At first glance, the violent and sarcastic universe created by one of the great poineers of independent Art and American Art in general, Robert Williams, may shock, titillate or disgust the beholder but when studied closer one will discover the profound meaning.YouthWilliams, born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 2, 1943, grew up in a rather capricious environment because his father and mother married four times, and therefore he was bounced repeatedly between his father who lived in Montgomery, Alabama and his mother’s home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Therefore his only true companion was art, he drew and painted from an early age.When Robert Williams is twelve, this future Low Brow art genius, failed the ninth grade twice, and was booted out of the public school system for habitual truancy and transgressions against the code of conduct. His only real interest was to be an artist, and while he doggedly pursued this aspiration, he first became involved in gang activity resulting in public drunkenness arrests and getting into fights. Williams tells: “There wasn’t a real bohemian society in Albuqueque for me to follow. There were some people of that style that hung around college that were drug addicts and stuff. I was obviously going to get in a lot of trouble if I stayed in Alburqueque. I was trying to get an art education”.L.A.Because there were few opportunities in Albuquerque he went to Los Angeles in 1963. He was drawn to the movie industry and to the hot rod mystique in Los Angeles. Williams tells: “You know my interest was getting into an art career and associating myself with this hot rod karma that I’d read about for years in car magazines”.He became an editorial cartoonist for the LACC paper, The Collegiate, and he lost himself in the theory and technique of art. He also tried to announce himself to the prestigious fine arts academy The Chouinard Art Institute but he was refused because of his insistence on mastering the technical virtuosity and pictorial representation, so recognizable in his later Low Brow art work, while they focused on abstract expressionism, emphasizing on unrecognizable imagery.Ed “Big Daddy” RothThen, after a series of fruitless attempts, the manager of the unemployment office offered him a job that would chance his life completely. This job was at a ‘freak’ called Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. Williams knew his name and reputation and later told: “They told me that the freak that ran it was some guy called Big Daddy and I said, ‘Wait a minute, would that be Ed Roth?’ They said it was, and I said, ‘Let me at it. I was born for this job”.In Ed Roths atelier cars were created in a freestyle manner, and he did it faster, more effective, and in an unmatched style. This is were Robert Williams got the inspiration and most of the ideas for his Low Brow Art. In his studio garage, Roth kept open house resulting in a colorful amalgam of people frequenting his spot. Williams tells: “Every day something amazing would happen. In the morning Sam the Sham and the Pharaos’ recording group could walk in and few minutes behind them would be Sonny Barger and some Angels”.Williams work consisted of creating monthly advertising, graphic design work, working on the elaborate hot rod projects (like The Rat Fink and Peace Fink) and sometimes he also contributed to Roth’s periodical Chopper Magazine. When Roth’s financially rewarding association with Revell Models stranded because of his loyalty towards the Hell’s Angels, he quietly sold all of his inventory and closed the doors of the studio. Most of his show cars, original art and graphic designs were sold to James Brucker Jr. who also purchased many of Robert Williams’ important low brow art paintings.Low Brow ArtDue to Brucker’s support, Williams was able to work on his paintings for longer periods of time. In his work at that time he already demonstrated that he not only had mastered the intricate underpainting and overglazing techniques of his Renaissance and Flemish predecessors, but also the theoretically based nuances of the modernists.In 1974 he underwent a complete paradigmatic change when he broke with the general “rule” of the traditional painterly canonizations dictating that the dark edged line which encompasses all shapes in cartoons to avoid at all times. In his vision the exaggerated forms in cartoons were the most true and pure examples of abstraction comparable to the origins of art, found in the Paleolithic cave paintings.

Investing in Real Estate has become urban legend the myths abound about how much you can increase your wealth by investing in real estate and in particular residential real estate, so much so that the average Joe believes that making money and creating wealth when it comes to real estate is a given and in alienable right so to speak.Average mums and dads are jumping onto the real estate bandwagon with no knowledge or training in the fundamentals of investing. These folks are fed the myth that using their equity from their family home will miraculously make them into real estate tycoons, all to often these poor misguided souls end up losing the home and everything else in their pursuit of real estate’s Eldorado.To perpetuate the myth these naive investors are advised to hold on to their real estate investments for ten years or longer, this is great in theory if you are in your twenties and do not need the profits in the immediate sh rt term to help fund a decent retirement, unfortunately when you look at the demographics of these investors they are in their fifties with plenty of equity in their family homes most usually own their family home and have neglected doing any thing for their retirement till now and in horror discover that they will not be able to have their current lifestyle on the pension.Little wonder real estate investment seminars are packed with these late bloomers all hoping to make a fortune by investing in residential real estate, the seminar presenters ensure that is all these folks here, after all this is a valuable gravy train.Try this little trick next time a telemarketer calls and asks you to attend a real estate investment seminar, and the telemarketer asks you if you own your own home and how much equity you have in it, reply by saying that you have none, I will guarantee that before the word none leaves your mouth they have hung up on you, interesting isn’t it?Tragically no one is told when a real estate investment has gone bad or failed to perform as happens on a daily basis with the stock market, why is this so? One of the major reasons are the volumes of money that Governments, Banks and marketers make from selling the residential investment myth, that is also the reason why Governments have been loathe to legislate that investors under go an investment training program before they can invest, as once the myth is busted the gravy train will not be as plentiful and the flow on effect into allied industries would be catastrophic.This myth is well and truly busted as you can loose everything from a failed real estate investment and there are no such things as guaranteed growth with out doing some work for it.Here are 7 simple ways to maximize your money from real estate investment1. Know your profit before you buyDo your due diligence and find out if the price you are paying is below market value, a simple rule is can you resell this property today for a profit and if so how much.2. Type of Neighborhood?The community surrounding the property can change in a variety of ways that can adversely affect your real estate income property. Increasing vacancy, for instance, can lead to reduced rents, which in turn means reduced maintenance causing building deterioration, This can cause a roll on effect if more properties start to decline in the whole neighborhood,compounding the problem.The nearby construction of facilities such as prisons, sewer treatment plants, and airports will also likely have an adverse effect on the area. Also, perhaps more subtle and slower in coming, is a decline due to increased crime, perhaps resulting from an adjoining neighborhood spill over. If you still want to invest here find out what it is that makes it special that everyone else has over seen, often gems are discovered with a little digging,3. Impact of poor or neglected InfrastructureThe impact of being directly under the flight path of airplanes, construction of a major highway or intersection can limit access to the property, cause noise and dirt by the construction and all this can have a negative impact on the property’s ability to attract and keep tenants. The end result may be an increase in your investment real estate value, but construction and major works can take up to a year or more and during that time you could expect your real estate investment value to drop. Or worse still the infrastructure is neglected and the local authority does not have the Tax base to start remedial works to bring it up to standard,4.ControlsGovernmental controls and regulatory changes to zoning can adversely impact real estate investment properties. Real Estate investors that purchase raw land for development, for instance, can see their plans grind to a halt because of a building moratorium or anti-development sentiment. All of which results in downturn in value.5. FinanceDifficulty obtaining finance or the lenders require more of your capital to top up your borrowings,yers for your rental property if you decide to sell, This type of condition is prevalent at the moment as lenders are devaluing the amount that they are willing to lend against real estate, in most instances I have seen lenders valuations or real estate down by up to 30% to 40% of the contract price depending on the region this could be higher again, this trend should alert the investor that the deal they think is great may not be so great after all, unfortunately marketers have this covered as they are dealing with naive and unsophisticated investors by saying that the lenders always value the property for less, if that is what some one lending you money says about your intended investment wouldn’t it be prudent to listen and renegotiate or if that is not possible walk away from the deal.6. Lack of or no maintenance.If your property is the run down, get it brought back up to a good condition. This will make it more appealing to prospective tenants7. Pressure to sellHighly motivated sellers may reduce a property to a bargain basement price and smart investors watch for property owners who must sell to take advantage of the owner’s strong motivation to quit the property. Always try to avoid ever reaching the moment when you are forced to sell.These are just of many tips I use to maximize my profits from my real estate investments and so can you.