S. Clay Wilson Special Needs Trust » Uncategorized

NEW DRAWING BY S CLAY WILSON INCLUDED IN MONUMENTAL SHOW

Lorraine Chamberlain — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 19:50:21 +0000

La Luz de Jesus celebrates 25 years in two parts, each with its own opening night. Wilson’s piece is being shown in Part 1, opening Oct.7-8 from 8-11pm, and runs for a month. (Part 11 opens Nov 4-5)

The accompanying book, “La Luz de Jesus 25: The Little Gallery That Could” features images of all the 260 artists’ work from both shows.

The Gallery is located at 4633 Hollywood Blvd, LA, CA 90027. Director Matt Kennedy’s number is 323-666-7667, or for information, email info@laluzdejesus.com.

Wilson’s piece is one of the last before he stopped drawing.

La Luz de Jesus became famous as much for its splashy, raucous monthly opening parties as for the often outrageous and confrontational art on its walls. Many artists who are successful today credit Billy Shire with launching their careers, and he is widely acknowledged as a seminal figure in contemporary art movements such as Lowbrow and Pop Surrealism.

Captain Bobblesnout Has Friction with His Crew Members

Benefit for S Clay Wilson, Aug 21, 2011

Lorraine Chamberlain — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 00:14:32 +0000

This is a poetry reading to benefit Wilson’s Trust. It’s being held in Berkeley on Aug. 21. at the Art House Gallery and Cultural Center 2905 Shattuck Ave Berkeley CA (510) 472-3170 7-10pm Be there or be square!

Wilson Trust Benefit

A National Holiday…..

Lorraine Chamberlain — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 19:21:46 +0000

Wilson turns 70 on July 25, 2011! I am hoping to figure out how to celebrate this event, and will let you know soon.

We lost our caregiver, Joey, 3 weeks ago. He quit to move to LA, and we miss him terribly. Our new caregiver, Aaron, starts on Monday, June 20th. It will take a while to get used to someone new, but he is a lovely guy with lots of experience, so I have high hopes. It’s been a long three weeks taking care of him by myself!

I took Wilson to see the Pulp Fashion show at the Palace of the Legion of Honor last week, which was fantastic. (and yes…he liked it). We also went to “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” in 3D by Herzog. A truly incredible movie. We tried to go for a walk along the beach the other day, but the Drive was closed due to sand drifts! It’s been terribly windy in SF the past couple of weeks. Apparently, you get sand blasted if you try to walk there when this weather event is going on. We had to stroll elsewhere, inland.

Please write something to Wilson, and/or send a donation to the Trust for his birthday. I promise to read everything to him on his Birthday Morning as I did last year. (He loved it, and felt like it was a party as I read them to him.) I’ll post some new photos on here from this Big Holiday.

Thank you all!

Lorraine

WonderCon 2011

Lorraine Chamberlain — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 21:46:34 +0000

Wilson and I got a table in Artist’s Alley again this year. He came with me for about 3 hours on Saturday, and loved all the attention. He actually enjoyed himself, and was smiling most of the afternoon before he became a little overwhelmed. I had Joey take him home then, and stayed for another couple of hours. I’d like to thank everyone for their generous donations to the Trust, and all the good-spirited conversations. We hope to return next year. All the best, Lorraine

Wilson enjoying himself at WonderCon 2011

Wilson & Lorraine Chamberlain at WonderCon 2011

Typical mugging by Wilson

Wilson at Last Gasp show

Drawings in Last Gasp show at 111 Minna. Top by Spain, 3 small ones by S Clay Wilson

February 2011 Update

Lorraine Chamberlain — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 21:21:54 +0000

S Clay has been home now for 15 months. Last Fall, he got a headache, which alarmed me enough to take him to Urgent Care at UCSF. They did a new CT Scan and told us they thought he was “profoundly worse”. We spent another 10 hours in the ER while they did a spinal tap and more tests, to see if he had an infection in his brain. These tests came back negative at 3:30am, and we drove home in the quiet to find a parking place right in front of the house. Oh joy! But the negative diagnosis from the Scan wasn’t really news to me, as during the Summer I noticed he spent less and less time drawing, and they were becoming uncharacteristically simple. He is now no longer able to draw, and has slowly become more and more confused with the little things in life. It is hard for him to communicate much of the time, as his aphasia has increased, and he has great difficulty expressing himself. I still have to “put words in his mouth” when he attempts to ask a question. He is rarely able to find the words. I cannot imagine the frustration he must be feeling on a regular basis. I try to keep him cheery and engaged as much as I can in what has become a rather isolated life for both of us.

I wish to thank everyone who has sent donations to his Trust, and to those who have left comments and sent emails to us. I read everything to him, which is something he really does enjoy.

three black & white drawings

Lorraine Chamberlain — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:58:49 +0000

We never did find the owner(s) of the originals of these three drawings. I had hoped to, as the LA Musuem of Contemporary Art wanted to include them in a huge exhibition of fine art in 2011. Alas, their location remains a mystery, and the show has come and gone. Thanks to all who tried to help find them.

Toxic Coils from the Iris...Piercing Screams from the Street - 1979

No Title - 1981

Captain Rosey Namrooth and her Crew attempt to prevent the Checkered Demon from Rescuing Star Eyed Stella and her Witch Sister through a Hole in the Hull. - 1980

Photos

Lorraine Chamberlain — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:58:14 +0000

Our wedding day, August 10, 2010 S Clay Wilson & Lorraine Chamberlain

Wilson & Lorraine at WonderCon 2010

The Thinker

Paul Mavrides, Wilson, R Crumb & Spain at the hospital, Summer 2009

S CLAY WILSON…The night that changed his life….

Lorraine Chamberlain — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:05:41 +0000

S Clay Wilson was trying to get home from a friend’s house November 1, 2008, the night his life changed forever. We will never be certain if he fell or was attacked, since he has no memory of it. The numerous injuries on his face and head made him look like he was beat up. Two good samaritans found him unconscious between parked cars, face down in the rain, and called an ambulance. (I have tried to find them in order to express my gratitude for saving his life, but have had no success.) He’d suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury, bleeding in three hemispheres of his brain. He spent three weeks in a coma, and we had no idea how severely impaired he was for many months. Once he began to speak again we realized he hadn’t just “awakened” to resume life as it had been before.

We’d been flirting since we met in 1968. I have been living with him since June 2000, visited him every day for the year he was in the hospital, and brought him home November 10, 2009. Taking care of him 24 hours a day is a daunting task, but one I am devoted to. He cannot go out on his own or he would get lost immediately, nor can he be left alone in the house. He cannot problem-solve, nor do anything for himself. Yet somehow he is aware of this loss of freedom, and some days I can tell it saddens him.

The days he spent drawing were his happiest, but after the first year at home, he stopped doing it. He did about 15 drawings the first summer he was home, but by the next Christmas he would no longer go in his studio. Yet he thinks about drawing all the time, and frequently brings piles of his art supplies onto the bed. I continue to hope this means one day he will resume drawing. He loves movies, so we haunt the libraries, renting up to 20 at a time. We exercise every day, take walks, and friends sometimes take him to lunch, museums, or art shows.

He is very quiet now after being a motor mouth all his life. But he is not a blank slate. His short term memory is shot, and with increasing aphasia, often has trouble expressing himself. (I frequently “put words in his mouth” to help him, and he’s usually able to tell me if I got it wrong.) He is more sensitive now, and needs reassurance every day. He’s always asking if I still love him, and reaches for my hand when we’re walking or watching a movie.

I have put together a Special Needs Trust for him since he is no longer capable of earning a living. He will need 24 hour care from now on since the little details of daily life are a mystery to him now, and he is easily confused. This gifted artist worked as hard as he partied and was a playful, brilliant person. Although he is still capable of worrying about the future, he does not fully understand what has happened to alter it. He is now in need of help. This is a tragic turn of events for a proud man.

The Trust is set up so it can only be spent on him. We pool our meager resources for basic expenses. I hope people will find a way to donate what they can to give him a better quality of life and assist in his ongoing care.

Donations can be made here by clicking on the yellow PayPal button.

Or mail to PO Box 14854 San Francisco CA 94114

Look for his Facebook page at S Clay Wilson.

Thank you!

Lorraine Chamberlain