Painted into a corner

So it’s only right that I bring you the story of John Tirrell, the late-blooming artist who has tried to stave off eviction through the mass production of paintings.

He wrote me back in October explaining how he owed a former landlord several thousand dollars and another $1,500 to a credit card company. He had been taken to court and forced onto payment plans he’s worried he won’t be able to meet. And if he misses a payment, he’ll be evicted from his apartment in Waltham. He also expected a previous landlord, from his old place, to file a claim.

“It is raining now with lawsuits for me and no way out,’’ Tirrell wrote. “With no family in Mass. and no place to go . . . not sure where I am going to end up.’’

But he had a plan.

“My long-term commitment is to sell 100 paintings in 30 days to get out of the eviction process,’’ Tirrell wrote. His long-term plan is to sell 2,000 paintings by Oct. 8, 2010 - six paintings a day.

Frankly, that part didn’t impress me. There’s a reason Guinness World Records doesn’t recognize speed artists. Anybody can paint fast. The challenge is painting well.

Yet Tirrell didn’t give up on me. He mailed a thick packet of background, featuring both information about his years trying to promote volunteerism and his habit of serial letter-writing. The booklet includes replies from Norman Schwarzkopf, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan.

It was another letter that got Tirrell on this art kick. I discovered that when I headed over to visit. The letter came from Jasper Johns and has been framed and kept downstairs in the basement, not far from Tirrell’s easel. He had written to the aging artist to ask whether he should become a full-time artist. Johns said he couldn’t make that decision for another person. “One jumps in the water or doesn’t,’’ Johns wrote.

Last year Tirrell decided to take the plunge. He left his job working as an assistant in an asset management firm where, he says, he was earning roughly $40,000. After leaving, Tirrell collected a small ($20,000) pension and launched himself into the art business. He developed a website and took out ads in the Metro to promote it.

“I thought it was a great opportunity for me to do it full time,’’ Tirrell says now. “But after I left, I knew within four months it was the wrong decision.’’

Rent went unpaid, as did the credit card. By February, he and his partner, Michael, had left Newton and moved to Waltham. Tirrell still couldn’t pay his $1,390-a-month rent. In October, he landed in court. He’s been ordered to pay up his debt. If not, he’ll be evicted.

The day I was there, Tirrell seemed calm. He’s already sold most of his furniture, save the living room couch. He’s also found himself another job as an office assistant for a company in Cambridge. But it’s not enough to climb out of the hole, he says. So he’s been trying to sell as many paintings as he can. It reached the point that he pulled his car up to a local Starbucks recently and sold dozens of his unsold paintings for $5 apiece.

It’s a curious time of year. Wall Street robber barons are approaching the bonus trough. Free-agent outfielder Jason Bay waits for a contract offer better than the $60 million Red Sox deal he sniffed at. And a mild-mannered former seminarian who may have been too rash in pursuing his dream gets ready to pack up his brushes.

The beauty is, this doesn’t have to be a bailout. Maybe if you went to JohnTirrell.com, you’d see something - a painting, a tote bag, gift cards - that caught your eye. It might sound like charity, but the truth is, it’s merely a good deal when you get something in return.