The Master

Every once in awhile you stumble upon a guy that is so good at what he does that it truly causes the world to blur around him.  Philippe Faraut is one of those people.  It's stunning to see his hands touch a piece of clay.  Small motions and movements suddenly create something of beauty.  I think that is what blows me away.  The differences between mediocre and genius is not always in the details.  I guess you could call it the simple genius.  Take a look at his work on the net if you get a chance.  I have to go practice.....

Giving me the Finger

What is the deal with this finger lakes area?  So far I had not seen anything that even resembled a lake much less a finger.  The entire town Honeoye folds up and goes home around 6 pm.   That means the quest for a good chard becomes more difficult.  Luckily, the locals gave up one of the good places and it happened to be on a finger lake.  After a hard day of making art it was worth the 13 mile drive through beautiful country to get there.  8 hours of looking at a nude model on a big turnable makes  everything seems to look like a body part.  Which one is this?

Life in a lump

Have you ever seen the stone sculpture of Michelangelo's that is partially finished?  It looks like it is coming alive out of this huge chunk of stone.  It was in there all the time, it just needed to have someone pull the marble off of it.   Genius comes in many forms.  The spelling bee, Good Will Hunting,  The IQ wizard, the server who can remember 15 orders without a pen, or maybe MJ on one of the good days.  But let's not forget the artists, whomever you believe them to be.   The painter, the actor, the pickpocket, or guitarist.  Today for me it was the Sculptor.  I watched the teacher pull life from a lump of gray clay in a matter of minutes.  Rough and unfinished it had a beauty that was beyond words.  Only to be mashed into a ball and done again.  Amazing.   This little honey was most certainly not from the master  but merely s a stop along the road in the hunt for Genius.   What is your Genius?

The Quiet Place

The finger lakes in upstate New York is a magical place in the late Spring.  The hour or so drive down the county roads to get to Honeoyo was awesome.  The only thing that made it better was finding my home for the next week. I'm up here to do a workshop with the famous sculptor Philippe Faraut.  This feels like an artsy place.   "The Quiet Place" as it is called is nestled deep in the woods a few miles outside of town.  It's one of those places where a novel should be written.  So, I'm going to start one.   I got the idea in New Orleans a few months ago.  I would like to lock down the characters in the movie before I actually get started on the novel.  SO, I am taking applications for the following:

The oldest hooker in New Orleans

The street vendor

The protagonist - a street musician

The bad guy 1- An old crooked politician

Bad Guy 2-  Billionaire brother of the hooker

Nelly- the sleazy but sweet love interest of the street musician.


Please include a short resume and some photos would be nice......  I do have my short list....

Stay tuned....

The Groove and the Studio Stool

It's been a  long time since I have been in the studio.  It's sort of like riding a bike except that you fall off a bunch.  Well, I have some scrapes on my knees but they will heal and I have found a little bit of my groove.  Over the next few months I'm going to be doing some images of local folks out here in East Texas.  Some will be edgy.....others will hopefully tell a story.   I suppose you never know what an image brings until it's locked down.  Stay tuned for some interesting insight into a very unique place.    I will be on the lookout for some interesting folks that live out in the piney woods, so if you know anyone.....