Vandalism can be a real kick in the paints. A pain in the arts.
Sonny Gomez used to be the guy who did the damage, as a graffiti artist who would emblazon walls that did not belong to him. But he eventually learned the importance of respecting other peoples' property and became the kind of graffiti artist who got permission to do his work.
He even became the teacher, showing the legitimate path to other youth with talent, spray cans and a desire to whip new colours onto publicly viewable walls.
Perhaps it was a lingering spark of karma or just the mathematical odds coming around, but it was Gomez who got hit with vandalism after an event this past week.
Gomez is an artist who uses many disciplines.
He still adorns large outdoor walls but he also paints on canvas.
He brought a set of his paintings to a music event last week at a local bar.
Artists were welcome to participate with the dancing and tunes.
Some of his paintings were sold to patrons at the event, and two of those pieces were to remain with him until the buyers could come for pickup.
When the night was over, he took those two paintings, and all his unsold ones, and had them leaning against an exterior wall as he readied them for the drive back to his house.
Some of the event's patrons milled about outside at the same time.
Gomez and his companions were chatting with some when a young woman associated with the visiting strangers walked up to a stack of paintings leaning upright.
"She didn't talk to us first, she didn't say anything, she just walked up and booted them with a huge kick. Her foot went right through three of the paintings and it was so hard that her knee also went through the first canvas," said Gomez.
"Then she laughed. What? I was stunned. I was just staring for a second, trying to comprehend what I'd just seen."
She also didn't flee the scene.
Her identity was soon made clear by the people around and Gomez told her she had just destroyed about $600 worth of art.
"It was kind of a blow. I'm here trying to get my ball rolling as an artist, someone already owns two of the ones she just kicked, so it was a major setback," Gomez said.
"Then she came at me with 'oh, how do I know that's really what they're worth? What if you're just trying to scam me? And I was like, look, two people just bought them. That's the price. It's what they paid. Evidence doesn't get much better than that, and besides, ask around, my prices are set really low because right now I'm just trying to get my name out there in a new town. Now I can't give my customers what they just paid for."
Gomez gave her the opportunity to pay the amount owed in installments.
He did not disclose her identity for public knowledge "because she is young, she made a mistake, I don't want to embarrass her," but said he would be taking the matter to court if full recompense was not agreed to.
The kicker of the paintings was contemplating her options but had been in touch with Gomez in the days following the incident.
She has learned the hard way that it isn't only love that can break your art.
