Painted this from a reference photo taken along one of the main roads in Lancaster County. Passed an Amish buggy every few hundred yards. This painting is part of a series of Amish buggy scenes.

Love playing Hot Wheels with my son. Love painting them as well. This painting is a take off on “Jam” – an award-winning painting I completed in 2007. When painting Jam – was thinking about the way my son lines the cars up in neat rows – I liked the blocks of color. As I was working on Jam, the grid of cars reminded me of traffic jams (had a lot of time to think about traffic jams when I was commuting into Philadelphia). “Crash” is a natural extension of that same idea. Sometimes, my son just likes to dump the cars in a big pile. Was going for a more abstract composition, but couldn’t resist drawing the viewers eye to the monster truck. Hid a bunch of stuff, like names of my children and friends, in this painting. Also selected cars that had a bit of novelty to them. See if you can find the shark car, the WWII bomber car, or the gorilla car. And, over half the cars have flames on them – seemed appropriate given the painting is of a car crash.

Love vacationing in Sea Isle City, New Jersey. On the bay, there are a number of great seafood restaurants. Two of my favorites are Mike’s and Marie’s. Mike’s is a great hang out. We love to order big take-out pans of steamed clams in a butter/lemon/wine sauce. Or, we’ll bring some beers, order some broiled seafood, and hang out on their deck. Marie’s is much the same – love their fried scallops – best I’ve had anywhere – when we order a to-go bucket, it’s usually half gone by the time we get back to our place. My daughter and I took the reference photo for this painting from a side street pier across from the backs of the restaurants. Particularly like that we were able to capture the famous Sea Isle water tower (“Smile – You’re In Sea Isle City”) in the background.

Over the Holidays, we spent a few days at the Jersey Shore. I love going to the shore in the Winter – no one’s on the beach, it’s peaceful, and all the natural noises seem enhanced because they’re not drowned out by the sounds of people milling about. One rainy afternoon, we decided to drive down the coast and do some shopping in Avalon and Stone Harbor. As the afternoon wore on, it started to rain. Nothing else to do, so we decided to drive to Cape May to see the Christmas lights on the houses. Great idea. Right before it got dark, the sky was bathed in a beautiful indigo blue. Since the streets were wet, the lights created warm reflections off the sidewalks and streets. Got weird looks from a number of people (4 of which were my family) as I stood in the rain, in the middle of the street, snapping pictures. Got soaked, but it was worth it. I probably took 50 reference shots in all, a number of which will make great paintings. This is the 3rd painting in this series.

Over the Holidays, we spent a few days at the Jersey Shore. I love going to the shore in the Winter – no one’s on the beach, it’s peaceful, and all the natural noises seem enhanced because they’re not drowned out by the sounds of people milling about. One rainy afternoon, we decided to drive down the coast and do some shopping in Avalon and Stone Harbor. As the afternoon wore on, it started to rain. Nothing else to do, so we decided to drive to Cape May to see the Christmas lights on the houses. Great idea. Right before it got dark, the sky was bathed in a beautiful indigo blue. Since the streets were wet, the lights created warm reflections off the sidewalks and streets. Got weird looks from a number of people (4 of which were my family) as I stood in the rain, in the middle of the street, snapping pictures. Got soaked, but it was worth it. I probably took 50 reference shots in all, a number of which will make great paintings. This is the first of the bunch.

We had just gotten back from a local orchard – try to pick apples with the family every Fall. Sun was low in the sky. About an hour before sunset, on a clear day, the sun creates a wonderful orange cast. Staged some of the apples in various settings and snapped some shots. Finished shooting, and laid the apples on the kitchen table – just threw them there randomly. Sat down to review the shots on my camera, and, out of the corner of my eye, saw this interesting pattern of apples and a strong light reflecting of the kitchen table coming through the patio window. Created these wonderful blue, green, and purple highlights on the table and strong highlights on the top edges of the apples. Liked the challenge of creating subtle value changes in the shadows. Just goes to show – sometimes the best compositions are accidental and good lighting is available when you least expect it. I find that some of my best painting ideas come when I’m not trying. at the fights in Philadelphia with some friends. We go to the fights a few times a year – started at the Blue Horizon. But, Russell Peltz, the hall-of-fame fight promoter, moved to The New Alhambra in South Philly. Love this place – didn’t think he would be able to maintain the magic of the Blue Horizon, but he did. It’s a big event for us – we usually go to Tony Luke’s for a cheesesteak before the fights. And, we’re there from the first fight to the last fight of the night.

During the championship fight of the evening, my friends, Prentis, Eric, and Vidal, struck up a conversation with some people in front of us. Turned out to be the father, brother, and wife of the fighter. Came in from Mexico City for the fight. Real nice people. So, we started cheering extra loud for this fighter. Was a great fight – went the distance. In the last round, I guess the fighter’s wife couldn’t take the pressure, so she had to stand. Eric said, “check her out – wouldn’t that make a great painting.” She was fidgeting, had her hands over her mouth, and, in general, looked as stressed as someone could be. Snapped a few shots of her and panned the camera around the arena to get some other shots. The wife is the figure on the far right. Originally wanted to title this “Fighter’s Wife,” but changed my mind – wanted the painting to be about the entire fight experience. Thanks for the idea, Eric.

We had just gotten back from a local orchard – try to pick apples with the family every Fall. Sun was low in the sky. About an hour before sunset, on a clear day, the sun creates a wonderful orange cast. Staged some of the apples in various settings and snapped some shots. Finished shooting, and laid the apples on the kitchen table – just threw them there randomly. Sat down to review the shots on my camera, and, out of the corner of my eye, saw this interesting pattern of apples and a strong light reflecting of the kitchen table coming through the patio window. Created these wonderful blue, green, and purple highlights on the table and strong highlights on the top edges of the apples. Liked the challenge of creating subtle value changes in the shadows. Just goes to show – sometimes the best compositions are accidental and good lighting is available when you least expect it. I find that some of my best painting ideas come when I’m not trying.

Staged this still life with apples my family picked at a local orchard. Liked the way the late afternoon sun created hot highlights on the apples.

When walking through the North End in Boston, came to this square off the main road. Was fascinated by the church and the cluster of guys chatting away – they just set up some folding chairs on the corner and were holding court – each guy taking turns ribbing the others – their laughter was drowning out the other sounds in the area. Wish I could have recorded their conversation. Felt like this scene and their friendly banter was what this section of Boston is all about.

Love New York City. This painting captures an afternoon scene along Bryant Park. The mid-afternoon sun created some nice highlights on the people walking the street. Liked the Chrysler Building in the background. This painting is a sister painting to 5th Avenue. Both paintings capture Manhattan on the same mid Summer day. 5th Avenue faces South. Bryant Park faces East.