Before art I was a copywriter in advertising.

My earliest art pieces had images and words. Not dissimilar to the headlines and visuals I created in advertisements for BMW, UPS, and Club Med. Only this time the joy was of my choosing. The client was me.

To give myself a clear runway for writing I began using the painting’s frames. I usually started on the top in the left corner and worked my way clockwise till there was no more frame to write. It was very permanent writing and an exhilarating act of creation. I wrote as I painted. No copy editor or client needed for approval.

It was the beginning of my love of painting things.

Bronx Born, Long Island Raised

I was born in the Bronx, raised on Long Island, and graduated Emory University in Atlanta. Parsons, School of Visual Arts, and The Art Students League of New York followed with studies in graphics, advertising, and arts.

Advertising, Dance, Art

For years I stood on the sidelines of dance floors and watched others. Eventually I broke that barrier. Dance became my personal time. My joy. Freedom, creativity, and fitness combined.

At that time Manhattan had massive dance sanctuaries for guys like me who got their workouts moving on floors, in space, to music. It was luck. The Sound Factory and Roseland Ballroom were my local stomping grounds.

Sunday morning sports for me was dance. My round of 18 was a music driven marathon of movement.  

I’d arrive fresh at 6am and stay for hours till closing, noon, or so. People were finishing up their nights as i was beginning my day. And it was always a moment of hope when I arrived. The DJs were our maestros. Would the music be good? Would there be someone who’s dance spoke to me? Would I get my workout in? It was athletics and sweatiness, endurance and aesthetics.

The last hours when my body hummed on all cylinders and the floor was near empty were my favorite. The ability to move and the room to do it in. As weekly workouts go it served me well.

Today there are far more great golf courses in the world than there are great dance floors. Good to get outdoors, but I miss the wide open indoors too.

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Art From Repurposed Materials

I get joy from creating art using repurposed materials. As I’ve said many times, “I like to paint things.” My work’s been called American ArtCraft. It is of the earth for sure.

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The tobacco stick, above, is a perfect example. When I first saw them stacked in a barn I had to be told what they were. Hand hewn wood sticks 1″ by 52″, pointed at both ends…used to tie tobacco leaves for drying in specially ventilated barns. The first time I lifted one was transportive. These things are astounding to hold. Evocative, regal, solid. To me they were abandoned marvels ready for second lives. It was clear I was going to paint them.

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I brought six back to NYC from Kentucky and gave them a go. I approached each on their own. Their slenderness was a thrill and challenge.

One of those original six is now back at the farm: the Daffodil Stick.

Artifact To Art

When I introduced my painted tobacco sticks into the arts community in 2012, the BBC Greenwich Village Crafts & Fine Art Festival awarded them Most Successful Use of Recycled Materials.

The Male Quadrant

Within my many explorations as an artist, one line of inquiry has prevailed preeminently. It’s a focus in the area I call the male quadrant.

My question yet answered: As Males, what have we learned? What can we pass along to ourselves and sons. 

Vast, and little explored, the male quadrant has been a rich coordinate for me. I’m currently building a website for male conversation and education. And I’ve explored it in my art. Here are some pieces, from 2001 to 2012:  1) What Do Men Not Have? painted the weekend before 9/11, 2001, 2) The Hug, painted on glass, 2004, and 3) painted ties, 2007.  Human Husbandry in the Male Quadrant, 2005, for it’s explicitness, and for putting myself in the picture, hair and all, my Self-Portrait, 2012 too. For more visit my Males Gallery.

Career Notes

My careers have included being a two time Clio Award winning creative in advertising, producing TV commercials, being a website builder, being an artist, being an extra pair of hands, and a listening counselor.

From My Collection

There is adoration at the heart of all the work I do. Perhaps it’s flat out gratitude. For so long, art has been for me a private haven, a path to express appreciation, ask questions, codify observations, and a means to share joy and to connect.

I hope that the pleasure of owning my art will be for you as enlivening an experience as it has been for me.

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