Wander around the woods

Took another hike up by Shelton Lakes early Sunday morning to take some photos after the storm blew through the area. The fact that everything is still wet and dark makes for some great contrast. I like to focus on the little pieces of landscape right under my feet. I did a good amount of crawling around the underbrush down near the lake and was pretty happy with the results. Some of these photos will make good reference photos for possible paintings.

Water - Plants - Sky

I took a little hike up by the reservoir a few days ago and took some close up shots of trees and plants near the water. The reflections of trees in the flooded areas, was very cool. Lots of frogs and other critters were out singing. Got a few good ideas for some paintings.

Brooklyn Guy

I ran into this guy in a Brooklyn antique shop while picking up my painting from the Micro Museum. I decided to take the train and subway, rather than dealing with traffic since it was going to be a hot day and my Jeep has no A/C. Since I had a little time to kill, I walked around and hit some of the antique shops on Atlantic Avenue. Got some good photos for my upcoming book.

New York Graffiti

Went down to New York with my sons and wandered around SOHO and the lower east side. Went to the Apple store, Kid Robot and the South Street Seaport area. When it comes to graffiti, NYC has some of the best.

The Drinkers at the Met

While visiting the Met and checking out the Van Goghs, Monets, Picassos, etc... I found this dark little Honore' Daumier painting titled "The Drinkers", that I'd never seen before . I really like this character study from France, circa 1861.

Koons Balloon

I was back in NYC again for the closing of the Redefining Portraiture show at the Square Inch Gallery. It was good to meet Gallery Director, Liz Afif and some of the other artists in the show. There's a book documenting the show available at https://www.lulu.com/commerce/index.php?fBuyContent=2561578
I also visited the Metropolitan Museum to check out the Super Heroes costume show, Photograpghy on Photography and Jeff Koons on the Roof. Gotta love that Balloon Dog sculpture. Even after seeing the Met's classical sculpture, it's pretty impressive. It's stainless steel and stands about 10 feet tall. I also got some good photos in midtown and went to the Top of the Rock. More on that later I guess...

Redefining Portraiture

I recently had my photo, "Spare Change" accepted into an exhibition at a small gallery on the upper west side of Manhattan. They are also publishing a book from the show.

REDEFINING PORTRAITURE
NATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION
May 8 – June 5, 2008

Opening: Thursday, May 8, 6-9pm

Square Inch Gallery
Juror, Liz Afif Gallery Director
215 W. 101st St. #3J
NY, NY 10025

The portrait can be a direct representation of a person’s physical appearance or it can be indirect for example it can be a narrative record of a cross-section of someone’s life, or an abstract image representing the subject’s essence. For this exhibition we wish to show the variety of kinds of portraiture and to reinforce the importance of portraits as fine art.

http://squareinchgallery.com/

“Redefining Portraiture” book: $27.95
http://stores.lulu.com/lizafif

Animals in Your Kingdom

I got "My Crows" painting (below) into the "Animals in Your Kingdom" exhibition at the Micro Museum, located in the downtown Brooklyn, NY arts district. The show runs from June 7 - July 19 and the opening reception is Saturday, May 31, 7 - 10pm - www.micromuseum.com. After dropping off my painting, I went down to the Promenade and took some photos of lower Manhattan. It's a nice area, but it's a Hell Ride to get there from CT. Click photo for larger image.

Painting of Tulips

I painted this about a month or two ago. Mother's Day flowers. This was one of the first paintings I did, using my new and expensive tube of cadmium red. As any painter will tell you, there's nothing like high quality pigment.

Painted Strawberries

Nothing too exciting going on lately. I've been entering some work in a couple of different shows with mixed results. More on that later. A few days ago I had some strawberries, took a few photos of em and did this little 5x7 oil painting. As usual, click the image for larger version.

Swimming with the Fishes

The weather was nice, so I headed down to the river for a little walk. It's a good time of year to pick up litter - before all the prickers and other plants cover it up. I found this doll who had obviously seen better days. At some point, it was probably some girls precious friend. Did it accidently fall into the river and get washed downstream? Or, was it thrown off of a bridge? If you can identify this doll by the tattoo on her back, I'll gladly return it.

St Patrick's Day Parade

Took some photos at the St Patrick's Day parade in New Haven. Spotted this kid with a toy gun. Brings back memories of playing army with friends years ago.

Me and My Crows

I'm a bird watcher and have always been fascinated with crows. Although considered a pest, crows are highly intelligent and were associated with Gods and myths of various cultures. I've been feeding them over the winter and watching how they interact with each other. I wanted to do a self-portrait and decided to include a few of my crow friends. Click the image for a larger version.

For more fact about crows go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crow

Snow in March

Took a walk in the woods before work yesterday. It snowed Friday night and I wanted to take some shots before it all melted. I figure there may not be much more snow coming my way with Spring on the way. As a subject, I like the high contrast of wet dark trees against a backdrop of white snow. It's almost as close as you can come to a pen and ink drawing in nature.

Found Gold!

There's a good reason to take your dog for a walk on a cold winters day - aside from the fact that Joxer loves to get out and sniff around and pee everywhere. We went for another walk down by the Housatonic river and I found a gold coin. You just never know what's gonna wash up along the shore. Lot's of plastic bottles, a dolls head, all different types of balls, driftwood, etc... Then out of the corner of your eye, there it is, something sparkles in the weak winter sun. You pick it up, and sure enough, it's plastic. I did find a real gold coin once in downtown Bridgeport.

Another Still Life at the Museum

Did another small still life of one of my existing paintings. The original, titled Apples and Oranges, is 9 x 12 inches and the miniature is 2.5 x 3.5 inches. Another painting -a-day type project for me. Painting this small is a great exercise and allows me to look at the original with a new perspective. I should probably be going in the opposite direction by working small first and then larger. When I paint about 20 or 30 of them, I'll have a "Major Mini" art exhibition at the Quirk Museum.

A new still life

I got a few small canvases from a friend and decided to make a copy one of my oil paintings. The original is 8 x 10 inches and the miniature is 2.5 x 3.5 inches. It only took me about 2 hours - kind of like a painting -a-day type project.

To see more of my still life paintings go to: http://www.quirkmuseum.com/painting.html

Annual Photo Show 2008

I recently got 2 photos into the Annual Photo Show at the Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Cannan, CT. Paul Fusco of Magnum Photos is the juror. It's a nice venue and runs form February 10 to March 9. The photo, a one shot deal, was taken at the Shelton Day carnival in 2007. For more info: http://www.carriagebarn.org/photoshow08.html

A pool in the woods

Took a hike on a nearby trail with Joxer yesterday. Got some much needed winter exercise and took a few decent photos. Went off the trail, following a stream along a heavily wooded valley and came across a spring fed circular pool that’s about 20 feet across. If there was a house or farm nearby, it has long since vanished. I’m guessing this was used during dry periods. I’ll have to explore the area a little more in the Spring.

Attack of the Cybermen

A big fan of Doctor Who, my son got a Cyberman helmet for Christmas. While trying it on for a photo, Joxer “attacked me”. Good dog, protecting America from the Cybermen.

Michel Gondry videos

Monday... back to work, at least the traffic wasn't bad. Signed up for a Flickr photo account today. Have to throw some photos up there at some point. Watched a dvd with my sons about French film maker/director Michel Gondry. He created "The Science of Sleep", "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and a lot of cool, imaginative animation and music videos for people like, Beck, Bjork, Chemical Brothers, Foo Fighters, etc... Check it out sometime.

Hike and Photos

The warm weather continues (40s), so I took a hike with my friend Mitch along the Shelton side of the river yesterday. Kind of a drab time of year for nature shots, but also keeping an eye out for arrowheads. Hiked up through an old cemetery and the trails near the gas pipeline right-of-way.

Trip to New Haven

It got a little warmer, so I took a quick trip to New Haven. Walked around and got some pretty good photos of the downtown area, people and parts of the Yale campus. The picture is a shot of the Gothic, Harkness Tower.

Idea Box

If I toss things in a drawer, they get kinda lost, so I have a few boxes where I put random sketches, notes, news clippings, ideas... I was looking through the stuff, figuring out what I might paint next. It also reminds me that I have to update the drawing section of my website.

Down by the River

Remember that Neil Young song? It got a little warmer yesterday (40s), so I took a walk down by the nearby Housatonic river. Brought my camera with me but I didn't take any good shots. I did find a couple of pieces of driftwood that had washed up that I'll be able to do something with. I've always had an interest in architecture and use some of these pieces as a starting point for structure-like sculptures.

Happy Burning Man

I saw an interesting New Years story in the NY Times - my favorite newspaper. It's kind of a tradition that some people follow, of gathering up your old bills or writing down negative thought/events and burning them, thereby putting them behind you. I decided to do that myself by using one of my metal sculptures. Kind of like my own mini Burning Man festival.