Richard Phillips said he didnB次元官网网址檛 mope much during the 45 years he wrongfully spent in prison. He painted watercolours in his cell: warm landscapes, portraits of famous people like Mother Teresa, vases of flowers, a bassist playing jazz.
B次元官网网址淚 didnB次元官网网址檛 actually think IB次元官网网址檇 ever be free again. This art is what I did to stay sane,B次元官网网址� the 73-year-old said.
Phillips could be eligible for more than $2 million under a Michigan law that compensates the wrongly convicted , but the state so far is resisting and the matter is unsettled. So heB次元官网网址檚 displaying roughly 50 of his more than 400 watercolours at a Detroit-area gallery and is willing to sell them.
His paintings are precious to him, but he said he has no choice: He needs money.
Phillips was released from custody in 2017 and, in 2018, became the longest-serving U.S. inmate to win exoneration. He was cleared of a 1971 homicide after an investigation by University of Michigan law students and the Wayne County prosecutorB次元官网网址檚 office.
Phillips is showing his work at an art gallery inside Level One Bank in Ferndale, a Detroit suburb. A reception was planned for Friday night.
B次元官网网址淎re you the artist? God bless you. Beautiful,B次元官网网址� a bank customer said while admiring a painting of five musicians Thursday.
Phillips said he bought painting supplies by selling handmade greeting cards to other inmates. He followed a strict routine of painting each morning while his cellmate was elsewhere. He was sometimes inspired by photos in newspapers and liked to use bright colours that didnB次元官网网址檛 spill into each other.
But a cramped cell isnB次元官网网址檛 an art studio. Phillips said prison rules prevented him from keeping his paintings so he regularly shipped them to a pen pal.
After he was exonerated, Phillips rode a bus to New York state last fall to visit the woman. He was pleased to find she still had the paintings.
B次元官网网址淭hese are like my children,B次元官网网址� Phillips, a former auto worker, said during a tour with The Associated Press.
B次元官网网址淏ut I donB次元官网网址檛 have any money. I donB次元官网网址檛 have a choice. Without this, IB次元官网网址檇 have a cup on the corner begging for nickels and dimes. IB次元官网网址檓 too old to get a job,B次元官网网址� he said.
Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy supports PhillipsB次元官网网址� effort to be compensated for his years in prison. MichiganB次元官网网址檚 new attorney general, Dana Nessel, is reviewing the case. ItB次元官网网址檚 complicated because he has a separate disputed conviction in Oakland County thatB次元官网网址檚 still on the books, spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney said.
PhillipsB次元官网网址� attorney, Gabi Silver, who has helped him adjust to a life of freedom, said the paintings are inspirational.
B次元官网网址淭o suffer what he has suffered, to still be able to find good in people and to still be able to see the beauty in life B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 remarkable,B次元官网网址� she said.
Ed White, The Associated Press
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