From barn to manor. I call them 1″ wonders. I had never seen these sticks in their raw form but knew instantly that I wanted to paint them. I discovered them on a summer driving trip with my friend Gino. They were stacked and dusty in the corner of a barn with, I was told, […]
I have a long history of painting things. Often my favorite things to paint have great bone structure but are under appreciated, ready for second lives. Tobacco sticks personify this potential. Solid, evocative, architectural. Marvelously tactile, slender, weighty. Once farm tools, now repurposed as enchanting canvas. Scepter or staff? Or accent mark to a lucky […]
I had a bead store around the corner from my apartment. Who has that? It was on Christopher and as a break from writing I would walk over and get inspired. It was a long writing project and I made many of these bead and wire curiosities. Sprites, they are.
Before masks became pandemic gear I painted a bunch of costume masks to sell locally. Custom costume. Seemed a ripe canvas. So, in the spirit of “let’s see” I purchased a few plain party masks and painted them using acrylics and mixed medium. They sold at Gothic Renaissance in the East Village. I wore the white one, below, to my […]
He is hair and fiber, floral and male, radiant and receiving. Observer in the midst, he is curious, cautious, experiencing. RADIO MAN is one of five pieces created using floral fabrics. The other four are pictured below.
THE HUG embraces connection. Life celebrating luck. It’s painted on glass, both sides. I love this technique as it’s a double shot at creation. Fragile it is, though, which is why I switched to plexi, vinyl, and acetates later on. The Hug has a pyramid, cypress, and two green life forms entwined. In it’s […]
The wide rim of this frame started the piece. To me it was a runway for text. An open blank. WHAT DO MEN NOT HAVE?, 2001, was painted the five days prior to 9/11. The frame came first in the creative process. In the culture of my heritage questions are powerful things, veritably the language of […]
This is painted on a kitchen refrigerator magnet I received with a 2021 calendar and faces of the business owners who sent it printed on it. The calendar print was tiny so I made different use of it. In the picture of the magnet on a refrigerator there’s another magnet below it, also a fixer […]
Ginger, one of two dogs on my floor, Bob’s dog, passed away recently from cancer. Sweet disposition and wonderful companion to Bob. Bob’s a walker and I know Ginger did not lack for circulation. I miss her. Did this for Bob. I’ve been doing names on laminate this year. It’s a sturdy surface and here, […]
These are all slender silhouettes. Why? Because I had a great piece of clear vinyl acetate and wanted to make the most of it. The pencil came first. What else could fit in a small strip? A pineapple on a classic column, a smile inducing toothbrush and a test tube showing life. They’re painted using […]
This began with a walk by a lighting store on West Broadway in 2003 and seeing the rounded mirrored plexi element in the window. I had the square canvas and the two seemed a worthy pairing. This piece speaks to life in it’s pronounced dimensionality and many reflective elements. It’s luscious and lively. It’s mirrored […]
Alp is the second offspring of Victoria and Engin. His older brother, Mehmet, got his own named piece as a gift for turning one year old. It’s my way of celebrating their entrance on earth. Smart and loving parents and now a second young son. Inspiring was their holiday card and the four of them […]
ESSENTIAL MAN, 2002, is detail and essence in one. Two depths to this essential man is narratively true. There are two figures in the piece. But the depths to this piece change with light. It has such a rich and deliciously curious surface as to be unlimited in shadows and light capturing. Painted on glass […]
Tied in togetherness, bound in union, the indivisibility of our being is at the center of this piece. UNION floats centered within a fully transparent canvas. It joins human and earth, sky and form. It is a relishable joy to see up close. It’s adorned with a rich dimensional surface including leaves and tiny reflective silver […]
Out of many, one. Undertaking. Anew. These three mottos from the Great Seal of the United States, translated from Latin, and simplified, are incorporated in the triangular eye at the center of this boldly American art piece. In spirit and wish it speaks to the providence of the American cause. E Pluribus Unum uses elements […]