Was walking back to the hotel from a night on the town in Manhattan. Have always been fascinated by the markets that seem to be on every street corner in New York. The produce quality and variety are unmatched. Loved the contrast of the bright fruit and market’s inner glow against the dark street, awning, and figures in the street. Originally planned this painting as a “quickie” – loose brushwork and light on detail. But, was having too much fun and got caught up creating the detail in this work.
One of the best parts of getting a Philly cheese steak at one of the famous stands is the wait. Can meet some real interesting people while waiting in line. Geno’s is one of my favorites. Liked that the skyline of Phili is in the background of this painting.
Was walking back to the hotel from a night on the town in Manhattan. Have always been fascinated by the markets that seem to be on every street corner in New York. The produce quality and variety are unmatched. Loved the contrast of the bright fruit and market’s inner glow against the dark street, awning, and figures in the street. Originally planned this painting as a “quickie” – loose brushwork and light on detail. But, was having too much fun and got caught up creating the detail in this work.
Was walking back to the hotel from a night on the town in Manhattan. Have always been fascinated by the markets that seem to be on every street corner in New York. The produce quality and variety are unmatched. Loved the contrast of the bright fruit and market’s inner glow against the dark street, awning, and figures in the street. Originally planned this painting as a “quickie” – loose brushwork and light on detail. But, was having too much fun and got caught up creating the detail in this work.
Love amusement park rides, especially carousels and giant swings. Think I’m drawn to the artwork on these rides. Love to paint them – like the idea of paintings within a painting. This swing is at a boardwalk pier in Ocean City, New Jersey. Particularly like this swing because it rises and tilts on an angle. Ride has a human quality – can almost imagine the body of the swing as arms reaching down holding onto the riders’ chains. Some of the models in this painting appear multiple times – see if you can spot the duplicates.
This painting was named a finalist in The Artist’s Magazine’s prestigious 24th Annual Art Competition. “Jam” was one of a number of finalists in the Still Life category from thousands of entries. This painting got Steve recognition in the December 2007 issue of the magazine.
Consider this painting to be a portrait of my son – painted this for him. One of our favorite games when he was young was playing with his Hot Wheel cars. We set up the cars’ tracks across the length of our basement and took turns shooting cars back and forth to each other. I noticed that when I shot the cars to him, he collected them in a neat, orderly pile, just like cars stuck on the highway caught in traffic. Was captivated by the design – reminded me of some of the grids-of-color paintings I had seen at MoMA on a trip around that same time – neat and orderly, yet there’s a lot of movement (much like my son). Thought I could compose his cars in similar pattern, using contrasting (red/green, purple/yellow, blue/orange) and complimentary colors (colors side by side on the color wheel) and high contrast of light and dark next to each other to move the viewers eye throughout the work. Contrasting colors would stand out. Complimentary colors would recede. Mixed in a few of the cars that I had from when I was a kid into this composition. Many of my buddies who’ve viewed this piece recognize a car or two that they’ve either purchased for their kids or had when they were a kid. See if you recognize any of them.
This painting was named a finalist in The Artist’s Magazine’s prestigious 24th Annual Art Competition. “Jam” was one of a number of finalists in the Still Life category from thousands of entries. This painting got Steve recognition in the December 2007 issue of the magazine.
Consider this painting to be a portrait of my son – painted this for him. One of our favorite games when he was young was playing with his Hot Wheel cars. We set up the cars’ tracks across the length of our basement and took turns shooting cars back and forth to each other. I noticed that when I shot the cars to him, he collected them in a neat, orderly pile, just like cars stuck on the highway caught in traffic. Was captivated by the design – reminded me of some of the grids-of-color paintings I had seen at MoMA on a trip around that same time – neat and orderly, yet there’s a lot of movement (much like my son). Thought I could compose his cars in similar pattern, using contrasting (red/green, purple/yellow, blue/orange) and complimentary colors (colors side by side on the color wheel) and high contrast of light and dark next to each other to move the viewers eye throughout the work. Contrasting colors would stand out. Complimentary colors would recede. Mixed in a few of the cars that I had from when I was a kid into this composition. Many of my buddies who’ve viewed this piece recognize a car or two that they’ve either purchased for their kids or had when they were a kid. See if you recognize any of them.
The classic debate in Philly – where do you go for a cheesesteak? Two that are always neck-and-neck in the debate are Geno’s (the local favorite) or Pat’s (the originator) – the two restaurants being across the street from each other. I think it’s one of those debates not worth having – just go with somebody else, get 2 cheesesteaks, one from each place, and split them, and decide for yourself. You haven’t been to Philly if you haven’t experienced both Geno’s and Pat’s.
The classic debate in Philly – where do you go for a cheesesteak? Two that are always neck-and-neck in the debate are Geno’s (the local favorite) or Pat’s (the originator) – the two restaurants being across the street from each other. I think it’s one of those debates not worth having – just go with somebody else, get 2 cheesesteaks, one from each place, and split them, and decide for yourself. You haven’t been to Philly if you haven’t experienced both Geno’s and Pat’s.
Just a simple still life of onions we had on our kitchen counter. It’s amazing how much color you can see in an onion when you really study it. The title comes from an expression my wife used to say “you wanna smell my onion?” – have to imagine her saying this while making a fist. Means something similar to “you wanna knuckle sandwich?”
