#bringintheclowns

[lumber]

👀🤡👀 Oh look! It's a #Risograph-ed #Clown! #JeauxJanovsky #JeauxJanovskyArt #JeauxJ #ProcreateArt #Procreate #Clowns #BringInTheClowns (at Culver City, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpnIu-OLqDt/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[angela-yuriko-smith]

We found something to entertain us as we resist the urge to check election stats again. And again. And again. .🤡 #bringintheclowns #elections #obsessed (at Independence, Missouri) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHO7qU7ACIG/?igshid=bp59sjmxby28

[thebabypixie]

Bring in the Grey's .....don't bother they're here. #clown #clownmakeup #bringintheclowns #greyaliens #greys #ufo #ufosightings #earth #climatechange #acrylicpainting #whatsayyou #area51 # (at Carri Sue Fine Art and Illustration) https://www.instagram.com/p/B76aM_VHkrS/?igshid=k0edo7f7bvpy

[spicytomatogalette1967]

The Velvet Clown Lounge

Being a person is super weird. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I kind of fail at it daily. I take shit way too personally. Just ask my husband. I never feel completely authentic. Remember the giant space cockroach hiding in the Vincent D’Onofrio suit in “Men In Black”? I don’t know what I am inside the flesh glove I’m wearing, but I often suspect it’s something more than human. It’s okay. It is what it is.

Loners. I was one growing up. I’d like to be more of one now, but honestly, people are groovy. I really like sharing experiences with them. The only reason I was a loner as a kid was because I was bullied and extremely sensitive. It felt catastrophic and withdrawing seemed like the safest thing to do. This subject will come up again, but for now my statement is it’s hard being one of three black children in an entire grade in 1973. Hatred is hard to absorb with armor plating, let alone before you’re old enough to have grown it.

I was in the 4th grade. My favorite hang-out was the library. My favorite hang-out any time was the library. My mother would often drop me off at the public library shortly after it opened on Saturdays and pick me up when it closed. I was quite happy to spend the entire day at the far end of a stack, sitting on the lurid yellow carpet with my face buried in a book. I would always have a tall, tottering pile next to me to take home. Libraries were magical portals to other universes, and I loved them. I found great comfort in the fact that there were so many books, it would take years to read them all. It made me feel like I had something to look forward to.            

One day, I was in the school library. I clearly remember walking around the small room, examining the book spines and pulling out the ones that caught my interest. I went outside and somehow tripped, twisting my ankle quite badly. It was the worst pain I had ever felt. My foot swelled up and got hot. I needed to go home. So I was taken to the principal’s office to wait for my ride.           

The principal of my school was a small, lean man, probably in his early forties. He had thin brown hair, very pale skin and was quite friendly. Smiling a lot was one of his prominent features. Another was his enthusiastic love of clowns. I really can’t say if he actually had a strong affection for them, or if it had something to do with being the shepherd of many children. All I know is that his office was a shrine to them. Every available surface contained some sort of clown imagery. There were dolls, statuettes, plaques and pictures. Sad ones, happy ones, ones holding balloons, even one accompanied by a dog wearing a clown face. But the one that captured my attention that afternoon was a large painting on the wall behind his desk that appeared to be made out of velvet. It was a well-known portrait in the 1970’s: squashed brown hat with a single flower sprouting from the side, exaggerated white painted mouth, bulbous red nose, hobo-ish clothing and a heartbreakingly melancholy expression. 

As I sat in a chair in front of the principal’s desk, I stared at that painting for what seemed like hours while my ankle felt like it was being twisted into a knot from the inside. Eventually, my mother showed up and took me home. Eventually, my ankle healed. I never found clowns disturbing. If anything, they seemed unbearably sad to me. I think I could tell they were just painted on the outside. Who knew what they were on the inside. Giant space cockroach? Or maybe a hurt little black girl.

[dysonstarr]

Disco Clown on a Hog #clowns #clown #thecircusisintown #bringintheclowns #springfieldmo https://www.instagram.com/p/BrLgfYdh-H3/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1unxvfjlghv5p

[giftideasfromaycaramba]

Who does not love a.circus? https://t.co/WqHzDjrKH6 #christmastime #bringintheclowns #funornaments #circus #uniquefinds #shopsmall #aycarambagifts #instafun #instacircus #instachristmas #instashop #instashop #instachristmasdecor #instafollow https://www.instagram.com/p/BqWzBd1Anax/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=362ebkxgwmbg

[muffiemouse]

All about the Boos;)) #allabouttheboos #happyhalloween #bringintheclowns (at Haley’s Lochside) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpne2_KloUb/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1gdsds3bry0i9

[nikimoorefunny]

🤣🤣🤣 #funnyaftho #hoodlarious #justjokesusa @theellenshow @diddy #bringintheclowns https://www.instagram.com/p/BpZL2ZgHDo8/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=bidnik4diwp4