As a reformed Madison Avenue Tribeca-Based Advertising business director, I confess — I’ve imagined myself as Don Draper… sitting cross-legged in a fine suit trendy jeans, sipping Wild Turkey ginger-ale, smoking a cigarette smiling, pitching the world’s finest campaign mollifying the procurement department…
Take a look at this beautiful video created by talented artist and teacher Lora Sanders. Each year Lora’s students create work in the Borbay style, using my online process as a guideline. The video tells the tale… so I’ll let it do the talking.
A few years back, I was strolling along Madison Avenue when I happened upon an “up-scale” thrift store. There, perched high upon the wall was Blue Marilyn by Andy Warhol — a 25.5″X25.25″ reproduction shimmering in the low light. After no small amount of negotiations, $125 later I found myself with a fake Andy tucked under my arm, but six blocks from his old townhouse on Lex and 89th.
My brother’s best friend of 20 years got married this weekend, so I decided to commemorate this special moment with a painting of The Bryant Park Grill. There, Chris and Ann exchanged vows — and I, amongst many other guests, enjoyed several adult beverages. Understatement.
When Dave, Randi and I began discussing a commissioned piece, I asked them to think of meaningful places in Manhattan. After a few back and forth emails, they decided on the place they were married – the South Street Seaport. To get things rolling, I spent a sunny afternoon taking shots in the area from about twenty different angles. From there, I narrowed-down, cropped and emailed six choices to the Wenders.
And the Central Park Boathouse commission is now complete. To recap: In early January, Stephanie, Scott and Ryan (their son) Gurtman came by my studio for an up-close-and-personal view of my work. With a vision of a painting in mind, we discussed a commissioned piece and the Gurtman’s decided to give the image some thought. The initial concept of painting J.G. Melon shifted to the Central Park Boathouse, they place they were married.
After the incredible Urbania ride, words cannot describe how much I enjoyed getting back to painting. I began painting this prior to my collage painting portrait, but it sat idle, unfinished. With time, it has undergone an interesting journey – there was some darkness and this 18″X24″ canvas was the recipient.
The year was 1925, the heart of the roaring twenties. New Yorker protagonist Eustace Tilley (below) had little on his mind other than butterflies and jazz ensembles. That was then. Today, poor old Eustace is out of sorts. The headlines illustrate doom and gloom. Strange new breeds of Three Term Changing Butterflies demand attention… he feels guilty. A rich man in a sea of social decline, afraid of terrorism, wondering who wants to kill him and his way of life.
Continuing on my new collage series, I decided to create a self portrait. With nothing but time – thanks broken leg – I decided to tackle a large-scale, three-by-four-foot format. Here it is, a portrait of the artist as a not so young man – comprised of the printed page, clippings from @TheNewYorkPost – which one day in the near future will no longer be in print, but rather illuminated on a digital screen. Read more
Sometimes there’s a man. Sometimes, that man spends 14 hours a day sitting on his couch, leg elevated, popping painkillers. That man is me, and this painting, is a 6″X18″ rendering of the Empire State Building. To date, I have done many Chrysler Building pictures, so it was high-time for an Empire.
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