Maybe I’m naive, or was conveniently overlooking the obvious, but when ChatGPT starting showing ads to me yesterday, it ruined the experience. I’ve found myself using ChatGPT quite a bit over the past year, and would be pleasantly surprised and encouraged when I would ask questions of a personal nature that found me receiving what … Read more
Here’s the list of ingredients for my current mindset: I’m thinking about moving; I’ve always loved New Mexico from time spent there in the past, and I’ve spent my whole life living either in cities or suburbs. So if I’m feeling restless and have a desire to shake things up, how about looking at 20 … Read more
I’m not sure how common this was in the late 1960s or early 1970s, but my parents took a lot of photos and had them developed as 35mm slides, rather than prints. Since many of my childhood photos were in that format, I didn’t really see them or have access to them as they were … Read more
I received an email today with the subject line: “Artwork acquisition inquiry.” And guess who it is supposedly coming from? The pop star Madonna, no less. How exciting would this be? An international music star such as Madonna wants to collect my paintings (3 of which are available for sale, above, and 2 more below), … Read more
I have a property tax payment coming up on May 1st, and it always seems to trigger an escape mentality, as Essex County taxes are notoriously high – in fact, 2024 data shows that Essex County had the highest property tax rate in the state of New Jersey, higher than Bergen County, Morris County, and … Read more
I was walking up West Broadway the other day, when I spotted this figure on the exterior of 383 West Broadway, current home of “Free People,” a women’s clothing store. But this figure comes from the past, back a few decades, when SoHo was the center of the art world in New York City. This … Read more
I was at home this morning, when I noticed some loud noise which at first seemed like someone banging on the walls or the ceiling, and I immediately wondered “why is there suddenly a construction project on my condo roof? What the hell are they doing up there?” It was sudden and jarring, and as … Read more
There was a story in the NY Times recently about Millennials who are embracing Bicentennial style, which I found kind of funny considering that the general birth date range for Millenials is usually considered between 1981 and 1996, so they didn’t even experience the Bicentennial firsthand. Coming from my perspective as a Gen X’er, this … Read more
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
I was having dinner with my adult (20-something) kids last night, when my youngest surprised me with a question out of no where: would I rather grow up when I did, in the 1970s and 1980s, or now? My initial thought was that I only know what I experienced, but I then quickly followed up … Read more