We recently spent time in Little Deer island, Maine. Staying at our friend Michael Snow’s family home, I decided to draw it. I listened to the sounds of cormorants and loons as I sketched on the rocks by the shore of the cove. A river Otto popped out of the rocks inches from my feet. We scared the hell out of each other. I moved closer to the house to do this drawing so I didn’t scare any more animals. I can assure you the mosquitos weren’t afraid of me. My first urban sketch in a long time.
Barbie World Cup
I've been loving the women's World Cup soccer. Very exciting matches. Can't wait to see the final.
RIPeewee
Around the corner fudge is made. a very old painting I did of the legend.
Last Drawing
This is another drawing from my jaunts to the Museum of Natural History, the Asia section. I think I may have officially drawn every object in the museum. At this point, I can either begin all over again or end my 20 year run of drawing New York’s Natural History joint. WANTED; a new muse.
Bees
I’ve been reading The History Of Bees by Maja Lunde. Climate change and its effect on bees may decide the fate of humans. Her novel gives a bleak reality of what life could be like if they become endangered. Fortunately things work out in the book, sort of. Let’s hope we can do the same.
A tree In Prospect Park
I drew this trunk in Prospect Park. Got to try out my new REI Flexlite Folding Chair. Worked great. Excellent for the old back. There are a lot of summer day camps for kids happening in the park. Masses would march by me all dressed in identical colored camp t-shirts. At one point, a 6-year oldish kid started pointing at me and yelling frantically. “My dad knows this guy. My dad knows this guy!” He yelled it at the top of his lungs like 20 times. I never saw him before so I couldn’t back up his very loud claim. His camp counselor tried to mollify him which seemed to work somewhat. I just smiled and waved a lot. They had other fish to fry so eventually they moved on. I felt like a low-end celebrity who gets accidentally mistaken for a giant celebrity. You can either choose to pretend to be that person and take selfies and sign autographs or tell them truth and ruin everyone’s day.
Chicken Abuse
“An individual seen whipping a dog risks arrest, but CEOs whose companies in effect torture chickens are celebrated for their business acumen. Individualized animal abuse is a crime; systematic animal abuse is a business model.” Nicholas Kristof, NY Times
Tiny
I was talking about the singer, Tiny Tim the other day and a younger generation person had no idea who I was talking about. So, I YouTubed a video of Tiny singing “Tiptoe through the Tulips.” I’m not sure what the young person thought about it. Probably wondering why the hell I was showing it to them. To me, it was riveting to say the least. I did this illustration to show what the song feels like.
Totem
I could never create a work of art like this using my own imagination. This is a drawing I did of someone else’s brilliant imagination. This was part of a totem pole that lives in Eskimo Hall that caught my eye. When someone looks through my sketchbook and gets to this page they usually say, “wow.” But in my mind, I know they are not really complimenting me, it’s for the artist who made this incredible creation.
Weather App
The sun was shining but I checked my weather app anyway. It said sun all day with a slight chance of rain starting around 4 o’clock. As I sat in the botanical gardens making this drawing at 11am, I noticed the sky turned an ominous black and the rumble of thunder hovered above my hat. This couldn’t be correct, so I took my phone out and rechecked my weather app. It now said that it was going to rain in one minute and last for the next two hours. Say what? I drew as much as I could before fleeing. I argued with my weather app the whole subway ride home to no avail.
Attire
I think because of my unique attire, the guards at Natural History museum wave me through bag checks and such. They know me in the Eskimo Hall too. The guards probably wonder why I’m sitting on a camping stool and not being escorted into the Prada runway show at Bryant Park. What can I say, I own all these fancyboy clothes, so I might as well wear them. I’ve even caught the Northwest Coast Indian tribal masks gaping at me.
Diorama
When I do a drawing like this, I get to be my own curator. These treasures were in different dioramas in the Asia section of the Natural History Museum. I get to pick and choose my favorites and display them the way I deem works best. I guess this page is actually my very own little, messy diorama.
Eskimo Art
On my recent jaunts to the Museum of Natural History, I bypassed the animal taxidermy dioramas and instead explored the rooms I’ve long avoided. Eskimo Hall seemed to pull me towards it like a magnet. The ceremonial masks and totem poles are some of the loveliest works of art I’ve ever laid eyes on. This is the first of several drawings I did over a few days hanging out there. A small girl appeared a few inches from my face to ask what I was up to. She said she draws too. After a discussion, she wanted me to guess her age, even offering a clue. She pointed to her pigtails. I counted 5 and guessed that number. She was delighted. I asked what happens when she turns 16. She inferred that I already knew what was going to happen. Her mom hung for a long time because pigtails didn’t want to leave. Then she introduced me to her three-year-old sister. You guessed it, she also draws. These are my favorite museum encounters.
