M&M Art Punished

A prison artist in California who uses the dye from M&Ms for paint has been disciplined for what a prison official Thursday called "unauthorized business dealings" in the sale of his art. The prison has also barred the prisoner, Donny Johnson, from sending his art through the mail. Johnson's work has been on display for the last several weeks at an art gallery in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Twenty of his paintings have been sold, for $500 each. Johnson, who is 46, is serving three life sentences. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 1980 for a drug-related killing, drawing a sentence of 15 years to life. In 1989, he was convicted of slashing the throat of one guard and assaulting another. Those crimes resulted in two additional sentences of nine years to life. He has been in solitary confinement in a small concrete cell for almost two decades. He paints with a brush he created with plastic wrap, foil and his own hair. He makes paint by leaching the colors from M&M's in little plastic containers that once held packets of grape jelly. His canvases are postcards. For the full story - click the title Irish Art