Business in the Big Apple

While visiting NYC's grid-like streets with skyscrapers piercing the air, there's a sense of organized chaos. Day dreaming for a moment, I closed my eyes to imagine a veil of "apple and leaf" themed pattern cloaking the buildings. This whimsical, fleeting thought inspired my interpretation of the New York City skyline in this illustration.

Actually, a very cool idea if Apple were to use holographics to cast their branded image onto various facades of Manhattan skyscrapers.
Can’t you just see it now, apples growing in the concrete jungle!

Snapping back to reality, I was immediately in a business mindset again. Shortly after meetings, always knowing how to combine business with fun, dinner in The Big Apple had to conclude with painting the town red. Putting my thumbprint on the city that doesn't sleep, while walking all the way from Soho to Rockefeller Center, we detoured at Times Square. The jolt from sights and sounds at this famous intersection electrifies your pulse better than a Red Bull.


And if the weather isn't so perfect next time I decide to venture on a 31-block walk, I'm crossing my fingers that the taxi hailed will luck out to be the Cash Cab!
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/cash-cab/

The Painted Memory
www.thepaintedmemory.com

A Second Life for Old Furniture

Furniture fills a room - but it's the right combination of pieces that make a tasteful statement communicating your style to guests. What might have once been an old, nondescript item in a forgotten corner can now have new life and reason to become the conversation piece no one misses. Whether it's recovering the seat of a corner chair with a contemporary fabric mixing fresh newness with classic traditionalism, scouring antique flee markets for a shabby chic combination of elements, or hand-painting a themed composition or scene on the primary surface, my passion is reviving treasures of a bygone era for current living. It's amazing how a tired piece is transformed with a few brush strokes.


A favorite finished product of mine is the coffee table where I sanded the silhouetted sketch, painted my family's house heroed in the center, and after a few coats of varnish, applied gold leaf to the edging of the table as a special touch.

Subtleties were thoughtfully incorporated as a nod to my heritage. With ancestors having traveled from Ploos van Amstel to Cincinnati, it was pivotal to bridge this connection by including a tulip as the hierarchical focus. My childhood Glendale home was built and designed by the family over 100 years ago. Having discovered old, black & white photographs capturing its construction was all the inspiration I needed to fuel my decision, and begin painting.


Additional pieces I've painted include Springer Spaniels, vegetables and ferns. All begin with a thumbnail sketch washed in loose color before the real project begins!


Next personal project on the list, painting a destination scene on my headboard.

The Painted Memory
www.thepaintedmemory.com