From the Mailbag
INCREDIBLE NEWS!
Denny Pinkham, the artist behind the SAY WHAT man, is doing two more paintings this week . . .
with a CHRISTMAS THEME!
Of course, we’ll have to wait to see if the bartender is black and petite or large and ebony, but that sort of anticipation is exactly what Christmas is all about.
Denny’s Etsy Store
Denny’s Web site
And by the way, he loved the Say What cat nip toy, and refused any compensation, saying the photo of the toy was payment enough.
November 24, 2009 at 6:51 pm
That is awesome!
November 24, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Say WHAT?
November 24, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Say what again… Say what again… I dare you… I double dare you motherfucker… Say what one more god damn time…
http://www.realmofdarkness.net/sounds/samuel/samuel-soundboard-1.htm
November 24, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
November 24, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Rock on, Denny! Say what dude is a Regretsy legend now. I can’t wait to see what comes next
November 24, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Praise God!! Denny is not only a great artist – he’s a good sport.
November 24, 2009 at 7:14 pm
What a good sport!
I love the Isaac Hayes one (especially since the voice that comes from the Say What?? guy is Chef from South Park in my mind)
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22328740
November 24, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
November 24, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Regardless of the material I think it speaks volumes of someones character for them to be able to poke fun at themselves.
November 24, 2009 at 7:25 pm
#8 Craiggers : Think you got that reversed…
November 24, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Getting a book deal is great, but for me this would be just as good (ok maybe not AS good, but close) because the seller being featured understand what your site is about and can laugh along with everyone else.
November 24, 2009 at 7:30 pm
I can’t wait to see if the bartender is black or ebony, even if she’s of average size.
November 24, 2009 at 7:35 pm
These are the kinds of stories and updates I love to see on Regretsy! Nothing says more about someone’s character to me than when they take the abuse… I mean constructive criticism, and roll with it in a fun way! Kudos to Denny and his “Say What” legend!
November 24, 2009 at 7:39 pm
nah it’s definitely abuse.
November 24, 2009 at 7:39 pm
What a great guy! I can’t wait to see these paintings.
Say what?
November 24, 2009 at 7:57 pm
As an advocate of the Say What Aesthetic, I predict that his next paintings won’t last a day on etsy… And as an advocate for Denny, I suggest you double your prices…
November 24, 2009 at 7:59 pm
I can’t decide which I would rather have for a bartender….ebony or black! I guess it doesn’t matter, as long as I am getting drunk on a beach.
November 24, 2009 at 8:09 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDNmLPATW0s
November 24, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Cool seller.
November 24, 2009 at 9:19 pm
I love this guy! I really want to get a Say What? painting for my new apartment.
November 24, 2009 at 9:39 pm
I HOPE SHES FAT BECAUSE IM FAT TOO AND I LOVE FAT PEOPLE AND WOULD LOVE TO SEE MORE FAT LOVE ON REGREEETSSSYYYY!!!!
Yes, it needed all caps. And I didn’t use the caps lock key, I held shift down the whole time.
November 24, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Denny’s the coolest! And Happy (early) Thanksgiving fellow Regretsies!
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6356344&page=4
November 24, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Say what? I love you Denny!
November 25, 2009 at 12:19 am
@ #22 : You’re my hero!
November 25, 2009 at 2:50 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
November 25, 2009 at 6:30 am
Oh Denny, why limit yourself? Why can’t we have multiple bartenders?
November 25, 2009 at 6:34 am
so cool to hear that he was down with all that. you have to figure that someone who made a painting like his in the first place either has a good sense of humor or is a total d-bag. good things to know.
November 25, 2009 at 7:21 am
Haha this guy is hilarious.
November 25, 2009 at 7:25 am
Praise be to Jesus! I agree with the marketability of this “art”, and woe be to the rest of us too slow to snap up his limited-edition offerings. May I suggest that someone pair with him to market a greeting card selection, with the prints featured in the front? They would be equally appropriate for any occasion or season, I dare say.
November 25, 2009 at 7:55 am
Am I the only one dying for Denny to make prints of his originals? I really want one of his pieces for $10, not for $125. Here, I want this one b/c I don’t know wtf is going on, but I like it:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_1&listing_id=25068977
November 25, 2009 at 8:00 am
And I want a “Say What? Guy” t-shirt. Someone make one.
November 25, 2009 at 8:23 am
Denny’s created a beloved pop icon with multiple marketing possibilities:
Christmas: Sleigh What?
Animal Shelter: Stray Mutt?
Ancient Egyptian exhibit: Say Tut?
November 25, 2009 at 8:28 am
Rock on Denny, rock on…
What about a T-shirt (or painting!) of the Say What Guy looking at a large ebony cat playing with a Say What Guy cat toy? He would of course be saying “Say What?”
November 25, 2009 at 8:33 am
knowing that he seems pretty cool with all of this, I was considering printing up a say what t-shirt…I just might have to give it a go.
November 25, 2009 at 8:54 am
#16 martini – he’s already upped some of his prices! way to go Denny!! get it while the gettin’s good!
November 25, 2009 at 9:12 am
Oh, dear…..
This is awful. Just awful. Those of you who objected to- and were indignant- about the origin painting’s ‘racist’ and sexist content, please stand up. Suddenly, he’s a ‘sport’ for ‘standing up’ to the Regretsy attack? Sorry, this is one person for whom the regretsy fun bubble just burst. We either stay remote from the things we maul, or we don’t maul.
And the facility to place negative comments on postings to make them disappear, just put the lid on it for me…
November 25, 2009 at 9:21 am
Yesterday, the internet and life collided when a neighbour asked me if I’d ‘heard of this site call Regretsy’; funny enough, I said, I have heard of it. Apparently, a decently-known folk artist from our state had been featured — guess who? Can’t say I’m terribly keen on his work, but if it gets media attention and funding to state artists there’s a silver lining.
November 25, 2009 at 9:43 am
@ #37, We’re not remote from the people we feature here. When we go to their stores and buy their work, we’re involving them. The fun doesn’t stop for me when the artist plays along. That’s when it starts.
As far as rating comments, it’s just a test. If it improves this part of the site, great. If not, we’ll dump it. But let’s not lose our shit over it. If we can judge other people’s self-expression, we should be able to judge our own.
November 25, 2009 at 10:35 am
okay, he may be a “good sport”, and i love the whole “say what!” joke, but i still consider the original painting racist, and i’m wondering with paul dodo where all the people are who thought so, too.
if he’s such a good sport, maybe he will explain what he was trying to depict other than a black man being racist? and his description showed that he found this racism normal. that is a pretty fucked-up revert-and-back-again-racism. i’d say.
November 25, 2009 at 11:25 am
@ #40, I don’t think any of these artists should have to explain themselves to us.
November 25, 2009 at 11:46 am
you are certainly right there HK. nobody would want more annoying descriptions.
i probably wouldn’t want to hear/read more I AM NOT A RACIST stuff, either.
November 25, 2009 at 11:48 am
Well said, Helen!
November 25, 2009 at 11:58 am
I think we have to decide what we’re after here. Are we commenting, observing and finding humor in these things? Or are we out to “correct” them?
Personally, I HATE it when people react to posts with “I’m turning them in” or “I just complained”, because I don’t want this stuff to change. The more absurd, wrong, upsetting, grotesque these things are, the more I love them.
Besides, if everyone had taste, we wouldn’t have anything to talk about.
November 25, 2009 at 1:43 pm
If Denny sold notecards of his SAY WHAT stuff I would be all over it.
November 25, 2009 at 1:57 pm
@#40
Look, Denny is a proclaimed Southerner in a Southern state. I don’t see his art as racist, I see it as trying to discuss racism. A lot of white people are willing to bash other white people for perceived racism while not addressing the continued conflict. He goes out of his way to point it out and try and overcome it. Acting like the only way white people can avoid being racist is to never discuss it unless they are bashing other whites does nothing.
November 25, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I agree with #46, why is it that any observation of racism immediately labels the artist as racist? I have no idea what the intent of the painting was, but I see it as showing that racism comes from all people, not just white people, and this is something we need to be aware of. Or perhaps, race had nothing to do with it and the Say What guy dropping his jaw over the woman’s dress or perhaps was dumbfounded by her gorgeous proportions!
November 25, 2009 at 6:54 pm
I just can’t help but think that this guy is faux folk art.
November 26, 2009 at 1:52 am
i’m not “bashing” him, i’m saying that i find his picture racist. this is not a “discussion” of black racism (of which i’m well aware), this is, and i repeat myself, a white guy depicting a black guy being racist. his description said something like “a black girl and a white boy making out – it’s enough to make a brother wonder “what’s going on”.”
what is it exactly that makes any “brother” (as he is not a particular person, just ” a brother”) wonder about a mixed…
November 26, 2009 at 1:55 am
…and the white guy is not wondering about anything? so, is the message “whites are not racist anymore, it’s the blacks”? and that comes from a white guy?
that’s a nice standard argument for anyone who knows he is doing wrong: the others do it, too, or they are worse.
and this behaviour means “discussing” something?
November 26, 2009 at 1:56 am
# 48 is missing the word “relationship” in the end.
November 26, 2009 at 2:46 am
I think the “What’s going on” refers to the Marvin Gaye song.
So, he’s not such a good painter, but he’s a good sport whose work inspires civilized discussions of racism.
We are all civil here, right? This ain’t gonna get all YouTube, I hope.
November 26, 2009 at 10:36 am
didn’t know marvin gaye was racist.
scnr
“his work inspires civilized discussions of racism”
i doubt that. here, it may. among other southerner drunkards, maybe not so much. (“you see? i tell you! it’s the blacks that are the racists!” etc. etc.)
what’s so wrong about the painting is at least ignorance. and ignorance never helps. but, hey, i didn’t mean to spoil the fun.
November 26, 2009 at 10:37 am
and, #46 frostypumpkin, racism comes from all kinds of people, but let’s not forget that it was white racism that had the biggest and worst effects.
ok, ok, i’ll stop now…
November 27, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Yeeeaaaaah, I like the painter being a good sport, but he could just be oblivious too. The painting itself still makes me more than squeamish, & I’m disheartened by how happy w/it the crowd here seems to be now. Because someone laughs with you doesn’t mean they’re not a racist; it doesn’t mean they’re not promoting racism; it doesn’t mean they’re suddenly making an enlightened critique of racism instead of just participating in it. Hate to poop in people’s sweet potatoes…
November 27, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Comma, I often like something because of how completely wrong and terrible it is.
For example, I have an oil on velvet of Phil Spector in my bedroom. I don’t particularly like oil on velvet, I’m not a Phil Spector apologist and I don’t believe in shooting actresses in the face. I just love how wrong it is.
So liking the Say What guy doesn’t necessarily mean any sort of alignment with the artist’s perspective (and frankly, I still don’t know what it is).
November 27, 2009 at 6:39 pm
holy crap. I just bought the 2nd say what painting. I am so pumped.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=35434036
November 27, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Anyone see “Rasta Claus” yet?
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=35353171
November 28, 2009 at 3:18 am
@ HK: it is a two-sided thing. i found the painting very funny, and as i said, i find the frequent use of the “say what”guy hilarious, because it points out the pointlessness of the painting.
nevertheless, i personally feel the need to distance myself from the “artist” because his “message” that whites and blacks are so much alike makes me shudder the same way as the “I AM NOT A RACIST” woman. there’s no need in pointing stuff like that out. it’s the same as if you would say “SAY…
November 28, 2009 at 3:21 am
…WHAT!” everytime a mixed couple shows up.
i so wish we get beyond that point one day.
November 28, 2009 at 9:37 am
58, well said! I dated a wonderful person of a race other than mine and every time we were in public we got so many unfriendly stares from a wide variety of people. And that was in the Pacific Northwest, not even in the South. It was very hurtful to both of us, until it got so old that we just ignored it.
November 29, 2009 at 6:34 am
maybe someone could show denny how to use cafe press. after a few drinks one night, i put together a shirt using his “say what” guy. then i sobered up and realized that would be (hypothetically) profiting on denny’s art, which is stealing, so i took the shop down. (i have no defense- i was bored and it seemed funny at the time). but if he himself wanted to sell merch, he could do so very easily through cafe press. and just like with etsy, people would either buy it or not for their own…
November 29, 2009 at 6:37 am
btw, i’m not taking any sort of stance on his work (though i tend to agree with helen), just making a suggestion that could possibly benefit the artist (or not), depending on whether or not anyone is interested in buying his stuff.
December 2, 2009 at 10:05 am
All I can say is “Thank God.”