The Soloist and TeZeus

A mural that TeZeus painted of himself.


Jana and I went out into the night and saw a new Hollywood release called “ The Soloist”. I was in the mood for a dramatic story line but I was not prepared for the emotional spiral I was soon to experience. The movie is a true life account about a young black youth whose giftings on the cello soon admits him to Julliard. Once there he unexplainably experiences severe schizophrenic bouts which eventually causes him to drop out. We find him on the streets of Los Angeles Ca. playing violin as the movie starts. The movie played on , but I was haunted by the memory of my friend TeZeus. I kept flashing on his face throughout the movie. Terrence Parker...TeZeus.....

As we walked back to our car. Jana carried on a conversation with me but I was no longer there in Auburn. I was 13 and showing my drawings at an Art Show in Pasadena behind City Hall. As I sat by my sketches a young man came up to me and started complimenting my scribbles. He said he was an artist and poet. He was 17 years old. His name was Terrence Parker. He was an unusual looking black youth as his skin color was mocha like me but he had freckles around his nose and his short afro was reddish brown. My dad told him about my art teacher, Theodore Lukits and soon Terrence would ride with us to L.A. on Saturdays and take classes along side me. But there was something strange about Terrence . He would never quite look you in the eye when he talked to you and he always seemed to be somewhere else. As we drove he would be gesturing in the air and silently speaking with himself. He could draw like Da Vinci and I am not blowing smoke here. He saw himself as a classist at a time when Abstract Expressionism was Dictator. His dream was to paint murals like Michaelangelo.

He drifted out of our lives for awhile and then one day he walked from Pasadena to where I lived in Monterey Park and he looked different. He was dressed like a cross between Jimmy Hendrix and Shakespearean Dandy. By now he had one of those bulbous afros that glowed bright red and he waved a walking stick as he strolled up to our front door.He “air painted” as he walked up our steps.He was covered with bright colored scarves tied around his legs...he announced to us that he was now TEZEUS. Uomo Universale...Renaissance Man. His goal in life was Art and he wanted to pursue commissions where he could paint large murals.

The challenge for TeZeus was that he was a strange combination of introvert and exhibitionist that often times scared people with his sudden histrionics as he imagined himself, in his mind , in the act of painting. I must tell you that he was a very kind soul who felt that he was born in the wrong era. He never seemed to have a permanent address and he often was carrying his poems and artwork around with him. He walked everywhere and never drove a car...at least as far as I know. He saw himself as Don Quixote and waxed eloquent in his poetry of his devotion to secret loves and the charms and beauty of womankind. He would eventually do large murals around Pasadena for the Urban League and local restaurants but he was pretty much hand to mouth and many patrons took advantage of him. He always painted his portrait into every mural he designed. At least he tried. He was a colorful fixture on Colorado Blvd.

The last time I saw TeZeus he arrived in my doorstep in Northern California while I was working at ILM. He had hitchhiked to Jamaica and back ( don’t ask me how ) and seemed truly exhilarated about his art . He even taught me how to dance to Ska. He is probably the fiercest free spirit I have ever met and his vision for his life was to be a bohemian and follow the muse of his art. I have no idea where he is now and I hope he has an internet connection as I would love to see what he is doing these days. Where are you Tezeus?