Michelangelo's Cousin Bob
Bob Donlan is an amazingly versatile artist. He might even be Italian.
His talent is unmistakable. He paints, he writes, he sculpts, he produces theater. (Bob has an MFA in theatre design from the University of Kansas.) When I visited him the other day, he was working on a musical about mental health.
“Think Cuckoo's Nest meets Rent,” he grinned.
I've seen his work. I believe he can pull it off! He even has the first-person experience to reference his own bipolar diagnosis. Today he successfully manages it with medication and counseling.
Bob's first psychotic “break” was likely triggered by the stress of a move to Chicago at the beginning of his career. With little money, no friends and family to rely on, he was at the wrong place at the right time. “It's my understanding that everyone carries a bipolar gene and for most people, it's just not activated. Mine was,’ Bob said.
“I had a religious delusion, which is common for a bi-polar to experience as a manifestation of the break. I didn’t think I was Jesus, but certainly chosen. A healer of great power,” Bob shared. It culminated in Bob, dressed only in a poncho and sandals, launching loaves of bread out his car window at 3 a.m. in North Omaha. “It’s a funny story in the play, the reality is that road ends and ends in embarrassing ways.”
That began a 30+ year roller coaster ride that even included the need to conquer cancer. He alternatively coped with and wrestled the bear. Bob immortalized his struggle and victory, first as a graphic novel and then in a couple of one-act plays in 2015 called Robot Parts and Chemo Bob & Robert.
Of course, Bob played the starring role.
“I thought it was really uncomfortable for people to sit and watch you try to pretend you’re psychotic. We know it’s pretend - it’s theater,” he admitted.
One of the things that I admire most about Bob is his prolific output. He'll have bouts of manic energy that he can put into a half a dozen canvases in just a few days. Especially when an art show is imminent.
His style is best described by a non-art critic as, “Hobo Chic.” It's very broad brush-strokes, dark colors and patterns and it's done in such a way as to make it very enjoyable and collectible. (Full disclosure - we have several of Bob's pieces displayed in our home.)
What else is on the horizon for Bob? He has put educating people about their bipolar diagnosis at the top of his list. He offers workshops and speaks about his struggles and successes with bipolar disorder. He also wants to make them laugh at times, performing pieces from his autobiographical play for attendees.
“It's really difficult portraying your disease on the stage in an attempt to entertain an audience,” he said.
At any time in his life, Bob could’ve said, “Well, screw it. This disorder is too tough to beat and I can never be all I was supposed to be.”
“It’s an intoxicating, powerful experience. You get filled with lot of energy and euphoria. Some people have problems with treatment for mental health as there’s an aspect of mania, that is fun,” he added.
I believe that Bob needed to “move a position.” To accept his diagnosis and find a way to ignore it or to make it part of his art. He gets to decide, “Here's how I can be the best Bob that I can be, the best artist, the best person who also happens to have bipolar disorder.
When I asked Bob whether he thought the medication “flattened him out” or made him feel “less”, he responded, “I have found out emphatically that messing around with my medicine, does not improve my art. In any way!”
Lucky for us that know him and appreciate his work.
Prego!
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