A slightly surrealist seascape painting at an antiques store

Thrift store seascape painting

I could go into any number of antiques stores and find weird, strange, and bad paintings, but every once in a while I’ll see something really good, which then begs the question: what’s the story behind this painting and the artist? I happened upon this painting in an antiques store just north of Poughkeepsie (which … Read more

The Chapel of Maria Santissima Di Montevergine

the Chapel of Maria Santissima Di Montevergine in Haverstraw, NY.

This blog post is a continuation of my previous post titled “A road trip with no end destination in mind,” in which I hopped in my car and headed north along 9W and the Hudson River, looking for new places to explore. I left the story at the point where I was in Haverstraw, NY, … Read more

You’ve found artist Mark McKinney in NYC, not the actor

artist Mark McKinney in NYC

I have a funny story about mistaken identity and fan mail, back when I lived in New York City in the 1990s. I was working at Pace Gallery and lived downtown, near Wall Street. I was doing as much painting as I had time for after my “day job,” and it was the tail end … Read more

Use of the phrase jolie laide

example of jolie laide

I was reading a profile of the designer Kelly Wearstler in the NY Times, and there was an interesting quote from Amy Astley, the editor of Architectural Digest (which I love, and subscribe to), where she said: “…’I do think she’s a master of jolie-laide,’ or finding beauty in the unconventional or strange.” I was … Read more

Drawn to empty spaces with the ideas of an art gallery

storefront art gallery McKinney Arts

I’ve had a habit – for maybe 30 years now, dating back to when I lived in NYC – of seeing an empty storefront or building and wondering to myself: would that make for a good art gallery space? Considering I had a storefront gallery on East 11th Street in the late 1990s (see more … Read more

Having fun with AI art related to the Ducks vs The Buffs in college football

I’ve never been much of a college football fan, but with all the recent hype about Coach Prime (Deion Sanders) and the Colorado Buffaloes football program, combined with the fact that my son graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2022, it’s caught my attention. Between the 3-0 start for the Buffs, along … Read more

Real estate listing with famous art reproductions

Famous art reproductions found in a real estate listing

I was looking at some real estate listings online when I noticed some famous art reproductions all in the same house in Newburgh, NY. The first one that grabbed my attention was this copy of “Juan de Pareja,” by the Spanish artist Diego Velázquez (the original is circa 1650), installed in this turquoise blue hallway. … Read more

Artistic floral arrangements at art galleries

Unusual sunflowers seen at Pace Gallery

When I entered Pace Gallery the other day to see the Julian Schnabel exhibition, I was immediately struck by this artistic floral arrangement at the front desk. Those aren’t your typical sunflowers, and what are the spiky balls? I wasn’t sure at first glance, but wanted to try to find out. I’m not 100% sure … Read more

A double rainbow in New Jersey

Double Rainbow

My son contacted me yesterday to ask if I was seeing the double rainbow outside after a long afternoon of heavy rains. As I looked outside, I was struck first by the intensity of color and light, much more visually intense than any rainbow I’ve seen of recent memory, but secondly the aspect of a … Read more