ART..................................................................
.......I've come to a place in my life where I have more road behind me than what's coming up ahead..so it's a time of reflection..retrospection...a time to kick through the archives and put it all together...each piece of art selected for this website brings me back to a different chapter of my creative life...the early pieces carry me back to when I was fresh out of the School of Visual Arts...A time of youthful exuberance and vision..it was a time of when I was developing my portfolio and hustling as a freelance illustrator..a time of tight deadlines..black coffee and broken pencils..it was a good time...however somewhere in the 80's the right side of my brain took me and my guitar down to the Greenwich Village coffee houses to hit the open mics...soon this seductive allure of music began to eclipse my career as an illustrator......... thus I begin a three decade hiatus from the visual arts and I start my life as a full time New York City musician...hustling for my rent..gigging in the clubs and dive bars...busking in the streets and subways ..living the adventure of a bizarro urban pirate..it was the perfect fit..till the scene dried up and there was less money in my guitar case and more money that I had to put in my landlady's hand...so I moved to Albany and revisited my first love..the visual arts...it had been a long time but I fell right back into the groove...it felt real good and natural to be back at my craft..like the circle was complete..I still played a few open mics and got a part time job in a thrift shop but whenever I had down time I would be hunched over the drawing board...I started to exhibit my work and getting into a cool upstate art vibe..life was good...then the corona pandemic hit and reality as we knew it was turned upside down...I was in quarantine..but I had my art to keep me sane...and I am still still part of this journey of the soul
MALALA
..medium - Pencil Drawing...This rendering is part of my "Phenomenal Women" series...Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani education advocate who at the age of 17 in 2014 became the youngest person to win a Nobel Peace Prize after surviving an assination attempt by the Taliban... Her heroism and determination serves as an inspiration to old and young alike
GRETA
..medium - Pencil Drawing...She took on world leaders saying, “I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet, you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. Yet, I am one of the lucky ones. People are suffering.” .....When I heard these words from this young environmental activist she became the inspiration to begin my "Phenomonal Women" series ...at 17 years old she is turning vague anxieties about the planet into a worldwide movement calling for global change.
FRIDA
medium - pencil drawing.....Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is remembered for her self-portraits, pain and passion, and bold, vibrant colors. She is celebrated in Mexico for her attention to Mexican and indigenous culture and by feminists for her depiction of the female experience and form. this rendering is part of my "Phenomenal Women" series
ANNA MAY WONG
medium - pencil drawing ....Anna May Wong has been dubbed Hollywood's first-ever Asian American movie star, but was never recognized with the industry's top honor. Her beauty and charisma—along with her acting ability—earned her over 50 roles, including one in 1932's Shanghai Express, opposite Marlene Dietrich, but they were often stereotypical parts. Unfortunately, the racism of 20th century Tinseltown held her back.she is included in my "Phenomenal Women" series
BETTIE PAGE
medium - pencil drawing ... Bettie Page's life was filled with cult myth, mystery and sadness. Her image captured the imagination of a generation with her free love..Her risqué pinup photos made her famous in the 1950s, but as a new documentary reminds us, Page's liberated sexuality and unflinching body positivity are what still resonate today. I include her in my "Phenomenal Women" series
LYDIA the TATTOOED LADY
medium - pencil drawing....Her name is not Lydia..I forgot her name...but I remember the day I met her..I was playing a gig in a psychiatric ward for Hospital Audiences Inc. in Coney Island...it was late October which is a black and white grainy iconic time in Coney Island with most everything closed down..I decided to check out the boardwalk and lo and behold Rudy's Bar ( the best bar on the face of the earth) was open.I walked in and found a seat amongst the funkiest and most esoteric clientele imaginable...this lovely tattooed lady was at the bar...the next morning I woke up on her couch
NAUGHTY NUN
medium - pencil drawing...One of the stars of "Behind Convent Walls"...here's a review from a prominent critic concerning this nunsploitation classic........"not enough chicks doing each other and I don't like reading subtitles all the damn time. don't get this movie it's not cult at all.'...need I say more
BRIDE
medium - pencil drawing.....The Bride is beautiful, but there is an undeniable weirdness about her, an avian physicality that supersedes the human. Twitchy and unblinking, her only vocalisations are shrieks, or strange swan-like hisses. When Karloff stands besides her, all pleading eyes and outstretched palms, the difference is stark.
VICTORIAN CHILD
medium - pencil drawing...from a page in a book..this drawing always made me think of my daughter
MARY MARY QUITE CONTRATRY
medium-pencil drawing...this drawing is from a color Maxfield parrish print..Maxfield Parrish a supremely talented artist and extraordinary entrepreneur, occupies a special niche in the history of America’s culture.For “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary,†a 1921 Parrish ad for Ferry Seeds, his young daughter, Jean, posed for the larger-than-life figure, backed by a scenic landscape.
SAVE THE CHILDREN
medium-pencil drawing...One Christmas when my daughter was a young girl..Betsy and I sponsored a "Save the Children " child...every month we would receive letters and drawings..she sent the photo that I did this pencil rendering from...sometimes I wonder where she is today
SKY
medium - pen and ink............“May night continue to fall upon the orchestra”
― Andre Breton
OUT OF BODY
medium-pencil drawing...this is an illustration that I did for Psychology Today magazine for an article on astral projection...my old buddy Bu was the model for this one
FIRST AND LAST MEN
medium pencil drawing.....Here's an Illustration that appeared in Cosmic Frontiers magazine..I worked for them for quite some time and to my remembering I was the only illustrator who freelanced with them so I got a lot of assignments...the Art director and me had a shared vision...which might be due to the fact that before we discussed any assignment he would take me out to his balcony and we would light up a doobie..this illustration was for a science fiction novel called First and Last men that was serialized in the magazine
GATOR MAN
medium-pen and ink...here's one time that I was glad I was an artist...I was invited to my girlfriend's parents for their anniversary party and because I was an artist I was financially strapped...no gift..wait I'm an artist!
BRONSON
medium - acrylic painting...this large canvas was created for an agent who worked with me for a short time..she wanted to get me work painting movie posters
COVID MADONNA
medium - pencil drawing...Working on this gothic lady was very cathartic for me...I exorcised all the demons of the pandemic and Trumps atrocities ..yeah..that'll last untill I turn on the news again
