I grew up in several places. My parents were travelers so I call a lot of places my home. One of those homes is Niantic CT, where I spent my defining teenage years. I hated that town. It was a dreadfully dull town for a teenager with an over active imagination and a yearning to get in trouble. I rebelled some in high school and dropped out for a spell mostly to smoke a little pot and party in the woods with my other disillusioned friends. There was a bunch of us 'back in the day' in Niantic CT, I think for a minute we called ourselves the "strip kids", but I'm not sure how original that nickname was, or where it came from. We skated in isolated parking lots. Instead of going to 8AM Biology class we went to Friendlies and packed ourselves into booths sharing one pot of coffee and packs and packs of cigarettes. We threw terrible parties in the woods and threw cans of beans into the fire. We stayed up all night in graveyards and beaches. We made the most out of our depressing age, and trying circumstances. Several weeks ago an old friend of mine from this era of my life passed away. Bobby Vonins was always crazy! He was fun and exciting and completely adorable! I think everyone had a funny crush on Bobby. You couldn't help but be charmed by his gross sense of humor and mischievous ways. We were the same age, but he was way ahead of my time when I first moved to Niantic. We were 12 then, and I was scared of everything. I had lived in Germany before moving to the States and had gone to German schools and such, so I was completely weird in Niantic and felt it. I remember taking a walk to the beach when I saw this boy my age walking towards me. He had bleached tips and a brown leather jacket and I was intimidated by his coolness. I was not cool at all. I tried to avert my eyes and look otherwise engaged but as he passed he made sure that I payed him the proper attention and said in his deep, deep voice "HELLO THERE!". My response was timid I'm sure, but there was something in his voice that eased my fears right away, and I instantly felt like a tool for being intimidated by him.
Bobby and I became friends a few years later, he was kind of famous amongst the "strip kids" and I, like everyone that spent a significant amount of time with him, learned to love him. I haven't seen Bobby since I moved out of Niantic some 12 years ago and I feel like I've had several life times since those days. I was still extremly saddened when I found out about Bobby's passing. I realize that in a lot of ways he has come to symbolize those teenage years of my life. Those years are meant for important discoveries about oneself and collecting a strange bravado that rarely survives the roaring twenties. Bobby Vonins, rest in peace , I will never forget you.
Here are the stages of my painting. I painted him by the beach with members of his family behind him.
