Holiday Card, 2009

This year's holiday card, linocut on card stock. Am torn between calling it "Candy Cane Triumphant," or "Behold, the Power of the Cane-Shaped Peppermint Stick!"



I kid, I kid. Anyway, warmest holiday wishes for now and the New year. Peace on earth, good will to all. And candy.

weekend update

My son earned his yellow belt in karate. We brought in and decorated our little live douglas fir. And went sledding! Very cool to get so much snow so much earlier in the winter.

untitled

Messing around with some of the leftover postcards from last winter's show. Painting and shmearing over them with oils.

That time of year again

Check out last December's posts for the holiday cards I've made for Christmases past. Scroll down a bit.

We've started sending out this year's card, and I'll be posting it here soon, too.

Bergen Street Comics

Bergen Street Comics is one of the sparkling new and charming little shops on Bergen between Flatbush and Fifth, and I finally stopped in on the way to the studio yesterday. Something for my wife had caught my eye, and of course I also found something for my son and myself. In the interest of the season, I'm going to keep those titles to myself for now, and just say that it's a great little shop, warm and welcoming, even to a big waterlogged slob like me stepping in out of the rain.

I will say that what I found for myself is 'The Hunter,' a graphic novelization of one of Donald Westlake's Parker novels, by Darwyn Cooke. I've had a scrap from the NY Times on my wall for months, from a review, and it had caught my eye because of the cool, three color palette, punchy black inking, and pulpy, noirish subject matter. A link to my B movie paintings that I thought I should pay attention to, especially since I think one of my projects in the new year will be some two-color linocuts.

Nice folks at the comics place, and I plan to go back. I just wish my son liked the fancy schmancy hot dogs next door. It's also down the block from Melt, where we ate for our anniversary, and which is not, despite my brother's fervent wishes, affiliated in any way with a gourmet mac n cheese place in Cleveland.

smattering

Went bowling this weekend. Channelled my inner Dude. Despite growing up in Toledo, Ohia, I was never a big bowler. But this weekend a friend had a birthday celebration that included rolling some balls at the lanes in the Port Authority. Lotsa fun. Our son had a blast, too, and my wife was rolling unconscious for a while, three straight strikes and a couple spares.

On our way from the lanes to dinner at a homey little Italian place, walking along the edges of Times Square, it snowed a little bit--big, wet, floppy flakes that glistened in the night air. Christmas lights and headlamps reflected in the slick black streets. Beautiful night. "God, I love this dirty town!"

Sunday we saw Fantastic Mr. Fox. I am a Wes Anderson fan, and I'd put this up there with my favorites of his. The whole stop motion world seems perfect for his stagelike, neoclassically balanced images. Really a fun, beautiful, touching film. We watched Up again on DVD this weekend, too, and that is even better than I remembered. It will be a tough call between those two come Oscar time [and don't forget Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which is also a really fine and funny animated film. but I think the Academy will overlook it because of the silly title].

Oh, and there should be a moratorium on the use of the old saw about second acts and American lives. Maybe, fifteen minutes of fame, too. Sick of 'em.

rainy lights

I'm loving the pics the iPhone takes. This is a shot on the way home from work last night, the corner of Fulton and the Flatbush Extension, looking west at the holiday lights in Fulton Mall. And below are some obligatory cameraphone selfportraits, taken in the studio.