank you! This life is turning out to be my dream come true.
Generally I do not read post on blogs, however I would like to say that this write-up very pressured me to take a look at and do it! Your writing taste has been surprised me. Thank you, quite nice post.|
Thank you! Learning to write is something I never knew I had an interest in. I really enjoy trying figuring out how to make sense of my thoughts. Please check back for more travel updates!