the martyr series 1990 - 1991

'the stoning of st. stephan' acrylic, oil, cement, gold-leafed box containing a rock on canvas 117 x 214 cm. 1990 artist's collection

stoning is the oldest form of capital punishment and is still in use today throughout parts of the middle east and africa. it is usually carried out by a local mob and most victims today are usually women accused of adultery. for the taliban, it is the preferred method of punishment for many crimes. it does not take much imagination to realize the horror.


'martyrdom of margaret clitherow' acrylic, cement, press type, gold-leafed box containing a brass weight on canvas (triptych) app. 61 x 140 cm. overall. collection: decordova museum, mass. usa

margaret clitherow was well respected in her community. in a fit of collective religious zeal, she was executed for a minor offense in york in 1586. she was stretched out on the ground, arms and legs tied to posts. a sharp rock was placed under her back and a heavy wooden door laid on top of her body. rocks and boulders were then thrown on top, slowly crushing her. the stone at her back forced her spine to snap. man's inhumanity to man knows no boundaries and its usually carried out in the name of god. go figure! while i was working on this series, in the back of my mind i was operating in a state of disbelief, that people are more than willing to kill one-another based on their spirituality. makes me want to scream.

4you

"4 you" screenprint and watercolor on etched 3 mm. aluminum plate 65 x 50 cm. 2009

newest print for dutch superyacht builder heesen. custom frame (not pictured) created from the same wood used throughout the ship's interior. gift to the owner on behalf of heesen yachts.

for their annual yearbook, heesen yachts devoted several pages titled, "the making of a print" which documented the print process in the creation of 'jems2', a print on aluminum presented to the owner of the boat. the entire process was shot by dutch photographer, jan willem steenmeijer. see also: art for the maritime industry under categories.

drawing

no title. crayons on paper 1961 artist's collection

picasso once said, "I was an artist in my mother's womb." i guess i was too judging from the way i signed and dated this drawing. this is me in front of my house that had a big tree in front. i actually like the composition of this!
because of my incessant drawing, my parents took me to the 1964 world's fair in NY to see michelangelo's pieta in the vatican pavilion. it was my first 'art experience'. i clearly remember gliding past on a slow 'conveyor' belt, in awe, holding my mother's hand. "look tommy, he carved this from a single block of marble! look at the veins in his hands!" i knew from that moment i wanted to be an artist.

clipper

"clipper" oil on canvas. 46 x 61 cm. 1967 artist's collection

i took a few painting lessons when i was 12 and i was the only kid amongst adults. i quit to play little league baseball. the teacher was not too pleased with my descison. i remember his sarcastic parting words, " good luck with your baseball career!" my pitching career with the yankees never materialized so he was probably right: i should've stayed.

shipwreck

"shipwreck" acrylic on canvasboard 45 x 61 cm. 1969 artist's collection

i painted this in junior high school. i was 14. my art teacher recognized my talent and provided me with a space where i could come and work after school hours. i remember him saying, " i wish this wasn't so easy for you."

its not. especially when you're confronting a blank canvas 2 meters square.

seascape

"seascape" acrylic on canvasboard 23 x 35.5 cm. 1972 artist's collection

i did this when i was 16 and a junior in high school. my attachment to the sea is part of what defines me. when encountering a work of art, a truly wonderful experience is when the work transcends the consciousness, almost on the level of a spiritual encounter, as when i 'hear' the morning in a corot or smell the salt air in a winslow homer. when i look back on this piece now 38 years later, i am reminded of that deep, sharp, penetrating new england winter chill along the coast.

the city

"the city" acrylic, collage on canvasboard 46 x 61 cm. 1973 artist's collection

i think most kids go through a depression in high school. i clearly remember the night i painted this, walking down the street feeling suicidal. i remember the halo rings around the streetlights. i remember thinking, "what's the point?"

there's a big point. a beautiful and wonderful point.

seascape

"seascape" watercolor on paper. 40.5 x 51 cm. 1973 artist's collection

this was one of my first attempts at watercolor. i copied the image from a postcard and gave the painting to my dad as a birthday gift. i was a senior in high school. i've kind of lost the touch of watercolors since.

ex

"ex" screenprint, woodcut on rives BFK paper 65 x 50 cm. 2003 edition size: 6

battle of the bulge

"battle of the bulge" oil, oil stick, cement, spray paint, toy soldiers, assorted material on canvas 183 x 132 cm. 2001 artist's collection


close up detail

daddy bush had soundly defeated the baddie of baghdad and america was on its war footing. its a mindset my country seems to relish: the war on poverty, the war on cancer, the war on drugs, the war on terror; doesn't seem to win any of them but that's another story. anyways, it was 'in the air'. i visited my mother during this time and was going through some junk i had stored and happened upon these plastic soldiers i played with as a kid. plastic nazi soldiers goose stepping! how twisted. i thought i could use them in a painting so i took them back with me to my studio in nyc. on the internet i found a company that makes highly detailed metal tanks about 2 cm. long, tigers, panzers, shermans, etc. so i combined all these elements to illustrate the battle of the bulge from a bird's eye view. the b.o.b. was the last german offensive in WW2, dec. 1944. in heavy snow the germans launched their surprise attack through the ardennes in a last ditch effort to repel the allied advance into germany. (they lost) in the painting i tried to imagine what it must have looked like from a low flying airplane. tanks leaving trails in the snow, the bold advance, the chaotic response. architectural model shrubs make up the foliage and globs of paint make up the fire.