...of the Russia/Soviet Union that we learned about in textbooks growing up. The way Hollywood and our education system taught us about Communist countries really painted a convincing picture of things. Their paintbrushes are more expensive than ours i guess. Think Rocky IV and the pervasive images of breadlines when the USSR was shown on the news or in our school books. That's my memory of it anyway. Maybe I'm the only one who was always thinking of Russians as these poor, huddled masses standing in line, out in the cold air of a desolate city square that was once a bustling metropolitan hub (with a fallen bronze statue of Lenin or Marx or Stalin). I'm sure there is a lot of truth to the images and the information, keeping in mind that Russia had such horrible civil war under Lenin, and the list goes on and on, but I'm also sure that there was a lot left out about their culture and other very positive things going on in the country. I'm tired, so maybe none of this makes sense. I tried.
This is the progress I've made so far on the Owen Wilson line. Please don't mind the face because I have to do some work on that. Well, I have to do a little work on the whole thing, but this is what I've got and I figured I would post it. Hope you like it. I can't wait to see The Darjeeling Limited!
Here is another version of the Flatbush Avenue painting. It isn't completely finished and probably never will be. I've moved on to the next project. This was just a study to try out some different things. The colors are a bit brighter and the man in the lower left corner has changed from 'some guy' to Tom Waits. There isn't much significance to him being there, and I know my Mom certainly isn't a huge Tom Waits fan. I was listening to Heartattack and Vine for the majority of the time it took to paint the picture, and while working I decided to throw Mr. Waits in the corner.
I would also like to apologize to all three of my regular blog readers for using poor punctuation and sentence structure in many of my posts. In the past I have felt it perfectly acceptable to write as if I was speaking. For example, I got into the habit of using dashes instead of commas where I would normally pause when speaking. While it may sound fine as I read it back to myself, others may not know where to pause, or they may simply be put off by the poor sentence structure itself. From here on out I promise I will do my very best to use proper punctuation and grammar, so as not to erode the already fragile state of the English language on the internet and in text messages.
heres a blurry, framed picture of a watercolor i did as a birthday present for my mom. i love ya mom!! its the first long island railroad train to go through the flatbush ave. station (its where she grew up). i figured it might be nice to paint something that had some relevance in her life, and this is where she spent her childhood. unfortunately the picture got cut off because to get the frame custom fitted is incredibly expensive. i had to take it an angle to avoid the glare off the glass. sorry about that. i just finished reading "The Yiddish Policeman's Union"--Michael Chabon's newest novel. it was an incredible book and you should go out and grab a copy. "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" and "Summerland"--for baseball lovers--are also both really great books by Chabon.
