Notes from an Artistic Journey
Sketching Pompeii on the Upper East Side
For sketchers and art lovers who enjoy Ancient Rome, there is a delightful gem of an exhibit on the Upper East Side, not far from the Metropolitan Museum. The NYU Institute for the Study of the Ancient World is showing 35 frescoes from Pompeii rarely seen outside Italy that date from the 1st Century.
Bela de Tirefort – A Forgotten New York Artist
Years ago while browsing a second-hand store I became entranced by a moody oil painting of a tugboat with a silhouette of lower Manhattan in the background. The painting was covered in grime and might have decorated a smoky bar that served longshoremen who worked the waterfront. I couldn’t recognize the signature that was partially hidden by the frame, and never identified the artist… until now.
Eisenberg’s To Reopen!
Once the busiest lunch counter in Manhattan's Flatiron District, Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop closed earlier this year as a casualty of the Pandemic. But I just got the happy news that it will be reopening under new owners. This was a great place to sketch while...
Sketching An Encounter with WWII History in Maine’s North Woods
Driving the country roads in the North Woods of Maine I did not expect to come face to face with a historical episode from World War II. Yet that is exactly what happed when I learned of the remains of a prisoner of war camp hidden away in the North Woods.
Medical Care in the Nursing Home on the Cover of JAGS
Over the years I photographed hundreds of older adults with the goal of challenging stereotypes while presenting a humanistic perspective of aging. The new Ars Longa section is meant to showcase cultural and artistic approaches to aging and the care of older people, and I am glad to have my work published in this forum.
Sketching the Benin Bronzes at the Met
Standing silently while sketching in the empty gallery, it is difficult to imagine the majesty and meaning once held by these sculptures. There is no better example of the mystery and power of art, and how it reflects on both the highest and lowest ideals of humanity.
-
Another Cover Photo on The Gerontologist
The June, 2010 cover of The Gerontologist features one of my many images of aging. I have been photographing human aging for the past twenty years, and this magazine has been publishing my work as cover art since 1996. Links to more Gerontologist covers as well as... -
A Taste of Ancient Peruvian Medicine
I just got back from a road trip through Peru to discover new faces of aging to add to my photographic portfolios. This was my first trip to South America, and on the way I discovered riches in people and culture, but one of my most unexpected experiences was getting... -
The Elders of Taquile Island in Peru
Taquile Island, a 452 acre rocky gem in the western part of Lake Titicaca in Peru, is home to a remarkably fit and sturdy group of elders. I discovered them on an international road trip to find and photograph faces of aging and learn how different cultures approach... -
15 Years of Covers on The Gerontologist
This video explores my photographic work that has appeared on the cover of The Gerontologist (TG) over the past 15 years. The Gerontologist is published by Oxford University Press, and is the flagship journal of the Gerontological Society of America, and is devoted... -
Will Barnet: Artist and Centenarian
Will Barnet passed away on November 25, 2012 at age 101. I had the opportunity to photograph him at age 100 in his home and studio in the National Arts Club in Gramercy Park. His paintings and drawings are in every major museum in the United States, and he was still... -
City Diary: Incident on the Brooklyn Bridge
I carry my camera around Manhattan, especially on weekends when my wife and I go adventuring around the City. Sometimes when conditions line up correctly I might get some interesting shots. This occurs when the light is right, my battery is charged, and I remember... -
Aging Inside Angola State Penitentiary
In November 2010 I photographed aging prisoners in Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana. After the GSA meeting in New Orleans I drove 150 miles through the wetlands, past Baton Rouge, then north up Highway 66. The facility was surrounded by 12-foot razor-topped... -
A Glimpse of Manhattan After 9/11
As the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001 rolls around, I searched my negatives for photos I took in the days after the disaster. They were in storage and I scanned some of them for this post, which is dedicated to the memory of the people who died in the... -
Photographing Aging Bikers at Sturgis
The biker struggled to get her leg over the saddle of her Harley, and looked up at me a bit chagrined. “I just had my knee replaced and still having some trouble,” she said. The event was Sturgis, perhaps the largest motorcycle rally in America, and this lady was one... -
City Diary: What’s Going On Downtown?
The Occupy Wall Street demonstration, that’s what. There’s been so much press about the goings on downtown that I went to see for myself and share some photos on my blog. I took the subway to Wall Street, and once I got off the demonstrators were not hard to find. ... -
Geriatrics, Art, and Ancient Treasure on Lake Titicaca
I recently traveled to the Bolivian highlands and Lake Titicaca to find new faces of aging, and on the way discovered an exquisite example of ancient treasure featuring geriatrics and art. The Pariti Ceramics Museum was not listed in my guidebook. In fact, Pariti... -
The Twilight of Jewish South Beach, Miami
When I was growing up, my grandparents wintered in Miami. I remember visiting them and feeling the warm sunshine and sand that sometimes scalded your feet when days were hot. In 1985 while training in geriatrics in New York City, I returned to Miami to photograph... -
Manhattan Loses an Artistic Landmark
It was quirky, and not even that pretty, but I liked it and now its gone. So many of Manhattan’s artistic landmarks have been obliterated in the past decade, knocked down or covered up by drab glass walled buildings, and this is one of them. I photogaphed it in 2008... -
The Corpus Callosum, Buddha’s Enlightenment, and the Neurologic Basis for Creativity
In my journey expoloring both medicine and art, I’ve thought a lot about the neurobiology of creativity. The corpus callosum is the thick bundle of 200 million nerve fibers that forms the communication network between the left brain and right brain. The left brain is... -
Photographing Los Ancianos of Bolivia
This past summer I returned to South America to photograph aging, and one of these photos is featured on the December cover of The Gerontologist. This is the flagship journal of the Gerontological Society of America. I am often asked about my “TG” cover... -
Experiencing the Winter Solstice on Isla del Sol
Celebrating the Winter Solstice with Bolivian priests atop Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca. This is the new year of the ancient Inca calendar.
-
Art and Transformation in the Flatiron Building
Hypergraphia, the art installation in the Flatiron Building, was based on the simple concept of individually decorated coffee cups hanging from fishing line.
-
Blessing of the Dawn on the Gangese River
In November 2011 I traveled to India to photograph and spent nearly two weeks there. My highlight was a city called Benares. Each day at dawn I went to the riverbanks, also called Ghats, and returned with hours of video. I edited the best clips together to recreate... -
Soviet Relics in Central Asia
Kyrgyzstan has been independent for over two decades, but I saw many signs of the communist regime on major streets and back roads. Grim Soviet-style war memorials are regular roadside features. The massive statue of Lenin, once at the center of a main square in the... -
Medical School Memories
In 1980 I was in the last year of medical school and getting ready to embark on my career as a doctor. The routine was to meet with an important faculty member in the Dean’s office, discuss the medical school experience, and talk about plans for the future. A summary... -
Digging out my Art Students League Sketchbooks
I received so many kind and encouraging comments about the post featuring my medical school sketchbooks that I went back to my flat files for more material to exhibit on-line. It seems my sketches surprised friends and colleagues because they didn’t know I did this... -
Childhood Dreams Under the Pulaski Skyway
I had recurring dreams about the dark, polluted waters of the Hackensack River. I dreamed I was in a rowboat without oars floating downstream, the huge railroad trestles and highways looming above. One of my first projects when I bought a camera in 1985 was to return to the Hackensack River to photograph my dreams.
-
Umbrella Symphony in Manhattan
Last week I was caught in a summer downpour in lower Manhattan after I left the office late in the afternoon. I was wet and uncomfortable, and fatigued after attending to patients for most of the day. Like other New Yorkers trying to get home, I was rushing to the... -
An Unexpected Religious Festival in India
There are moments in travel when the mundane turns magical. This happens a lot in India, a country rich with ritual, mysticism and prayer where I was searching for new images of aging in the Fall of 2011. Unexpectedly at dawn I stumbled into a Hindu festival known as... -
Visiting Doctor Chekhov
I’ve spent a lot of time studying physicians who were also successful artists, poets, and writers. Examining their work and lives, I try to decipher how they succeeded in two challenging careers during the same lifetime. With this in mind, on a trip to Moscow to... -
The Lucky Dogs of the Moscow Metro
As a New York City resident I found riding the underground railway of Moscow a sublime and surprising experience, particularly as a fan of canines. Built by Stalin in the 1930’s, the stations are constructed with marble and granite and many are adorned with... -
Manhattan After the Hurricane
My office downtown is dark with no phone service or water, but I am thankful because my home is intact and we have electricity. Not so for many people whose lives have been upended by this historic, devastating storm. I took my camera out in the storm’s aftermath to... -
Victory Day in Moscow
Victory Day is the Russian national holiday commemorating surrender of the German army on May 9, 1945. The country fought for 6 bloody years and lost over 26 million people including 8.5 million soldiers. In Moscow there is a military parade in Red Square, and... -
Sketching on the Left Bank
In the summer of 1977 I traveled to Europe carrying a sketchpad. These were my last months of freedom before entering medical school, and I had doubts about whether I was making the right decision. My acceptance letter was hard-earned, but I rationalized the decision... -
Venice Beach Sketchbook
I started drawing again after a hiatus of over twenty years, and what better place to practice my rediscovered skills than Venice Beach, California. I first visited Venice in 1995, and there was something in the sand, the murals, and the alleys that enchanted me. I... -
Tradition and Healing at the Santa Fe Indian Market
I’ve traveled hundreds of miles across Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah to photograph the scenery and the people but I never made it to the Santa Fe Indian Market until this past summer. There I discovered an explosion of Native American art that builds on culture and... -
Aging in Central Asia
In May 2012 I traveled to Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia to photograph aging and gain better understanding of international differences in how people grow old. I was amazed to learn the extent that elders are revered in traditional Kyrgyz society. The collapse of the... -
Faces of Istanbul
I took these shots last spring after completing a ten day trip through Russia and Central Asia to photograph aging. I didnt intend to do a lot of picture taking in Istanbul, but the visual lure of this picturesque city got me out with my camera. One of the largest... -
Ghost Motels of Arizona
Much of the history and romance of America has been bypassed by the Interstate system. This past winter I traveled to Arizona and drove down old Highway 60 from Wickenberg to Quartzite and encountered a living museum of Americana in its defunct roadside motels. A few... -
Cicada Mania!!
As a child while other boys were busy with Little League and football, I spent hours chasing insects. My favorite was the cicada – a large and lumbering arthropod whose shrill mating call from the high trees marked the long hot days of summer. In China this ungainly... -
JAMA is Redesigned, Art is Demoted
Beginning in 1964 the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) started publishing full color images of art on its cover accompanied by insightful essays. JAMA’s former editor, George Lundberg, wrote that this was part of an initiative to inform readers about... -
Wounds of a Boxer: Medical Secrets from Ancient Rome
Over the past month an ancient sculptural masterpiece has been on temporary display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Greek and Roman halls. On loan from Rome’s Museo Nazionale Romano, “Boxer at Rest” depicts a battered pugilist immediately after a... -
Maine Watercolor
This summer in Maine I continued my exploration of plein aire watercolor painting. “Plein aire” means that the work is done outdoors, and there was no better place to do this than the rocky beaches and little towns around Acadia National Park. My wife and I go up... -
Photographing Letchworth Village
We often think that medical progress marches in a straight line, but that is not the case. Some ideas change the field rapidly, while others sit by the sidelines for decades before being accepted. Others are accepted by the medical profession like a fad only to fall... -
Sketching on the Lower East Side
This past Labor Day 2013 I had a relaxing afternoon with a friend, meeting him on the Lower East Side for lunch. We feasted on pickles, pastrami, and gefilte fish. Afterward we wandered the streets reflecting on the history and changes to the area when we came across... -
Hospital Closure and the Gift of Time
The closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City was a tragedy that many thought would never happen. In the Spring of 2010 this busy facility in lower Manhattan ceased to exist and thousands of doctors, nurses, and hospital workers had to look elsewhere... -
The Masks of Manhattan
I’ve always had a fascination with the masks we wear, in daily living and cultural extravaganzas. I recently posted photos of festival masks from a remote location in the Peruvian Andes, and decided to contrast that with a post featuring masks from Manhattan. It was... -
More Vanished Signs of New York
This is a portion of my visual journal of changing New York City. In recent decades, development has erased many signs of the City’s storied and gritty past. I’ve been photographing the old signs of Manhattan and surrounding boroughs since I moved here in... -
Manhattan Commuters in Watercolor
Over the past few years I’ve been exploring the medium of watercolor. The first choice that an artist has to make after buying paints and brushes is to decide on subject matter. I found a quite convenient visual topic to explore is the streets of Manhattan, and... -
Footnote to the 2004 Republican National Convention
Recently a news item inspired me to go into my old proof sheets and scan black & white negatives shot with my Nikon camera a decade ago. Nearly 10 years after New York City hosted the 2004 Republican National Convention, the city agreed to pay $18 million to... -
More Snow in Manhattan!
As the sixth storm of the season dumps more snow on the northeast, most of us are getting a little tired of looking at it. Two of the storms came as arctic blasts and introduced new verbiage in the form of the ‘polar vortex’ to our daily lives. But life goes on in... -
End of an Era: Pearl Paint Closes
Last week was a sad one for those who follow disappearing Manhattan landmarks. The closure of three stores was announced – places which to many people make the fabric of New York City memories. They include J&R Music down by City Hall, Rizzoli Bookstore on 57th... -
Caring on the Cover of The Gerontologist
I really like my latest cover on The Gerontologist as it expresses the essence of frailty in old age and the process of caring. I took this picture on a trip to San Antonio in 2012, at a nursing home called Buena Vida Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. This facility... -
The Story Behind the AGS Annual Meeting Program Cover
I was thrilled when the American Geriatrics Society contacted me seeking images for the program cover of next year’s annual meeting. I spent hours flipping through my portfolio and found several suitable shots. Gradually I realized that to represent aging in America I... -
Arion Triumphant
This post is written in honor of the 500th birthday of the great anatomist, Andreas Vesalius, who combined art and medicine in his landmark masterpiece, De Humani Corporis Fabrica. I am a lifelong fan of Vesalius and currently collaborating with the physician-scholar... -
Washington Heights Diary
These are my most recent watercolors painted in Washington Heights. They feature the markets, bus stops, street people, and Orthodox Jews around Broadway, Fort Washington and St. Nicholas Avenues. Thanks to my teacher, the master Timothy Clark, I am finally beginning... -
Sketching Gowanus Canal with NYC Urban Sketchers
I was always intrigued by the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. I read so much about it, with its pollution and notorious odors, situated in one of the most rapidly gentrifying areas of the City. Then by a gesture of fate I learned that the New York City Urban Sketchers were... -
Goya’s Physician and the Art of Caring
I recently went to Boston to see the Goya exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and was thrilled to see one of my favorite paintings by this artist – Self Portrait with Dr. Arrias. The painting was on loan from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts – a museum I... -
Sketching the Subway and the Disappearance of Time
When one rides the subway, particularly the local, time is marked by the staccato passage of stations punctuated by announcements and the in-and-out rush of commuters as the doors open and close. I recently began carrying my sketchbook on my commute to work and... -
Traveling with Homer
My watercolor teacher Timothy J. Clark introduced me to the life and work of Winslow Homer – probably the greatest American artist of the 19th Century. Born in Boston on February 24, 1836, he was a completely self-taught artist. He began his career as an illustrator,... -
Recent Watercolors
This past winter and spring I’ve been continuing my exploration into the medium of watercolor, drawing inspiration from the bustle of the streets, parks, and people of New York City. Every day, every minute brings a new tableau of light and interesting... -
Painting in Maine
This past summer I had the opportunity to continue my watercolor exploration in Maine. Part of my journey included a workshop sponsored by Coastal Maine Art Workshops with the master watercolorist, Alvero Castagnet. Alvero’s work is all over the internet and his... -
The Meatpacking District Before the High Line
I moved into New York City in 1985 to study geriatrics at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. Back then, the International Center for Photography (ICP) was located on Fifth Avenue in the 90’s – just steps from the hospital – and offered conveniently timed... -
Sketching in Savannah, Georgia
I recently attended a medical conference in Savannah, Georgia, and my stay was supposed to be short, but a huge blizzard coming from the midwest cancelled thousands of flights including mine. Good thing I brought my sketching supplies, because I was in this charming ... -
Aging Veterans on the Covers of The Gerontologist
I always had a soft spot for veterans, as my father saw action in the Pacific Theater and I grew up with his war mementos stashed in a corner of my basement. A theme in the photos I’ve taken for covers on The Gerontologist has therefore been veterans, with... -
Music and Art on the Covers of The Gerontologist
A recent cover of The Gerontologist features a musician at the local Octoberfest, a yearly block party that celebrates the German immigrant heritage of my neighborhood in Manhattan that is now only a memory. TG is the flagship journal of the Gerontological Society of... -
Aging & Spirituality on the Covers of The Gerontologist
Given the subject matter it is fitting that my last cover on The Gerontologist came out in time for the Spring holidays. I’ve been looking back on my 20 years of covers on TG and blogging on themes that ran through the images. This post presents a selection of... -
The View From My Sketchbooks
This is the view from my sketchbooks and paintings done en plein aire. They are a selection from the past 3 years as I wandered the roadsides looking for subjects. This is a view of the Triboro Bridge (now renamed the RFK Bridge) from Randall’s Island on the... -
Aging on the Covers of The Gerontologist
Looking back at my published work on the covers of The Gerontologist, two underlying themes are diversity and strength in old age. Any student of aging knows that the older population is more diverse than ever, with differences expressed in color, culture, identity,... -
Capturing the Bolivian Sunlight in Watercolor
There is nothing like the dazzling sunlight in the Bolivian Highlands. At 12,000 feet the bustling city of La Paz and the amazing Lake Titicaca have a crisp atmosphere that brightens colors like I’ve never seen. This post presents a selection of my sketches... -
New Year’s Day Sketching the Q Train Inaugural Ride
New Year’s Day was a rare opportunity to participate in the opening of a new subway station. The Q line now starts at 96th Street and stops at 86th Street and 72nd – all new stations – before heading toward Coney Island. After years of construction... -
Jean Martin Charcot: Physician and Urban Sketcher
I have always been interested in physicians who incorporated art into their life and practice, and one of them was Jean Martin Charcot. A towering figure in the medical world of the 19th Century, Charcot was born in 1825 and finished medical school at age 23. He... -
An Abandoned Psychiatric Hospital in Tuscany
Tuscany is an enchanting place filled with scenic beauty, but beneath the surface there is dark history. On a recent painting trip to Italy I had the opportunity to tour an abandoned psychiatric hospital in the town of Volterra. In the late 19th Century when it was... -
A Lost Manhattan Landmark
I was saddened by the blaze that destroyed Beth Medrash Hagadol, the 167 year old landmarked synagogue on the Lower East Side. The building was not in use since 2007, and I photographed this structure when it had an active congregation in 1987. When I heard about... -
Combining Art and Medicine
I love the look and feel of old medical textbooks. Their authorative aura was often enhanced by leather binding. They harken back to a time before the internet, when medical knowledge was priveliged information available to only a few. When I transformed this old... -
Watercolor and Urban Sketching in Italy
Last May I spent time in Rome and Tuscany, eating wonderful food, drinking wine, and sketching the city and countryside where opportunities to make and view art abound. These are my choices of the best images from my trip. Take the stairs down to the banks of the... -
Rediscovering my Art Supplies in the Arizona Desert
In 2012 I rediscovered my art supplies that were in storage for years, and decided to get reacquainted. So I threw sketchbooks, pens, and paints into a backpack and flew to Phoenix, rented a car, and drove out to the desert to commune with the warm sun, cactuses, and... -
A Sketch of My Nobel Prize Winning Professor
As an undergraduate ‘pre-med’ student at Brandeis University, my major was molecular biology. I completed my senior thesis with a brilliant professor named Mike Rosbash who taught my genetics class. After graduation, I stayed in his lab, taking a year off doing... -
Remembering 5Pointz
Three years ago I biked across the Queensboro Bridge to admire and photograph the spraypainted graffiti murals at the fabled location in Long Island City known as 5Pointz. Painted on the walls of a 200,000 square foot factory building, 5Pointz had a reputation as the... -
Courtroom Art and NYC History
This is a message to sketchers and those interested in the underbelly of New York City history: RUN DON’T WALK to the exhibit currently running at the Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery at John Jay College of Criminal Justice until February 2, 2018. The show is entitled... -
Ambulating Manhattan
Across the globe, more than half the world’s population lives in cities, and there is a growing recognition that urban environments need to be more age-friendly. With its rich cultural offerings and easy access to stores, New York City looks like a great place to... -
A Plein Air Setup for Large-Scale Urban Sketching
I find sketching to be an antidote to the high-tech, socially networked, Instagrammed world we live in. After a year of sketching in a small sketchbook I decided to go larger, but this meant upgrading my equipment. I’d been looking for a plein air rig that would do... -
My New Canine Sketch Partner
Two years ago when coming back from a medical conference I picked up a puppy in Ohio and drove over 450 miles back to NYC. The drive took 2 days and we did some serious bonding, taking our time sketching along the way. Here is our journey… Our first stop was a... -
Celebrating Old Age at the Burning Ghats in Benares
Benares, also known as Varanasi, is the holiest city in India and one of the oldest living cities of the world. It is built on the banks of the sacred river Ganges – a place of pilgrimage and home to Shiva, the volatile and compassionate god who is known as the... -
Welcome to My New Website!
Welcome to my new website, which assembles a good portion of my creative output into one place that is easily viewable and searchable. My sketchbooks, photos, paintings, blog posts, and videos are all represented here. When I started this project I was surprised how... -
Review of a Vintage Winsor Newton Travel Palette
This is a review of a vintage Winsor Newton travel watercolor palette I scored on Ebay. I don’t know the model number or year it was made and if anyone has this info I would appreciate if you passed it on. I’ve been using a metal travel palette with 14 half pans and... -
Sketching at the Museo del Prado
This past summer after the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Porto I flew to Madrid where I spent time sketching in the Museo del Prado. This amazing world-class museum is bursting with gems of art history and Spanish culture, along with a strict policy that bans... -
Urban Sketching in Porto and Madrid
Getting to Portugal for the international Urban Sketchers Symposium was not difficult, but demanded some tricky connections as I started off from Maine. So I took a ride on an 8 seater Cessna from Rockland to Boston where I caught a flight to Madrid. I was able to... -
Celebrity Duck Takes Manhattan!
Feeling bruised after an expensive and somewhat painful dental appointment, I took a detour into Central Park to lighten my spirits. Walking by the pond by 59th Street and 5th Avenue, in the shadow of the Plaza Hotel, I noticed a crowd pressed at the edge of the... -
The Minotaur of Zuccarello
While wandering the winding stone streets of the nearly deserted medieval town of Zucarello looking for a quiet place to paint, a startling sight made my blood run cold. Built into a niche was a locked cell of iron bars that held a very lifelike creature with bulging... -
Another Art Supply Store Closes
It was with sadness that I went downtown to Jerrys New York Central on 4th Avenue to grab what was left at the closing sale. Jerry’s was one of the last remaining art supply stores in Manhattan that had salespeople who know about the inventory and a friendly... -
Trying Out Rabbit Skin Glue
This weekend I tried rabbit skin glue for priming canvas and was pleased with the result. For years I was hesitant to test this old-time technology, but having been disappointed with PVR sizing I decided to give it a go. Plus with the closing of Jerry’s on Fourth... -
Art, Dementia, and Elder Abuse: The Sad Story of Peter Max
Back in high school I was a big fan of Peter Max. His work was everywhere – on the cover of Life Magazine, on album covers for The Beatles, and on psychedelic day-glow posters at the head shop on Journal Square in Jersey City, the town where I grew up. I remember... -
Urban Sketching in Portland, Oregon
I recently spent time in Portland, Oregon. My reason for going was to present research at the American Geriatrics Society annual meeting that was held at the Convention Center. While there, I was able to get out and explore the downtown area, and also do some... -
The Ticket That Got Me Through Medical School
While going through a box of art supplies I had in storage I came across this ticket to the Friday Eventing Sketch Class from 1982. I suddenly realized how important the Art Students League was in getting me through medical school. I went to medical school in Newark,... -
Preparing for Plein Air Painting in Castine, Maine
Those of you who follow my posts know that I recently picked up plein-air painting using watercolor and oil. I am pleased to announce that I was accepted to the Castine Plein Air Festival this summer in Castine, Maine. In the spring I submitted an application to... -
Rehabilitating a Vintage Grumbacher #286 French Easel
I’m a big fan of vintage art supplies. Seems that much of the stuff you get today feels like cheap knock-offs. Plus its kind of a spiritual experience using good quality materials that were used and enjoyed by another artist. I always admired the romance of... -
Plein Air Oil Painting in Central Park
The first sunny weekend in June I set out to do plein air oil painting in Central Park. My equipment included my Open Box M easel, a basic array of primary colors, and one of my home-made panels surfaced with primed cotton. The park gets really crowded with... -
Revisiting My Medical School Sketchbooks
This is one of the sketches I did as a medical student when rotating through the VA Hospital. It was done with a felt-tip marker, probably a Flair, on the back of a Doctors Order sheet. It’s not dated, but was probably done in 1979. It shows a scene you... -
Plein Air Painting in the Hudson Valley
Back in May as the weather tuned nice and spring began to take root I took a workship in the Hudson Valley with Garin Baker, sponsored by the Art Students League. This was a wonderful opportunity to get outside and paint in a spectacular environment close to... -
Urban Sketching & Asian Cuisine: Adventuring in Flushing, Queens
On Saturday night my wife and I decided to go adventuring and get Chinese food in Flushing, Queens. This place is considered the largest, least touristy, and most vibrant Chinatown in America. We took the 7 Train – nicknamed the Orient Express – from... -
Life and Art at the Bowery Gallery
Philip Sherrod shows off his collage of found objects. In my years as a physician at St. Vincent’s Hospital in the West Village I became friends with many artists who lived and worked in this neighborhood, and getting to know them opened up new worlds for me. ... -
Photographing Wigstock in Tompkins Square Park, 2003
Back when digital cameras began to outsell film cameras, I was still doing street photography with my Leica M4 and developing the film in my apartment. I have thousands of negatives in storage that document life in Manhattan since I moved here in 1984. All the... -
My Art Library: Drawing the Head & Figure, by Jack Hamm
As someone who never went to art school, this slim out-of-print volume is probably the most informative book I’ve ever seen for learning how to sketch the human body. At only 120 pages, it contains hundreds of illustrations and easy-to-follow text that deliver tips,... -
Plein Air Painting on the McKenzie River
The wild McKenzie River runs through the Willamette National Forest, west of the Cascade Range in Central Oregon. Over the July 4th weekend I went there to paint it. I managed to film my work and post it, and this is the story of my trip. I flew into Redmond and...