We Three Kings

Painting the same thing again and again but never the same painting. 

Yeah.

 Subway Card Chrysler Building No. 12
2" x 3.25" oil on metro card

Subway Card Chrysler Building No. 13

2" x 3.25" oil on metro card

Subway Card Chrysler Building No. 14

2" x 3.25" oil on metro card

Triple play............

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Hiding in Plain Sight

 A bulky hoodie is a must for traveling incognito. Or just keeping warm......

 NYC Subway No. 10
4" x 4" x 1.5" oil on cedar wood block

Ready to hang:

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My Way

 A new take on the Empire State Building -- I did it my way:

Subway Card Empire State Building No. 11
2" x 3.25" oil on Metro card

Framed and ready to hang -- 

Any special requests for your favorite NYC icon? Email me!

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Off Duty ?

Need a lift?

Rolling out several new taxi paintings --

Subway Card Taxi No. 13

2" x 3.25" oil on Metro Card

Subway Card Taxi No. 14
2" x 3.25" oil on Metro Card

Subway Card Taxi No. 15

2" x 3.25" oil on Metro Card

Subway Card Taxi No. 16
2" x 3.25" oil on Metro Card

All sold framed, ready to hang:

Subway Card Taxi No. 13

Subway Card Taxi No. 14

Subway Card Taxi No. 15

Subway Card Taxi No. 16

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Bird Flew - Part One

 John Chewitt in progress

 One might think, with all of my New York City-centric subject matter of late, that my bird paintings have flown the coop. In a sense they did - at least temporarily.  Since returning from Jamaica this summer, I invested much of my time coming up with new Metro Card paintings  and also beginning a new series of paintings of subway riders on wood blocks.

Now that I've made great progress in both of those series, and with sketches and plans in place for more, I've turned back to the tropical aviary and my bird project commission.

Next up -- John Chewitt. Yes, that's a bird. Something that took me a long time to figure out.

I'm afraid the John Chewitt, also know as the black-whiskered vireo, is not a particularly flamboyant bird. No flashy splashes of color like the Parrot, no sinewy silhouette like the Doctor Bird. Not particularly inspiring to a painter.

I don't want to offend any birders out there so I won't go so far as to say the John Chewitt is a boring-looking bird but, well, it will be a challenge. So let's get started:

charcoal sketch on canvas -- 24" x 36"

I think I made this sketch before I left for Jamaica or may have made it while on the rock. I just can't recall. Either way, the canvas had been removed from the stretcher in order to transport it to and from Jamaica so I had to re-attach it to begin painting. It was a bit buckled here and there, not fitting exactly as it had originally done. It appeared to have have shrunk slightly, particularly on the vertical and I just couldn't get it to smoothly stretch across the frame. So,  after I staple-gunned it to the stretcher, I used a spray bottle to mist water across the back of the canvas -- this would help it shrink up tightly again to the frame.


Ok, first steps -- the usual hot mess stage:

Ugh. That's always the stage that gets me slightly concerned that I'll never turn this mix up of pigment into anything resembling a bird. 

But I soldiered on.

Ok, so far so good. Things are starting to take shape.

But the neck is looking a little lumpy/jowly  to me:

So I worked on the head and neck a little more as well as spending more time with the foliage in the background. The intense blues along the bird's belly and branch don't appear quite so saturated as they do in this photo, but I guess I'd better tone them down a bit:

Which brings us back to the first image in this post:

Sweet bird, eh?

Ok, going to let this dry for a while, and then I'll return to it. Still have a long way to go.............

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Deep Thought or Deep Sleep?

 NYC Subway No. 8
4" x 4" x 1.5" oil on cedar wood block  

And hang it up ---

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Gift Guide Feature

Check out my appearance in the Brown Alumni Monthly November/December issue. The online version went live yesterday evening and the actual magazines should be arriving in mailboxes this week.

The editors contacted me earlier this fall after a fellow alum pointed them to my artwork on Etsy. I was psyched! I sent off a handfull of framed metrocard paintings and several mini prints for them to photograph and include in the magazine's annual holiday Gift Guide, "Bear Necessities."

During a phone chat with one of the magazine's writers, I shared the story of my showdown with the NYC MTA. She was so intrigued that she offered to write up a separate profile feature on me and my work, in addition to being included in the larger guide -- psyched again!

I've recently added several dozen new Metro Card paintings to my Etsy shop so if you've always had a hankering for one or need  the perfect gift for the New York lover on your shopping list -- hop over to shop today!

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Deep Thoughts

 NYC Subway No. 7
4" x 4" x 1.5" oil on cedar wood block  $75

As always, ready to hang:

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NYC Subway No. 6

The face-time function of an iphone makes the perfect mirror for those morning make-up touch ups:

NYC Subway No. 6
4" x 4" x 1.5" oil on cedar wood block

Hang it up!

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Seagrapes of Wrath 2

Before - 

and after - 

Seagrapes No. 15  $85
4"x6" ink and watercolor on paper

and a close up - 

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Seagrapes of Wrath

These took an unexpected turn. Here's the before - 

And here is the after:

Some close ups -- 

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