Reply ID: 4hr
Subject: Art Review

Sponsor this prison artist: Ronald D. Cole
by Nate A. Lindell
February 1, 2015

Here in prison, you'll only find broken, worthless people who will, at best, drain you of any sympathy you have quicker than a vampire'd exsanguinate an anemic person.

That's the popular myth supported by shows like Lockup and Lockdown. That, or the myth that we're irrepressible monsters that simply need to be exterminated.

Thankfully, there are guys like Ronald D. Cole (#17304-045) who contribute to the shattering of both myths. Check out his accompanying art and tell me why he's not admired by more people than myself and a few other prisoners! Mr. Cole is so enamored with abstraction that I could interview him. His answers consisted of "hoib" and "bleeb." So, let me simply describe him and tell you what I know.

He looks like the squarest, most law-abiding person I've ever met. About 5'6", sandy brown hair, pink complexion, and weighs about 180 lbs (not fat but stout). He looked so lame I took an immediate liking to him, in part because he was the perfect mule for toting food and bottles of coffee put of the chow hall while I (must more eye-catching) :) acted as the "distractor" to searching guards looking for food smuggles.

We both love coffee and must have looked ridiculous to staff, amped up on it, playing bocci ball (my version where you gotta bounce the balls off at least three walls for it to count and sometimes hit bystanders "on accident) while I yelled such profanities that I'd get Cole a decent Mormon, to calmly roll his ball and then exclaim, "Fuck you!"

Usually he'd win.

Anyway, back to the art. It's f-ing cool, huh?

Cole is an extreme introvert, to his own dismay. He admired me for being more personable, but it's probably just the Prozac that makes me so. He's studied art more throughly than I've studied law or psychology, and he could teach a college class on the history and development of abstract art.

Years ago, he got in a car wreck that mushed in much of the right side of his skull, putting him in a coma that, when he came to, left his brain unable to properly work his body. But he recovered, no doubt, with some brain damage, which might explain his introversion and love of abstract art.

Kandinsky is his current favorite artist.

I practically bullied Cole into putting his art on display on some prison pen-pal/social sites, but now that i'm not out there to make him follow through, he may have gave up on that. He's not confident in his social skills. Thinks he's boring.

As a devout a Mormon as he is, he'd very likely sell his soul for a cheese Danish and it was troubling to me to see him rack up $100 in debts for Nutty Bars and other snack items. But it's better than guys who rack up hundreds of dollars in debts for dope.

Other than coffee, both Cole and I were and are stone sober, drug and alcohol free.

I hope you enjoy his art. Tell others about it and drop Cole a note. Let him know what you think about it. You can easily do so using jmail.cc without even leaving your computer. Get the word out!

Thanks and enjoy,
Nate A. Lindell

P.S. Anyone planning on writing to Mr. Cole, his address is:

Ronald D. Cole #17304-045
Coleman 2 USP
P.O. Box 1034
Coleman, FL
33521-1034