Alien & Alienated (not for sale)

Seed beads

It's just how I feel at this point in my life: Alien and Alienated.

Meet the artist: Keith Rossberg

Alien & Alienated by Keith Rossberg

Keith Rossberg

Identity Statement

Here is one experience that shows what kind & type of a person that I am. It was Jan. 17th, 2008, a neighbor shows up at my home at 11:22 pm and asked if I could help her. Her and her boyfriend were fighting again and both knew that they could come to my place until things settled down. This night was a lot different. Besides both drinking heavily and the boyfriend taking some pills that someone gave him earlier that day. Needless to say he slapped her around for a bit, then he loaded 2 rifles and threatened to kill her. That's when she came to ask if I could go talk to him and try to get him to give me the guns or at least to unload them. After one hour of talking to him through a door that was cracked open 3-4 inches and both rifles pointed at me the whole time, I told him I was going to go outside to let her know the progress. When I went outside I already knew the cops were out there, because I saw them through the windows. The cops talked to me for 5-10 minutes. I told them that he's calming down and that I was positive that I can get the rifles from him. The cops said that they can't let me go back in the house. I told them that I'm their best bet that nobody gets shot or killed tonight. I pulled my arm from the cop that was holding me and I went across the road and back into the house. I talked to my friend at gunpoint again for another 45 minutes. Then he asked if I would get him a bottle of water from the fridge. Before I got back through the living room I heard him discharge the 50 caliber rifle. I froze, I didn't know what to expect if I went into the room. When I got to the room I asked him if he was alright, and then I heard him crying and he said yes. He turned his head to look at me, and that's when I saw hair missing from the side of his head. That's when I told him to put the rifle under the mattress and we'll go to my place before the cops are called. I got him outside and then the cops grabbed him. I kept walking back to my home where the Annandale Police Chief came to talk to me and asked if I was alright & if I needed to talk to someone professional. The Police Chief said that even deputies that are trained have a rough time dealing with what I went through. He said to me that was a stupid, but brave thing I did. This is the kind of person I am, one who will put himself in harm's way to help others.

What role does art play in your life?

It gives me peace of mind and relaxes me.

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Darkness to Light by Justin James

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From Both Sides of the Globe by Keith Rossberg