Andrew (Andy) Pagana

People die. It’s a fact of life. Death, that is. And sometimes, when people die, if they are an artist of one sort or another, they leave behind a lot of unfinished work. Such is the case of my artist friend, Pablo.

He was a very prolific artist, creating more works that can probably ever be counted. He made a decent living at it so he would, it seems, never stop creating. I always admired this about him. That, and all the chicks he managed to score. He was pretty good at that too (for being an old bald guy who loved to wear Russian sailor shirts).

To get back to the point. When he went to dwell with the morning stars, he left behind a lot of unfinished work. And it has been sometimes customary for one artist, who is an admirer or friend of the deceased one, to complete the unfinished pieces. Filmmaker Steven Spielberg finishing Stanley Kubrik’s ‘A.I’. is the one example I can think of at the moment. There are more but I am too tired to go on about it.  If you’re really interested, do some research, you’ll find plenty of examples.

So that leaves me to this… My friend Pablo left a plethora of unfinished drawings to me, many with notes on how to finish them. In some case, there was no note, but, knowing him as well as I do, I can pretty much fill in the blanks. It’s like when you’re so really close to someone you can finish their sandwiches, I mean sentences, before they do. That is the case with me and Pablo. I ate all his sandwiches for him.

Anyway, I completed the first of his unfinished drawings last night. Hopefully, you can’t tell where he started and I ended. I will however, in the cases that Pablo has signed his name, sign my name next to it. That is also in keeping with his wishes. (He didn’t state if I should be first or second, so, because he originated the work, I have afforded him the respect of having his name before mine.) He often told me he “wanted to collaborate on some work” but we never did get the chance. I suppose this will be it. Also, for now, I think I will keep the changes to myself and not divulge what is his and what is his by my hand. That may come later. I will make an exception for this one piece and mention that Pablo had long spoke about putting the bubbles floating from the pipe but never had the courage to do it. Well, Pablo, my friend, I just gave you the courage. Cheers!