Katie

If you have never had a dog, you may never understand how much a part of you and your family they become. They are a shadow that is with you from the day they arrive to the day they leave. And when they leave, there is no feeling more sad.

The dog is capable of loving an honoring you unconditionally for it's entire life, and that is rarely accomplished amongst us human's.

Mark Twain said, "Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in." I would only add that based on how dogs behave on earth, they do go in.

Katie is a friend's dog who passed away recently but will never be forgot.

Lone Palm

Palms are really not alone, in fact they come from among 2500 species. Historically, palm trees have been important performing ornamental functions in homes and gardens and parts were eaten as food. They symbolized both victory and peace. In modern times Palms have become the representative of leisure times and tropical climates.
Nothing says vacation like the dark green fan shaped leaves against a blue tropical

Door Metaphor

What is the meaning of a door? It is a solid moving wall, in most cases, that keeps weather, bugs and even people out. But it also lets those things in, if you let it. It can symbolize hope and opportunity. But my favorite is MYSTERY.

Old store fronts have door ways whose craftsmanship is not paralleled in our modern design. Made from wood and glass, the craftsman created a mini-stage that attracts first the viewer’s eyes, but hopefully the viewer himself into the merchant’s lair.

Nothing says “welcome” like a well designed and maintained storefront. There are endless styles and the personality of the owner shine through in how they have it decorated...

Half A Cup Of Tea

It is said that tea was invented by a Chinese emperor 4000 years ago who had a pot of boiling hot water when some leaves were blown into it by chance. But… it was an Irish/American tea merchant named Thomas Sullivan that invented the tea bag in New York in 1908…by accident. He would give sample silk pouches of tea to his customers who thought it easier to throw the silk bag into the pot of boiling water instead of loose leaf. .

Although discovered in China, it is the Irish who consume more tea per capita than any other group.

Half in light, half in shadow…a cup of tea on the restaurant table is always and interesting study…….but half in health too. Just a half a cup of tea a day can promote fertility, reduce cholesterol, lower blood pressure, protect against cancer and even delay Alzheimer’s. So there your go…….

Chinese Take Out and Gum Balls - from Guest Celebrity Artist

My daughter rocks as a painter only she is often too busy to block enough time to create.

During the recent Nor-Easter, with nothing much to do but be drenched by rain, Brooke paid homage to the left over cartons from Friday’s take out. She has an eye for the unique and the subtle differences between light and shadow.

This painting is relatively small at 8” x 8” and is done with a palette knife and thick paint

Normally she paints with a brush, like on her recent painting, which was huge – 3 feet by 4 feet –of tennis balls in a gumball machine.

JAZZ CITY - the year before Katrina

The year before KATRINA hit Jazz City - New Orleans - I was down there for a conference. That year, a hurricane called IVAN began making a bee line for the delta town causing an evacuation panic like I had never seen before until the following year. Within hours the town was boarded up, the streets were empty except for the homeless, but all the roads leading out of town were a parking lot of humanity trying to seek safety. I had no car, the airports were closed, rental counters were deserted. One of my friends from work and I bought the last tickets available on “The Train They Call The City Of New Orleans”. We made a midnight run to Chicago, out of harms way, which is a completely different story all together.. What happened to hurricane Ivan?…It missed New Orleans and devastated Pensacola.

Jazz City, is also a store that was across the street from my hotel on Canal and Chartres. I have painted it a couple times because the salt, humid air has made the old archetecture quite interesting. Here is a Palette Knife and a Water Color rendition and a Google Map of the store.

Chekerboards and Mustard Yellow

Doorway's compete for your attention like a person looking for their suitor or like a flower attracting an insect. The more flamboyant the doorway, the more it is apt to draw attention. But, not every doorway attracts the random seeker. There has to be some hidden law of attraction that makes one gravitate to a door way and say, "hmmm, this one is interesting, I need to check it out" or "yikes, run away".

Finally, a new PAINTING A DAY….only this time 4 new ones. A friend of mine at work has a husband who owns two 1960’s muscle cars…One Dodge (bronze) and one Plymouth (red). Both in terrific shape. Well with the holidays rolling around, this lucky guy is going to have his cars memorialized on canvas.

1960 Muscle cars were evolved from the pent-up consumerism (and the “boomers”) that exploded after World War II. Coming out of the 50’s, it seemed car buyers opted for bigger and faster cars. Muscle Cars appeared at a time when Detroit was trying to stop the invasion of imported cars led by Volkswagen, Datsun, Fiat and Renault. Detroit could use some help again…

4th and Berry

So then my friend’s sister thinks it would be cool to do a memorial of her husbands bar in Brooklyn….one for him and one for his partner. (How cool is it that in one family a husband has a car collection and the other one has a cool bar to hang out in…does heaven on earth occur that often, really). Any way on the corner of 4th and Berry, in the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge, their exist a bar who’s outside wall is a famous graffiti type mural. I love old architecture, history and angles…so one depicts the front view with the awning and the other has a slant shot of the famous wall.