Stew it, stir-fry it, barbecue it, steam it, poach it, grill it, sauté it, stuff it, marinate it, braise it, bake it, broil it, steak it or ring it. Have it in sauce or soup or chowder, or over rice or pasta. Have it on the side or as an appetizer or as an entree. Have it Thai, Szechuan, Korean, Indian or Italian style. Dip it in tartar sauce, or cocktail sauce, squeeze a lemon or lime over it, drizzle it with olive oil. Have it over salad, skewered or raw. Smoke it. Have it Sweet and Sour. Cook it in Stew. How does Diavalo sound?

Being alone is sometimes good. Being lonely is never good. I know many people who live alone and are perfectly happy. In fact they might just be happier than folks who live in communion with others. Although I don’t believe there are many in the world who are completely happy totally alone. There are perhaps the chronically anti-social, who may not be happy but prefer to live life solo, or the ultra spiritual cloistered soul who becomes one with the supreme being. They are the ones who choose isolation. Then there are those who are committed by society to spend day upon day in confinement, those who cannot behave with the rest of us.
As I peruse my portfolio I have come across Vivian, a former subject and onetime fixture in my studio. She lay there as lovely as when I slipped her into the 18″ x 24″ plastic sheet protector and zipped her in the portfolio with the dozens of other pictures I have previously sat hunched over. She seemed sad. I had to remedy that.
In class one night at the Art Students League of New York was a model named David. He was the one! I would eventually introduce his likeness (sort of) to my beloved Vivian. Tonight is the night for the introduction. I have just slid “David” into a sheet protector and am now going to place him into the bursting portfolio face to face with Vivian…

…I think she likes him.

Some 10,376 miles from New York City, in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, there stands a magnificent eucalyptus tree in front of my friend Mary’s house. This tree dwarfs its surrounding trees and can be seen from quite a distance. With approximately 700 species of eucalypts, none is as glorious as this “Lemon Scented Gum”. With its smooth, amber hued bark and a fragrance all it’s own I knew I had to pay homage to it. Although not represented in this picture, Mary’s Gum is the frequent home to a colony of fruit bats (sometimes called flying foxes). Ee Gads! Frightening creatures that thankfully keep their distance. Maybe the subject of a future drawing, but probably not because they kind of creep me out.
Ta muchly, Mary for the inspiration.

I am proud to announce that one of my works has been selected to be in the annual Red Dot Show at the League’s 57th St. campus. Each instructor selects student work for the class concours, which is in turn judged by other instructors at the League. The judges award Red Dots for those works deemed “best in show.” The highlights of all the concours can be seen in June in the annual Red Dot Exhibition. Traditionally, several pieces in the Red Dot show are purchased for the League’s Permanent Collection. – The piece selected is “Sloan Valve” (see gallery). Also receiving a nod was my Aboriginal inspired “Oz” which received a Blue Dot representing an Honorable Mention in my instructor Richard Barnet’s class show. Mr. Barnet said that in his 30+ years of teaching at the Art Students League he has never seen anyone get a Red Dot AND a Blue Dot. The show runs from June 1 through June 14, with a reception on June 4. I’ll be the guy with the shit eatin’ grin.

In my previous post I wrote about how Saugerties has inspired me in my life and in my art. Saugerties…In my mind it sounds so melodic and cheery. If I felt in 1993 like I do now I may have named my daughter “Saugerties”.

“Saugerties. Clean your room!”
“Saugerties. Do your homework!”
“Saugerties. I love you.”

Nahhh. I prefer Bridgid.

If you happen to be in the place where the water tastes like wine, stop by the Sawyer Bank located at 87 Market Street. My work will be hanging from May 1st – June 30th.

Can’t make it to Saugerties? If you are so inclined to see my work on display, you can hop a plane and fly in it until your ass falls totally asleep to a lovely town in Victoria, Australia with a name that may be just as cool as “Saugerties”, Koo Wee Rup. It doesn’t quite roll off my tongue yet, but I guarantee the smell of the gum trees will soothe your soul.

I think the first time I heard of the word Saugerties was when I was reading the liner notes for The Band’s “Music From Big Pink” back in 19-Something Something. Over the years the word would pop into conversations and would automatically make whatever the topic sound melodic and mystical. As luck would have it my dear friends would purchase a lovely home in Saugerties, equipped with a built in pool! How perfect! It’s like having a friend with a boat. I find myself frequently longing for a road trip to visit and take in, not only the pool, but a show at Levon’s barn or the Bearsville Theater, or to the outstanding and sometimes quirky restaurants that stretch from Woodstock to Saugerties Village. I’m not alone. My wife Maureen feels the same way. When the sounds of the sirens and horns of NYC cars, and the maniacal pace make you want to scream, it’s off for a visit with Billy and Regina. Inspiration comes easy off of Exit 20.
This crave for Saugerties life has lured us to purchase our own little piece of Ulster County, equipped with not a built-in pool, but an above-ground pool, and walking distance to the infamous Big Pink! I think I’m going to go over to Billy and Regina’s house and see if I can borrow a cup of sugar.

I recently had the extreme pleasure in attending my ex-partner’s retirement party in Brooklyn. My jaw still hurts from all the laughing. Sitting across the table from former bosses and colleagues, reminiscing about days gone by, good times and not so good times. Mostly good times. But I could not help but look at the somewhat matured faces and expanding waistlines and think of those somber and sobering times after September 11th. Long after the public started to get back on track of their daily pre-911 routines the men and women at this dinner trudged on, and are STILL trudging on in keeping us safe.
This is a series of four pictures of the Freedom Tower and it is dedicated to all the men and women who tirelessly continue to keep us safe.
And Good Luck Tony. You ever hear of a salad?! (I should talk!)

I wonder how LeRoy Neiman, John Dillinger, Peter Fonda, Martina McBride, Cary Grant, Angelina Jolie, R. Crumb, Benjamin Netanyahu, Don Mattingly, Fran Drescher, Isaac Hayes, Hal Linden, Mark Spitz, Fidel Castro, Helen Keller, Buzz Aldrin, Lenny Bruce, Whitey Ford, Richard Simmons, H.G. Wells, Kurt Cobain, Teri Garr, Kermit the Frog, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert DeNiro, Michelangelo, Cleavon Little, Larry Bird, Bridgid Webster, Jack the Ripper, Mary Kate and Ashley, Joan of Arc, Barack Obama, Sir Paul McCartney, Sandy Koufax, Tiny Tim, M.C. Escher, Prince William, Larry Fine, Ben Franklin, Paul Klee, Rip Torn, Goldie Hawn, Seal, Jimi Hendrix, Ronald Reagan, Harpo Marx, Dan Aykroyd, Eminem, Judy Garland, Rock Hudson, Albert DeSalvo, W.C. Fields, Bill Walton, and Whoopie Goldberg have dealt with this left-handed phenomenon?

A little background on the Pink Ribbon picture. It was inspired and created back in 2008 when my wife, Magee was battling breast cancer. I used to break her chops because whenever she shopped, if there was an item with a pink ribbon on it she would buy it. No matter what it was. Motor oil, cheese, chewing gum, whatever. I would always say that she was a sucker for a pink ribbon. Anyway, when I completed this picture it only seemed right that I should name it “Sucker For A Pink Ribbon”.
On it goes and Magee found a lovely group of women at a local charity called Hewlett House, an advocate group for people battling all types of cancer. We decided that I would donate a print and that proceeds from the sales of any additional prints would go directly to them. I subsequently sold a few.
When it came time for the actual presentation to the president of Hewlett House, Geri Barrish (a three time cancer survivor and a wonderful woman) I had thought that the original title might be a bit offensive to some potential donators so I shortened it to “Pink Ribbon”. Ms. Barrish genuinely liked the picture, which hangs nicely in the 300 year old Hewlett House, but actually commented that the title lacked something. She, being the master fundraiser, came up with the idea of a renaming contest. So it went, at a local grammar school there was a contest which was won by a sweet little 3rd grade girl who came up with the name “Beads Of Love”.
I like it and every following print became Beads Of Love but it will always be Sucker For A Pink Ribbon to me.

There has been much controversy over many aspects of the former site of the World Trade Center since the heinous attacks in 2001. Some over the design of the new tower which was to be, and is now currently being erected on the sixteen acre site where many perished, including FDNY firefighters and Police Officers from Port Authority and my own NYPD. The current ongoing debate whether the remains of the unaccounted for victims being housed in the basement where the newly opened museum is located (next to the gift shop, I might add) is front page news. God bless the families of those lost.
I myself spent time on “the pile” and was subsequently assigned to be part of the Task Force investigating the biggest “crime” this country has ever seen during my time on The Job. A job that could somewhat numb you to emotions. For instance, just two months after September 11th there was a catastrophic airliner crash in Belle Harbor, Queens where all onboard and some on the ground were killed. We were rerouted to the crash scene not knowing if this was another terrorist attack. It was subsequently ruled a tragic accident. But at the scene, with the fires still burning and devastation on the ground I had run into a fellow detective that I had worked with years earlier and had not seen in quite a while. We hugged and chatted small talk for a minute or so when two men carrying a canvas body bag needed to get by in the path where we were standing. One of the officers carrying the bag said ,”Excuse us, guys”, so we both stepped aside continuing our small talk. Then it dawned on the two of us that they had just walked by carrying a poor soul lost on yet another tragic incident in this city and we still continued a lighthearted conversation without missing a beat. Maybe the numbness is what gets you through times like that.
I may be retired from that type of work but I still have strong feelings regarding those responsible for bringing ill-will to our shores but I mostly keep those feelings to myself, buried under the callouses of my soul.
As a way of perhaps healing these feelings deep inside I have decided to celebrate the new, the Phoenix which has risen out of the rubble. I know that those who have lost loved ones will never be able to accept the politics and unfairness of some decisions made on their behalf. I hope over time their pain is numbed.
Above is an unfinished rendering of one of series of four pictures I am creating of the Freedom Tower.
God Bless NYC and God Bless America.