Government Greenbacks

42x34 - Acrylic on canvas

(Port Washington, Long Island)

I wondered what it was like here in 1952. This lot of land in Long Island was owned by the government… our government? Yes, the one that tries to run the world with its gritty greenbacks.   SOLD

Gold Burst

37x55 Acrylic on canvas

(Tribeca & Morningside Heights, NYC)

That beautiful burst beyond the blues, browns, and bronzes… but below, all that is “New York’s creation,” with its feverish pulse that pushes the pursuit of happiness. SOLD

The NYC me

32x24  Acrylic on canvas

Upper Westside, NYC

“NYC”? … “The best and worst of everything”… and tons of it. Yet I will always love it.

Feeling Freedom

25x26 - Acrylic on canvas (Tribeca, NYC)

They dropped this cover one block south of Canal Street. I felt the fight for freedom, knowing that on September 3rd 1838 in the building beside me Frederick Douglass disguised himself as a sailor making a stop at this “A” station of Underground Railroad. I wondered if the person who installed this in 1918 thought, “How far we have come.” Yet here I think, 94 years later, “We still got a ways to go.” ($500.)

Earths Energy

25x26 - Acrylic & Oil on canvas (Brooklyn Heights, NYC)

Lately in Manhattan, coal covers have been hard to come by, as most sidewalks have been repaved over. But Brooklyn Heights was a gold mine for me. It was just a matter of finding the right energy inside of me that needed to land on the canvas. On this day, the never-ending energy of the Earth swarmed in a circular motion.  ($500.)

Electric Sun

26x54 - Acrylic on canvas

(Morningsidepark, NYC)

Its purpose is to cover the world of electricity that lies beneath the sidewalks of this city.  It is a manhole of “energy”.  I found it only fitting to feel the energy of the sun. ($600.)

Love Letters

25x26 - Acrylic & Oil on canvas

(Brooklyn Heights, NYC)

Within the seams of the slate sidewalks sit the covers that sent me back a century or so. I could feel the “LOVE” this neighborhood had for history. “L.O.V.E.” — letters that never leave us and ones that landed on my canvas. 

Mr. New York

55x34 - Acrylic & Oil stick on canvas

(Meat Packing District, NYC) 

“MR. NY” was meant to be in the Meatpacking District of  yesterday. Cold, hard, and cut-throat. Thus, I chose colors to contradict these conceptions. Perhaps a peaceful purple or the witty white and giddy gold, yet always bold, even when “MR. NY” is old.  (sold)

Horizontal Hopes

24x20 Oil on canvas

Morningside Heights, NYC

The mayhem of Manhattan makes many move. In search of peace, people try to flee the heat of the street. They run to the river’s edge or to building tops, in hopes of seeing a horizontal line that will calm their minds. 

Harlem Unity

40x40 – Arcylic & Oil on canvas

(Harlem, NYC)

 Like many “coal covers,” these two were made in 1889 and 1904 and used to put an iron lid on the sidewalk so that the coal delivery man could pop the top and shovel ebony-colored rocks down to the furnace that sat below the many homes of this city.  I enjoyed talking history with the owners and felt it made it easier to get a hold of the colors of the “age” — bronze, rusty browns, and even the brightness of yellow. (sold)

“Dad, the bell is going to ring

20x16 – Oil stick on canvas

(Park Slope, Brooklyn)

A bright day in Brooklyn, but in the back of my head, these words rung true: “The bell is going to ring.” This bell was a blessing in those days, as I picked up my daughter from school. Splattered in paint, I’d ask myself, “Is it dry?” This I hoped as we hugged.         

Brooklyn Green

20x16 – Oil stick on canvas

(Brooklyn Heights, NYC) 

Sometimes, I wish “Brooklyn” was on the edge of the Pacific, the proper balance of fascinating folks in an enlightening environment. I guess I can’t clap my hands and have that heavenly coast, nor can those out west snap their fingers and be surrounded by stimulating people. Well, for now, I will continue to create colors on this concrete and greet the wonderful people “Brooklyn” has for me to meet.