Don and Beauford 3
“…all textures enlivened the place and gave it an air of continual mardi-gras. This flare for brilliance is served up in his paintings.
There was one winter when for several months Beauford hobbled about a town with a cane. He was more comfortable out of the house but he couldn’t explain why. His answer came near the first of spring when the plumbers who were investigating the pipes announced their discovery of a thick layer of ice spreading under his floor. The pipes had leaked that December. This had been his solitary companion all these winter months.
A few days after this the house next door was torn down and Beauford’s began to lean dangerously. He lived on a slant for days. Realizing this was the end of No. 10, he packed up and moved to a loft on Greene Street.
None of these adversities ever seem to daunt the persistence of him as an artist for he paints on while he sings and his pictures become songs.
Last month he had his first one-man show uptown and it was an artistic success although he still owns most of the pictures shown. Now his paintings can be seen in the windows of the Arts Cafeteria on East Eighth Street. You can sometimes see Beauford there too having his coffee. If you were ever to meet him you would feel his radiant optimism at once and then you would know why I call him the Primed Minister of Downing Street.”
