One Day

The Will of The People

2012-01-16T16:14:00.001-05:00

I don't like to philosophize high and mighty.
I swear to God I don't, though circumstantial evidence often suggests otherwise.
"What do they want?" was the big question when Occupy Wall Street began.
"They want what any American with a brain in their head wants, provided that American isn't a bankster, or corporate profiteer." I thought to myself as I embarked on my latest painting. It was finished in December, but I held off on it's debut until the eve of Occupy Congress in solidarity.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, "The Will of The People"- A 36"x24" oil painting.
Enjoy!

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The Winter of Our Discontent

2011-11-19T23:19:00.001-05:00

From the inception of my recent art-show, "Gatos Del Exterior" last June, the race was on.
Any perceived tragedies that ensued were self-imposed for the most part. I'll be more specific. Plans were set in motion in June for a show in September/October. A basic law that should be adhered to when planning a show in my estimation would be that one should have all the pieces they would hope to show, ready to be shown. Common sense. I guess that's just not the way I roll. The basis for setting the date of the show when we did, was that was when the show needed to be. I raced from June to the day of the show trying to get my latest piece finished for the show. I showed it unfinished.
After the show, I spent a week decompressing, and thinking about how things would be going. There would be a lot of catching up, so many important had been put on hold.
Occupy Wall Street was about two weeks old, and it had my attention for many reasons. Time will prove it's significances, but I personally believe this is the beginning of a major turning point, an inevitable evolution if you will. Like most of the other 99%, I believe some things need to change, and the spirit of the movement is to take action now. For many, that has meant taking to the streets. The sort of action I needed to take was clear to me right away, and would lead me right back into another mad race.

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See you in five years.

2011-09-30T19:31:00.001-04:00

"Gatos Del Exterior" closed today, and despite some insignificant political opposition, it was well met by all who attended the opening reception, and those who viewed the show afterwards. Chris Yambar, well-known cartoonist and writer for, "The Simpsons" commented, "Went to Jeffrey Puccini's artist reception last night downtown at the Lemon Grove. BEST ARTIST RECEPTION IN YEARS! Smooth, fun, smart set up, good mix of crowds. Paintings were selling off the walls. Big fan of the man's work! Visit and see for yourself."

Paintings did sell off the walls, but that wasn't the major thrust of the show for me. I like to have a show like "Gatos Del Exterior" about every five years or so, to show my appreciation of my local supporters. It was also about introducing my super-talented co-exhibitor, Jess Leininger to a wider audience. It was an evening of good music, food and fun. My home-made, "Wild Giraffe" wine did flow. I offered samplings of, "Wild Youngstown" made from local wild grapes, Mulberry, Cherry, Strawberry, and Mead. My helpers got very drunk, and their function was somewhat diminished, but we got by. What an assortment of delicious food! Every kind of cheese ever made, fruit,and a selection of desserts beyond compare.(Kudos to Jess Arnold!) Dan Susany's Be well, Drum-on, held the room spell-bound as they started the evening musically. "This is so awesome! we've never had anything like this here!" a Lemon Grove employee mentioned enthusiastically.

The place filled up quickly. At about 7:30, a half hour into the show, the bar-tender overwhelmed, rushed to me and said, "It's time to collect money at door, right?" I said, "No, not until ten. the entertainment and the food are all donated". He looked at me with shock, and horror, and scurried off in a huff. The music was overseen by Master of Ceremony P.J. Rosenburg, and it flowed smoothly, and set the tone for the evening. We were treated to the avant-garde stylings of Donnie and Beth Dipiero, a heart-felt acoustic set from Rukus Radio's Trevor Q. Murphy, Smooth, free-form fusion from Dave Lynn and friends, and later on in the evening, the return of Punk-a-billy legends, The Bedspins.

Gatos Del Exterior was well attended and everyone seem to be having a great time. I was extremely pleased the party unfolded as planned. If you didn't make it out, well...I feel sorry for you! Maybe you can come to the next one. I'll see you in five years!

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Gatos Del Exterior?

2011-08-28T23:17:00.001-04:00

Some of you may have caught wind of, "Gatos Del Exterior" (Outside cats), and might like to know more. Well, let me tell ya. I'm a bit on the shy-side, certainly not the most social person you know. A Puccini siting can be a rare thing. Still in all, I'm an artist that gets a lot of support and encouragement from my community. That being the case, I like to host a showing of my artwork every 5 or so years. I try to make it as, Party-like as I can, as a way of showing my appreciation to those who truly stand by me.

Aside from offering a sampling of my, "Wild Giraffe" home-made wine, I'll also be offering many of my original works at drastically reduced prices for the duration of the show. So much so, that my planned prices raised Nikki's ire. She said that selling my originals so cheap will de-value my work. I disagree. My prices will return to normal after the show. I really want to give my supporters an opportunity to own an original piece. I'm confident the value of a Puccini original will only increase, as I strive to make each painting better than the last, and I haven't been disappointed. It'll be a great time to acquire prints of your favorite pieces for previously unheard of prices.

Then there's my co-exhibitor, Jess Leininger. If you don't know who she is, you will. Like me, she's, "Untrained". I consider her a better artist than I am in spite of her young age, and I think quite a lot of myself. I'm particularly impressed with her skills as a photo-realist, which rival my own. She goes me one better with her strictly original, born of her own mind, fantasy works. Again, this show will be an opportunity for a savvy collector to get in on the ground floor of something really good.

Then there's music which will be presented by the multi-talented P.J. Rosenburg. If you don't know P.J., you should. Over the years he's played with a number of bands, most recently, The Bedspins, and Jones for Revival. He'll be featuring a local all-star line-up, culminating in the return to Youngstown of The Bedspins for the first time on a local stage in over two years.

All of this is taking place at The Lemon Grove, the premier establishment of the Youngstown renaissance courtesy of local visionary Jacob Harver. You don't have to buy anything to stop by, have a little wine, and say, "Hi", to a couple of the finest, "uneducated" artists you may meet.

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Sabatical?

2011-06-25T14:55:00.001-04:00

...no, I've been toiling in the dirt for some scratch. In any case, it would be delightful if you Stopped by The Fine Arts Sales Gallery at The Butler Institute of American Art, to see the public debut of my carousel painting.

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I'm not mad, I'm just trying to keep the hair out of my eyes.

2011-04-05T18:02:00.001-04:00

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Hat #6-"Rainbow-in-the-Dark" Hairbag

2011-03-20T16:21:00.001-04:00

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Hat #5-The Purple Hairbag

2011-03-18T12:32:00.001-04:00

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Hat #4-"The Shroom"

2011-03-04T11:19:00.001-05:00

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Hat #3-The Cuttlefish

2011-03-03T10:44:00.001-05:00

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To Whom it May Concern

2011-02-26T12:55:00.001-05:00

Currently in The Fine Arts Sales Gallery at The Butler Institute of American Art, I have five, 8"x10" still life paintings from my, "Daily Painting" era. I have them priced absurdly cheap. They would make an excellent investment at this price, as their value is certain to increase over time.

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Hat Number Two

2011-02-11T14:51:00.001-05:00

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The Days of Wine and Bonsai

2011-01-28T10:38:00.001-05:00

Like many, around this time of year, my thoughts turn towards course corrections, while trying to take into account new variables, and trying to anticipate the unknown. One would like to avoid repeating mistakes, however when it comes to how I spend my time, it can be difficult to define, "mistakes" as I try to implement my impulses with the precision of a surgeon. Last year, I felt confident that among other things, I could create some bonsai, and increase my wine production. These were fine goals, hardly mistakes, at least that's what the gut says, but I guess in truth, whether or those were mistakes is somewhat subjective. I accomplished both, and more, none the less. I created about a dozen or so bonsai, maintained a fairly extensive garden, got a couple varieties of grapes started on the fence, as well as some Golden Trumpet, and Wisteria. I made a great deal of wine, I'm currently bottling. I made 5 gallons of sparkling pear, 5 gallons of sparkling banana, 5 gallons of strawberry, 5 gallons of mulberry, 5 gallons of honey mead, 5 gallons of wild Y-town grape, and 5 gallons of wild cherry from Peege's yard. Some was a little sweet, all of it was good, and some really stood out. The sparkling banana made believers out of the skeptics, and that was just about everybody.
Decent accomplishments in interests dear to me, but the above mentioned interests will be falling to the wayside to a fair degree this year. I'll attempt to replace those activities with more time spent in the woods, hopefully more meditation. I have lost just about all the weight I care to over the past few years, but I still don't feel good. It's been at least 6 years since I felt good, and I question whether or not it's still possible, but I'm going to try to find my way back to it through increased exercise. Finally, I 'm going to continue to try to keep producing high-quality artwork, while I can still see well enough to do it.
Wish me luck, I'll need it. As hard as one tries to stick to the straight and narrow, seems like the fickle finger of fate likes to flick us. If you're one of the lucky ones, you may get to sample some of last year's record vintage.

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I Never Intended to Crochet

2011-01-21T15:06:00.001-05:00

Not that there's anything wrong with it.
I just never really gravitated to it, but let's start at the beginning
I have a nice hippy hat that I got in Columbia Missouri in the late 80s. It is one of those colorful, "hair bags". It was obviously some sort of knit or weave. I often though it would be fun to make such a hat from skratch, but I didn't want to invest the time.Recently I threw it in the washing machine, and was dismayed to find it had come a fair piece unraveled in the wash. Naturally, I was going to fix it, so I examined the knots that made up the weave so I could imitate it. At a point I started thinking, "This would be a whole lot easier it I had a little hook to pull the string though the loop, hey...."
I repaired the hat after purchasing a crochet hook.
I didn't want to forget the newly found skill, so I set right to making the hat seen above.

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My Motorcycle Never Rolled.

2010-12-30T12:00:00.001-05:00

I try to hold an ideal in my mind of how I'd like things to be going, while attempting to bend circumstances in the direction of my ideal, in a Zen-like fashion.

Every year at the onset, I feel fairly confident/hopeful that this will be the year that things fall in line, and I will be able to touch the satisfaction of what I perceive to be a fulfilling existence. "A fulfilling existence" in my mind consists of a certain criteria being met along specific points on a time-line, then expanded upon. It also relies heavily on the prevalence of a particular kind of euphoria generated by that criteria being met and expanded upon.

Like every other year, I had high hopes for 2010. Among other things, I had hoped to spend a greater amount of time in the woods alone, or laying in a field in the sunshine. More skating, swimming and some bicycling goes without saying, along with more training for Mr. Zigs and myself, and some Agility trials, and of course like every other year, I wanted to get my motor bike on the road. My bike needs some attention before it can be ridden, but not much.

Like many of the recent years, none of those things happened in 2010. Summer was stolen by October, and sacrificed to xmas. I did accomplish some things. I had my two paintings ready for the Canfield fair, as well as the literature that went with them. I created about a dozen bonsai trees, had a fairly successful garden, and made several batches of wine. I also tried for a fistful of art opportunities, ie; grants, awards, shows, a residency. I was accepted for a show and dumped for another, dumped for the residency, and am still hopeful for the grant. I spent a fair amount of time, and effort trying to meet deadlines.

I'll be carrying all the same hopes into '11, while attempting to refine my game. Additionally I have several paintings in mind that I'd like to execute. Along with the ones I have in mind, I'd also like to acquire some new inspiration. I wish I had the sort of camera that would take particularly high quality photos, and the knowledge of how to use it. I only want to execute very high quality paintings based on my own photos/inspirations. I really want to do some, "Gothic" paintings, and stick my toe back in the pond of surrealism. I have had a series of, "Mini-sculptures" floating around my brain for quite some time now, and I always want to feel caught up on my jewelry, and am really hoping to get a pair of glasses that I can see out of.

Every year passes quicker like the frequency of a rubber ball bouncing ever more rapidly until it comes to rest. I look in the mirror, and at the faces of friends and family, and wonder how we found ourselves in this far-flung future. the time to make the best of it is now, because tomorrow they'll be lowering us into the grave.
Happy New year!

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Every Picture Tells a Story Donut

2010-12-12T16:17:00.001-05:00

Every painting tells a story, and has a story behind it. Some of the stories are richer than others, and that's especially true of some of mine. My, “Orchids” painting sold recently to a delightful young lady who's own rich story brought her to our fair Youngstown from distant lands. The Orchid painting has roots deeper than any other I have available.

I learned to paint in high school, thirty years ago. It only took a few paintings to become pretty good at it. I moved out of my parents house, and into my girlfriend's on my 18^th birthday. It was 1981, and I still had half of my senior year to finish. Somewhere around that time while visiting my eldest brother Pete, I saw a photographic enlargement of some orchids. Pete had taken the photo, and made the enlargement. It was probably 11”x 14”. I remarked that I thought it would make a good painting. He asked if I believed I could execute it, and I did believe that. In an uncharacteristicly generous move, he offered to lend me the photo, and give me all of his oil paints, canvases, brushes, etc. Pete had dabbled with the paint, as it was a good excuse to lock himself away from the world, (and his wife) for countless hours-typical Puccini behaviour. I never saw anything he did that I was particularly impressed with. I suspect he was too stoned to develop a good method.

I didn't start the painting right away. The first five years after high school were filled with stuff, like for most folks. The girlfriend I had moved in with had two young children when I met her. She had two more of mine by 1985. I wasn't dumb, just green, but I did some bit of painting, during those years. By 1987, I was living alone and giving more thought to art. I really can't be sure, but I believe I started the orchid painting around this time.

In the summer of '88, I had packed and stored my worldly belongings. And set out for lands unknown on my motorcycle. Lands unknown, or more precisely Kansas city. I had a job waiting for me at the IHOP, but shy of that, I didn't know what to expect. My bike was loaded down with as much as I could bring with me. I believe my metal case of oil paints was on that maiden motorcycle trip, if not, certainly a subsequent bike trip. The unfinished Orchid painting may have come on that trip as well, I'm not sure, but eventually it made it to K.C. with me for about 3 years, then to Chicago for 3 years, then California for a year. The summer of 1995 found me in an apartment across the street from the house I had lived in as a child in East Palestine. I was ready to start fresh, and commit to some artwork. I wanted to get right back to the orchid painting. In those years I was gone, I only executed one oil painting.

It wasn't hard to finish the orchid painting, I started another right away (The Life-saver Plant).

When my brother gave me the paints, and supplies, many of the canvases had paintings he had started but not finished. I finished one of his, and gave it to him when I returned the photo to him. After the orchid painting dried enough, I lent it to one of the banks in downtown East Palestine, where it hung in the bank president's office for about five years until I moved to Youngstown. It hung in Cedar's for awhile when they had their restaurant. It was entered in various shows before it was sold last month.

That painting was always in the back of my mind calling to me to come back to what I knew I should be doing the seven years I was away, and it stood for a lot once it was finished. I'm happy to see it go to a good home with someone who will truly appreciate it!

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The wine made from wild Youngstown grapes is showing a lot of promise.

2010-09-21T21:55:00.001-04:00

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A Rebuttal

2010-08-29T12:59:00.000-04:00

''Freelance photographers can't go taking pictures of young girls without telling them what they are doing,'' Was one of the statements made by John Vogrin, Assistant Security Chief of The Canfield Fair, to Andy Gray of The
Warren Tribune Chronicle in an interview for the article Gray wrote pertaining to what happened to me on September 6, 2009. In the interview, Vogrin said officers checked to make sure I wasn't a member of the media or working for the fair before I was questioned. He said the fair board has a right to restrict what people do on the property, comparing it to stopping a vendor who was selling merchandise at the fairgrounds without the proper permits.

What outraged Vogrin the most when I was being interrogated, was my answer to his question, "What legitimate reason would someone have for photographing a child that wasn't their own at The Canfield Fair?" When I told him that I was an artist, and that I drew inspiration from the photos I take, he became quite indignant at the prospect of me profiting from photos taken of people at the fair. I tried very hard to explain to Vogrin slowly, and
in simple terms, that my motivation for the artwork I do isn't profit, but to celebrate my subject. He simply couldn't understand why anyone would create a work of art if it wasn't for profit.

Profit, or not, can someone photograph a stranger in public? If so, is there a limit to what can be done with the image? This is something you should be interested in getting to the bottom of, because I'll bet you have a camera, and it doesn't matter if you intend to photograph a stranger or not, you could easily find yourself in the same situation as I did, or worse.

The Right of Privacy
There is no standard, spelled-out federal right of privacy, however there are provisions made to protect our right to privacy, usually found on a state to state basis, this is generally how it goes:
The right of privacy is restricted to individuals who are in a place that a person would reasonably
expect to be private (e.g., home, hotel room, telephone booth). There is no protection for information that either is a matter of public record or the victim voluntarily disclosed in a public place." People are usually successful in calling upon The right of privacy in cases where they were photographed in the toilet, or their medical records were sold to someone. If one appears in public, like it or not, they can be photographed by a stranger. Vogrin tried to justify his actions by saying that The Canfield Fair is private property, and they can restrict people's actions however they see fit. That's abundantly apparent at this point, but again please consider that the fair is a very public event that openly encourages photography.

The Right of Publicity
Again, there is no standard, spelled-out federal right of publicity, but is dealt with on a state to state basis. Lets take a look at Ohio's Right of Publicity in Individual's Persona. Chapter 2741.01 (A) of The Ohio Code defines an Individual's Persona as," an individual’s name, voice, signature, photograph,
image, likeness, or distinctive appearance, if any of these aspects have commercial value" There are restrictions on what can be done with an individual's persona in Ohio, for example, one can not print and sell t-shirt's with LeBron's likeness coming out of a horse's butt, with a caption reading,
"LeBron is a piece of...", However, someone could make and sell that t-shirt with my name and likeness. Why? Because my persona has no established commercial value. An interesting side note here is that one could paint a painting in Ohio showing LeBron and the horse, on account of Ohio Code
Chapter 2741.09 Exceptions to Ohio's Right of publicity in Individual's Persona. (A)1(c): " Original works of fine art".

Photographer's Rights
We've looked at the the rights of Individuals appearing public, and the use of their persona, let's look at Photographer's rights. A photographer has a right to photograph anything that takes place in a public setting, this includes, but is not limited to:
accident and fire scenes
children
celebrities
bridges and other infrastructure
residential and commercial buildings
industrial facilities and public utilities
transportation facilities (e.g., airports)
Superfund sites
criminal activities
law enforcement officers
This right is protected under The First Amendment, Freedom of Expression. Once taken, that photograph becomes the copy-righted property of the photographer. Although anyone has the right to approach a person in a public place and ask questions about a photographer's activities, persistent and unwanted conduct done without a legitimate purpose is a crime in many states if it causes serious
annoyance. You are under no obligation to explain the purpose of your photography nor do you have to disclose your identity except in states that require it upon request by a law enforcement officer. If the conduct goes beyond mere questioning, all states have laws that make coercion and harassment criminal offenses. The specific elements vary among the states but in general it is unlawful for anyone to instill a fear that they may injure you, damage or take your property, or falsely accuse you of a crime just because you are taking photographs. Private parties have very limited rights to detain you against your will and may be subject to criminal and civil charges should they attempt to do so. Although the
laws in most states authorize citizen’s arrests, such authority is very narrow. In general, citizen’s arrests can be made only for felonies or crimes committed in the person’s presence. Failure to abide by these
requirements usually means that the person is liable for a tort such as false imprisonment. Absent a court order, private parties have no right to confiscate your camera, or film. Taking your camera or film
directly or indirectly by threatening to use force or call a law enforcement agency can constitute criminal offenses such as theft and coercion. If someone has threatened, intimidated, or detained you because you were taking photographs, they may be liable for crimes such as kidnapping, coercion, and theft. In the event you are threatened with detention or asked to surrender your camera/film, asking the following questions can help ensure that you will have the evidence to enforce your legal rights:
1. What is the person’s name?
2. Who is their employer?
3. Are you free to leave? If not, how do
they intend to stop you if you decide
to leave? What legal basis do they
assert for the detention?
4. Likewise, if they demand your camera/ film,
what legal basis do they assert for the
confiscation?

Many Artists will only depict sterile, lifeless images devoid of real faces out of fear of being dragged into court. Likewise many Photographers practice a similar form of self-censorship. It could also be said that if one doesn't want to be dragged to court because their dog bit someone, they shouldn't own a dog. There are groups that are constantly, vigorously pushing to make pet ownership illegal, as well as a host of other rights we as Americans currently enjoy. Can you imagine what television, print, and visual arts who look like if were truly illegal to use an image of a person appearing in public? In the 80's they started fuzzing out the face of people that wouldn't sign a release.
The people doing the fuzzing, were big money media companies, who decided to side on safety; not out of fear of being sued and losing, but to avoid the entanglement of having lawsuits brought up. After 25 years of seeing fuzzed faces, the general public is under the uninformed impression that it must be illegal to show faces. To date, no artist has been successfully sued for using the likeness of someone in a public setting.

I'm ashamed to say that at the time I was attacked, and publicly humiliated, I was not fully aware of my rights. If I had been, things would have gone differently. As I've mentioned before, I really don't care
for politics, or political paintings. I'd really rather create paintings that celebrate what's good aboutAmerica, without having to rely on words and explanations. I've painted these two paintings pertaining to what happened to me in the hopes of raising your awareness of this issue. It's an issue that becomes more relevant everyday, as most of us have a camera of some sort with us most of the time, and generally we feel free to take pictures at will, without fear of reprisal. It's up to us to be aware of the attacks on our personal freedoms we enjoy as Americans that are taking place constantly on a variety of fronts.

ART IS NOT A CRIME!

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Return to The Canfield Fair Part 2

2010-08-28T11:25:00.001-04:00

I tried to set up a meeting over the course of the next month or so, only to be stalled by Fair officials. Five months later, in February, I was contacted by fair officials that they were ready to meet with me. I suspect they waited until they felt confident that I wasn't going to sue. I brought with me a folder containing, the paper given to me by Vogrin stating that I was evicted from the fair for, “Taking unsolicited pictures of fair patrons without their permission causing alarm”. It also contained a print-out from the fair's website, encouraging random crowd photography, a copy of the newspaper article pertaining to the incident, a copy of another newspaper article that had been written about me a few months earlier outlining my positive community involvement, a copy of all our local laws pertaining to people's right to privacy, and an outline of, “photographer's rights” prepared by a prominent lawyer, and my wife Nikki to take notes, and be my witness.

Let me pause here, and tell you in a nutshell what, a photographer's right is. It should matter to you, because I'm sure you're a photographer. In this day and age, we all are. Nearly everybody has a camera on them at any given time, and are likely to take a photograph in public. In a nutshell, you have a right to photograph anything that takes place in public. If you are at a public event on private property, your rights remain in tact, as long as there is no posted photography policy. No police, or private security, have a right to question you, about your photography, let alone detain you, or touch your camera.

We met with Judge Jim Evans, Chief of Security at the fair, and Bev Fisher, Fair Manager. Evans started out by stating that I had, “caused quite a stir” that day, and how lucky I was that security had protected me from, “getting my ass kicked”. I asserted that I hadn't done anything that day that thousands of others hadn't done, and that I didn't deserve to be attacked, let alone singled out, and punished while my attackers walked away. Evans said no one else pissed someone off by taking their picture. “Pissed off or not,” no one had the right to attack me for engaging in an activity that was encouraged by the fair, and then to be punished by the fair, was literally adding insult to injury” I said with a tone of irrepressible insolence. Evans told me that I was right, and that they had to thank me for bringing to light the fact that the fair has a long standing unwritten policy of not allowing photography. I told him that was absolutely ridiculous, especially considering their web-page stating, “We Want Your Photos”. He said that they had hired a P.R. Firm to do the website, and they'd have to do something about that. “That's no excuse!” I replied angrily. Incidentally, as of today, August 28, 2010, that page is still featured on their website. I suppose it was apparent that I wasn't interested in being cordial. “Look, what do you want, what are we doing here?” Evans asked. “I want to be able to return to the fair
without fear of being jumped, or arrested for trespassing.” Evans smiled and said in a condescending tone, “You can come back to the fair, and enjoy yourself like anyone else as long as you don't take anyone's picture without asking them.” I replied that Vogrin had made me sign a paper stating that I had been notified that I was evicted from, and denied access to the fairgrounds property, and that failure to comply would result in charges filed against me, and that I would like that amended in writing, and signed by him (Evans). “I told you that you could come back to the fair, you won't be arrested” Evans replied. “Then you won't mind amending this, and putting your signature to it” I said. “I'm not signing anything, my word is good enough!” he replied, voice raised, “What else do you want?” “I have a constitutional right to freedom of expression-that includes creating an image through the use of photography, or other means without being attacked, detained or harassed. My rights have been infringed upon, and there are remedies available to me. Coercion, and harassment, are criminal offenses. It was unlawful for those people to instill a fear in me that they were going injure me, take and damage my property, and falsely accuse me of a crime just because I was taking photographs, and I have a right to know their names. No one had the right to inquire about the photos I had taken, let alone view, and delete them, without a court order, I offered in the hopes of defusing an ugly situation, look where it got me.” I said. “Your rights! Your rights! Look at ya, ya peace-lovin'... “Evans replied indignantly, and then caught himself. “If you were so concerned about your rights, and being attacked, why didn't you press charges?” he asked. “I was never told that option was available to me, I wasn't given the names of my attackers, I sincerely believed that the situation could have, and should have been resolved amicably for all parties involved at the time of the incident.” He told me, “That was your mistake, now what do you want?” “I would like the names of the people who physically attacked me.”He told me I would given them, but I never was. “Has John Vogrin been reprimanded for illegally acting on his ignorance of my constitutional rights?” “I'm sick of hearing about your constitutional rights.” Evans said. “If you're not concerned with my constitutional rights, maybe you should consider a different line of work” I said. “Don't worry about Vogrin, I've talked to him about this” Evans said. I can only imagine that conversation, I'm sure they had a good laugh. “John Vogrin reiterated his incorrect assertion publicly in an interview with The Warren Tribune Chronicle on September 8, 2009, I've worked hard to establish my public standing, through donations of my artwork to local charitable organizations, and participating in community art projects. This incident has hurt that standing. Are you willing to make a press-release recanting Vogrin's assertion?” “We're not recanting anything” he said with a smirk, “What else?”. “When they took my camera, they brought it back to me with the memory card removed. There was no reason to remove it, If the Canfield fair has copies of my copy-righted photographs, they must be destroyed.” Evans said he didn't know anything about that, and asked what else I wanted. “I would like you to amend, and sign this eviction notice, for all I know, I'll show up at the fair, and be arrested, because I don't have anything in writing stating that I'm allowed back at the fair-grounds.” “How dare you call my integrity into question? I told you could come back to the fair, I'm not going to sign anything!” Evans shouted. “I guess we're done here.” I said, and with that Nikki and I left.
After our meeting with fair officials, Bev Fisher, and Jim Evans, I will officially be allowed to return to the fair. I guess it's official even though I couldn't get anything in writing. Does that mean that it's over, no harm, no foul? Not hardly. There was harm, and a foul. Vogrin challenged my first amendment right to freedom of expression. He asserted that a professional photographer or artist couldn't capture the image of a person in public without that person's permission, for their own profit, or otherwise. He made that assertion to me in private, and publicly in The Warren Tribune Chronicle article about the incident. This seems like a gray area for most folks, so let's take a closer look at the issue.

Please join me tomorrow for what may or may not be the final installment in this story.

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The Canfield Fair Revisited?

2010-08-27T10:44:00.001-04:00

Some of you are aware of what happened to me at The Canfield Fair last year, but may not be aware of why it's relevant. I'd like to bring to light why it's relevant to you, but first let me re-cap the events of Sunday, September 6, 2009.

On Sunday, September 6, 2009 While attending the Canfield fair, I sat on a bench in a very open spot in front of the rock, and began to take hundreds of random photographs of the crowd, an activity encouraged by the fair, publicly stated on their website . At a point, Jason W. Mcferren of New Wilmington Pa., and his family sat down on the bench next to me. I was openly photographing people, and that immediately caught Mr. McFerren’s interest. I heard him comment to his wife about my activity, and looked at him and his wife looking at me. What I was doing was none of their business, and their comments to each other were none of mine, so I went on with my photographing. After a little time passed, it became too dark for me to get quality photos, so I got up, and began to walk to the north-west. As I walked away, Mr. Mcferren notified some of the last people I photographed, that I had taken their pictures. I can only imagine what he said.

I walked about 100 feet, and was between The Canfield Fair Administration Building, and The Canfield fair souvenir booth, when I felt a hard blow to my hand that was carrying my camera. I would guess it was a forcible kick. I turned to see who would do such a thing. I didn’t recognize the faces of two angry men, posturing for a fight, screaming at me that I was a pervert, and that I had taken perverted photos of their children. I felt at that point the most important thing to do would be to try to calm these men down, and try to reason with them. This was a very public scene with hundreds watching. I could see in the eyes of the men, the watching crowd was the only thing stopping them from beating me to a bloody pulp. I kept waiting for the police to intervene, as I tried to calm the men down. Although I was under no obligation to do so, legal, or otherwise, I offered to show the men the photos I had taken, and to delete the pictures of their relatives. The men refused to calm down. One of them grabbed my camera, and looked truly torn about smashing it on the ground. I told the man that he had better give me my camera back. The man told me I was never getting my camera back, and I replied, “Let’s let the police settle this.” I was alarmed that there were still no police on the scene. I began to holler at the top of my lungs, “Police! Will somebody get the police!”

Mr. McFerren watching from a distance began to panic about what he had caused, found a police officer, and informed him that some citizens had captured a pervert. By this time, another officer was on scene. He had retrieved my camera for me, and I was explaining the situation to him. Once again, though I was under no legal obligation to do so, I asked the officer to review my photos so that he could see that I hadn’t done anything inappropriate. After reviewing my photos, The officer concluded that there was nothing inappropriate, and was about to let my attackers tell which photos they wanted to be deleted as per my suggestion, when the second set of officers, the ones Mr. McFerren had alerted, arrived on the scene. They asked the first officer on the scene what had transpired. The first officer brought the arriving officers current. “Should we all go to the police station, and sort this out?” The arriving officer asked. I said, “Let’s all go sit down, and sort this out, perhaps cooler heads will prevail.” The newly arrived officers, the ones that McFerren had told I was, “a pervert”, took my camera, grabbed me by my upper-arms and hustled me through the crowd of thousands, as my attackers followed hollering, “he’s a pervert, we caught a pervert. I told the officer that he didn’t have to hold my arm, that I wasn’t going to run away, that I had called for the police, and I wanted this thing to be resolved. He told me that I wasn’t being hand-cuffed, because I was co-operating. I wish you could have seen the looks on the faces in the crowd, as I was paraded in front of hundreds by the police, while my attackers screamed, “pervert”.

When we arrived at the police station, The officers related what had happened to John Vogrin, assistant security chief of The Canfield Fair, leaving out much of the detail, and diminishing the fact that I was attacked. They also gave him my camera. When he questioned me, I once again relayed all the details of the incident, as Vogrin viewed my photos. I once again offered to delete the photos of the relatives of the people who attacked me. Although Vogrin, as all the other law enforcement officers who had reviewed my photos, couldn’t find anything offensible on my camera, he angrily demanded to know, “What legitimate reason would someone have for photographing a child that wasn't their own at The Canfield Fair”. Although I was under no legal obligation to do so, I explained to him that my wife and I are huge fans of The Canfield Fair, that I attended everyday, every year, and took thousands of photographs. That I participated in, “The shutterbug Contest” sponsored by the Fair, a contest in which the fair provides a camera, for the purpose of taking random, candid photos of the fair, and fair-goers, the object being, “To best capture the spirit of the fair”. I told him that I frequently enter the photos I take at the fair into the fair’s fine-arts photography competition, and have won ribbons, and that sometimes I use photos of people as inspiration for paintings. Vogrin couldn’t understand. He seemed to be enraged by explanation. He said, “Did you solicit them?” “Solicit who? I didn’t solicit anyone for anything.” I replied. He angrily informed me that a professional photographer can not take unsolicited photos of people without their permission. I told him that I wasn’t a professional photographer. “You paint people’s pictures from photos, and sell them right?”. I told him it would be nice if it were true, but no one buys my paintings.

After looking at all the pictures, he took the camera to the angry people. I heard him tell them that they were random crowd pictures, and they didn't appear to target anyone in particular. They complained that they were young girls, and nobody should take their pictures, and they were scared. "These are crowd pictures, 60% of the crowd at the fair is young girls" I heard the cop tell them. The Vogrin came back, and told me that he had deleted the pictures the angry people wanted deleted, and that I was being evicted from the fair for one year. I was rather unhappy to hear that considering I hadn't done anything wrong, or out of the ordinary, and I told them so. "That's too bad, that's the way it is" a deputy sheriff said in a shitty tone. Another cop piped up and said, "Were you here yesterday? you fit the description of the guy that lady called about". "About what?" I asked. "She complained that someone who looks like you was taking people's pictures in the parking lot, as they got out of their cars". It sounded completely absurd to me. "get outta here, you never got a complaint like that!" I said before I could stop myself. That made everyone in the room laugh, except for the guy that made the claim, who replied, "Oh yes I did!" Vogrin said, "Look, we're being nice to you, and cutting you a break. You'd be smart to just move on." I didn't see it that way."I already have a ticket for tomorrow, can I get a refund?" I asked. That got a few more chuckles, and The shitty deputy sheriff told me to, “Shut-up”, and consider myself lucky, I was being allowed to leave. I don’t consider myself, “Lucky”.

No attention was given to the fact that I was attacked. I was not provided with the names of my attackers. To the best of my knowledge, they were allowed to rejoin the fair believing that they had been in the right when they attacked me.

The following day was the last day of the fair. I was still reeling over what had transpired, and frankly, pretty hurt over how I had been treated. I didn't know what I should do, I knew this incident would be talked about amongst everyone who knew me. I'm pretty proud of my standing in the community, and wanted to make clear exactly what had happened, so I wrote it all down, and posted it in my blog. I was quickly surprised how many people, many who knew me, and many who didn't, were outraged, by how I was treated, and took it upon themselves to spread the story. It was a tropic of discussion across the country via the internet. It was brought up for discussion on local talk radio, and I was contacted by The Warren Tribune Chronicle for a story they wrote about the incident. At this point, I felt the best thing I could do, would be to try to set up a meeting with the powers that be at the fair, and try to get them to resend Vogrin's discussion. After a great deal of delay, that meeting finally took place, and it was, lively and eventful to say the least.

Please check back tomorrow for details of that meeting.

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A Touch of Rose.

2010-07-14T13:14:00.001-04:00

Mead with hints of rose, lime, rosemary, and cinnamon.

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Mighty Oaks with nuts attached

2010-05-06T23:29:00.001-04:00

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BONSAI!

2010-04-22T22:31:00.001-04:00

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Bananas are go!

2010-04-05T23:28:00.001-04:00

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Minerva further

2010-02-05T17:57:00.001-05:00

I put in my volunteer time at The Butler Institute of American Art's Fine Arts Sales Gallery today. I used my time to further a sketch of the Goddess Minerva, or rather the statue of the Goddess situated in the front of the building. I started it while I was baby-sitting there last fall. What you see above is by no means the finished product. Perhaps after a couple more volunteer days. Eventually I hope to do a very large scale, full-color painting of this. Stay tuned...

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Glass African Trading Bead with Rainbow Weave

2010-02-02T13:57:00.001-05:00

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Restored Faux Watch #2

2010-02-01T15:43:00.001-05:00

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I hate it when I am counting on robots to do my autoposting, AND THEY LET ME DOWN!!! #$%#*! Robots!

2010-01-19T19:32:00.001-05:00

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Do I Know What Time it is? Hell Ta Da Naw, it's a Faux Watch Baby!

2010-01-19T12:20:00.001-05:00

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Ding Dong The Witch is Dead!

2009-12-31T13:20:00.001-05:00

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Holiday Necklaces 2009

2009-12-13T21:20:00.001-05:00

I'll be glad on the 26th.

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Mr. Peanut's Sunny Walk

2009-12-07T11:23:00.001-05:00

Walking Peanut's shadow is much easier than walking Peanut. His shadow doesn't pull on the leash as much.

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Long Time No Blog...

2009-12-06T20:38:00.001-05:00

...mostly because mine's an art blog, and what I've been working on artistically is secret. Secret, but not a secret. I just finished the first of two, "political" paintings. It took me just about three months. It won't be a secret forever, just for now, but above you can see a small tidbit. What can I say about it? As I've mentioned before, I don't like politics, or political paintings. I hope this will be the only time I feel compelled to venture down this street. At least in this case, I feel it's my civic responsibility. Visually, it's very colorful. I hope it will be as engaging as intended. I'll keep you posted.

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Sad news today. We lost a gallon of pear bubbly in the wee hours. It is survived by it's 4 siblings.

2009-11-22T17:34:00.001-05:00

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Youngstown Art Renaissance: If you care, wake up and smell the coffee

2009-11-02T16:56:00.001-05:00

Someone may have read a previous post I wrote, "A Gathering of Eagles" I'm not sure. In it, I tried to sum up Y-town's currently fragmented art scene in light of a meeting held yesterday to discuss the formation of a Youngstown art council. We couldn't make it to the meeting, so I can't tell you about it, we had to go to a wake. Why a Youngstown art council you might ask. As I mentioned in that previous post, it can be very difficult for the individual to know what's going on around town.
Apparently, the call went out for a unified Youngstown art voice at the second of three meetings called, "The power of The Arts". The meetings consist of a question and answer session with a panel of high-profile representatives of community development organizations regarding how they can help facilitate the transformation of Y-town to an arts and culture-based economy. These meetings are open to anyone interested, although they're so secret. What I mean by that is, I never heard about the first or second meeting, and I've got pretty good feelers out there. No one I've spoken with, knows much about this, which is really too bad, because from what I can gather, the time to come together is now.
Below is a transcript from the second meeting, if you are a Y-town artist, please read it:

Power of the Arts
Session #2 – Wednesday, October 21, 2009
“The Developing Valley: Works in Progress”
Panel: Bill D’Avignon – Deputy Director of Youngstown Planning Department, Office of the Mayor, City of Youngstown Barbara Ewing – Economic Development Coordinator, Office of Congressman Tim Ryan Julie Michael Smith – Chief Development Officer, Youngstown Business Incubator Kirk Noden – Executive Director, Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative Eric Planey – Vice President, International/National Business Attraction, Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce
Moderators: Becky Keck – Director, YSU SMARTS Bill Mullane – Board member, Trumbull Art Gallery

Question: What does your organization do? What is your vision for the Mahoning Valley region as it relates to the work of your organization?

Erin Planey: The Regional Chamber is the facilitator of behind the scenes activities. It is also the one-stop shopping for information to businesses about expanding into the Mahoning Valley (tax incentives, etc.). The Chamber wants to become a player in globalization, not a victim of it, as is seen by the creation of Mr. Planey’s position; the Chamber wants to reach out globally/internationally. In terms of the arts, Youngstown has a large and strong arts infrastructure that could provide the framework for attracting business to the region.

Bill D’Avignon: The creation of jobs is currently the number one priority. Unfortunately, the arts typically don’t create many jobs on the front end. However, it takes time for the arts to lead to economic development; the designation of an arts district in Youngstown has led to more liquor licenses in the area which means more social venues which may lead to more businesses in the future or a greater influx of residents. Also, Mr. D’Avignon oversees resources like Community Development Block Grant Funds (CDBGF) that have been used by arts organizations such as SMARTS and the Playhouse.

Kirk Noden: Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC) is a collection of 60+ neighborhood, grassroots, community, and faith-based groups. MVOC focuses on quality of life issues for these groups in the Mahoning Valley including vacant properties, neighborhood development, and access to healthcare. MVOC works on the grassroots levels. The arts, as a group, is a quality of life issue in terms of economic development and business attraction.

Barbara Ewing: Congressman Tim Ryan’s office is unique among legislators in even having an economic development position on staff; so this shows the Congressman’s dedication to economic development of the area. It’s important to find ways to improve the quality of life for workers to attract and maintain businesses. (Look to places like Seattle or Austin that have an open and embracing culture/atmosphere that draws businesses in.) The arts are a quality of life issue, just like bike paths and the restoration of historic buildings.

Julie Michael Smith: Youngstown Business Incubators works with businesses to develop new information technologies that can enhance their businesses. Information technology is unique in that it touches all industries, unlike other incubators that focus on one area or another. Similarly, the arts community has a strength in its diversity in that the arts community is made up of arts educators and artists all working with all different medium and have a vast variety of perspectives to add. Businesses are looking for quality of life reasons to stay in the area. This series of meetings may lead to an art incubator (similar to a business incubator). This idea has been discussed for years but never really taken hold because there has been no one to step up from the arts community to be the cheerleader(s) on this issue.

Question: How can the Arts & Culture Community work with you to strengthen your economic plans – serving both our needs? What might that look like? Tell us what you need from us.

Eric Planey: It’s hard to quantify how the arts builds economic development, but I intuitively know that it does. Arts act as a magnet to attract people and businesses. The key is to start at the ground level to build a community. I would like to see more people from the community get involved with the arts community. There are lessons that we could learn from micro-lending to try and create something similar for the arts community where the whole arts community guarantees the loan; in return, the arts community involved is stronger with a unified voice to be able to buy houses (or live/work space for cheaper).

Bill D’Avignon: Speak with one voice (for the whole arts community from Youngstown and Warren and etc.). I think if the arts community is going to have a shot at this, there’s only going to be one shot in one location. Again, it is important to organize and speak in one voice. This includes arts educators, artists, art venues, etc. All of these groups need to come together from all over the region.

Kirk Noden: Usually at the beginning of organizing a group, the community is fragmented; I think this is the same case here, both in terms of geography and goals/purpose. The community needs to unite around a single purpose (or priorities) and then the group needs to include untapped talent and potential. Everyone has different goals; you need to find where these goals cross (even at unexpected points) and align these goals and make strategic connections. I personally don’t know all that much about the arts community in the Valley, but I would think using people (resources) like Phil Kidd would be a great place to start.

Barbara Ewing: In economic development, we are looking for “the cool factor,” which is critical to long-term economic development. Tim Ryan is interested in promoting the arts because we know arts education increases higher cognitive skills and provides experiences for students that broaden their horizons which creates a much more open-minded community in the long-run. We have to look past the now and focus on the potential for the future. What could the arts community do for us? Focus on kids in the classroom. Making arts education just as important as sports (football, for example) or traditional academic courses, has been a difficult sell, but progress is being made. When budgets get tight, the arts programs are traditionally the ones that see the greatest budgetary cuts. If you aren’t already doing so, integrate young people into your arts programming.

Julie Michael Smith: I have no idea what the arts community has to offer on a tactical level. I understand what everyone else has said in terms of impacting the big picture and long-term effects, but what I am not seeing are the specifics and immediate benefits of partnering with the arts community for economic development. I’m sure it is there; it just has not been articulated. There’s an organization out of Washington DC that this community may want to look to as an example: Cultural Development Corporation. They have a program called Flash Point that acts like an arts incubator. What an arts incubator might be able to contribute to this community is assisting artists with things artists are not typically known for doing well: business planning, considering tax implications, understanding legal regulations, accounting, marketing strategies, etc.)

Question: As we sit down to develop an arts and culture action plan, what would you like see included in the action plan? Who should be included? How do you define this region?

Bill D’Avignon: I would define this region broader than Youngstown alone even though Youngstown could easily be its own. Since you probably only have one shot at this, I would like to see a Youngstown/Warren collaborative.

Eric Planey: Regionalism scares me a little in that in Northeast Ohio, Youngstown is viewed by everyone else as the third kid on the block behind Cleveland and Akron. Youngstown in general gets forgotten so I wouldn’t define the region quite that broadly. However, I would like to see the Mahoning Valley speak as one voice.

Barbara Ewing: The way I like to see things is everyone that can fit into the tent, the better. Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Akron, etc. would be great, but might be a bit too ambitious. These are areas that might be great resources to tap into in terms of marketing and audience development. “Yes, Youngstown has a symphony orchestra.” In terms of asking who should be in it, is kind of like asking what art is. I hate to say it, but it’s kind of like, “ I know it when I see it.” It might be helpful to look at what Tim Ryan looks to: the Jazz Incubator in Washington DC. It’s a good model for an arts incubator, and the arts incubator that comes out of this would not have to have a physical location like the Jazz Incubator does, but I still think it pays to look into the Jazz Incubator as a model.

Kirk Noden: In terms of the region, I would like to see it broadly. More specifically, I would like to see a tri-county collaborative including Trumbull, Mahoning, and Columbiana counties involved, but have all three counties speaking in one voice. In terms of art, I would define arts as broadly as possible; the more the better. Some concrete action steps might be: (1) link up with Northeast Homeowners Association, (2) utilize resources like Neighborhood Success Programs from the Wean Foundation, and (3) work on an action plan to incorporate an actual project such as installing art into community gardens (former vacant lots) through Youngstown Neighborhood Collaborative, for example.

Question & Answer:
Lynn Anderson: If we have such great resources and under-utilization as you say, why plan and not just do? Why not just act now?

Eric Planey: The Valley is generally set in its ways and there are certain steps that have to happen first. First though, the problems have to be identified before you can address them effectively.

Becky Keck: The doing is already happening, just not together.

Bill D’Avignon: You need to prioritize as one voice to not overwhelm those of us who are willing to help and would like to be an integral part of economic development through the arts.

Julie Michael Smith: Planning is painful sometimes, but from our perspective, it is entirely necessary.

Phyllis: Why hasn’t the city brought in a contractor to build an arts community in one central building where artists can feed off of each other?

Julie Michael Smith: Have you asked? Furthermore, have you developed a plan that demonstrates a true return on investment as of yet? Without that planning and showing how this project fits into one piece of the greater whole (in terms of economic development), we can’t know for certain how the community benefits from this.

Bill Mullane: Cleveland has something similar to what you’re talking about, but it was all done by private development – not the city.

Nancy: The Mahoning Valley Collaborative has been around but has not had the funds (especially for marketing and PR). What we’ve learned is that knowing where to go for financial help is key. So, where do we go?

Bill Mullane: These panelists are here giving background for what economic development could be happening – not to be solicited for funding.

Becky Keck: Bring funding concerns to the table at our next meeting in November.

Aaron: What channels do you go through to allocate simple meeting space? It seems like there is plenty of unused space in former industrial space in downtown Youngstown. Also, Cuyahoga County has a sin tax that supports CPAC; how do we go about getting our own?

Barbara Ewing: First, to secure space like that, you would need to do that at the county level. Secondly, I’m not sure, but I think that sin tax may currently be limited to Cuyahoga County. You might want to talk to Tom Schorgl about how to go about doing that piece.

Bill Mullane: Also in Cuyahoga County right now is a land bank. The county has the ability to collect and redistribute vacant properties at will. With a joint partnership with CPAC, a lot of these vacant lots have been gifted to the arts community.

Becky Keck: If you are looking for meeting space, SMARTS at YSU is a great place to meet.

Bill D’Avignon: Another idea to get around the sin tax limits might be to include a countywide or citywide ticket tax for funding into an arts community bank account.
o From the audience: Ohio State Senate Bill 313 may allow land banking in other Ohio counties. For Barbara Ewing: Is there a way to get federal highway funding used to invest in public art?

Barbara Ewing: If art can be incorporated into the beautification of the existing project from the beginning, it might be possible. However, federal highway dollars are restricted for federal highway projects.

Jim: San Antonio, TX and Savanna, GA have done incredible things using arts to revitalize certain areas of their cities (such as the River Walk in San Antonio). If we want to do the same things in Youngstown, to whom do we bring our ideas in order to get something done? How should we bring you our proposals? (For example, I think a high school for visual and performing arts would be a great idea.)

Barbara Ewing: First of all, you have to develop a plan as one group.

Jim: Who is this group?

Barbara Ewing: To the members of this panel, every member of the audience here today is a group representing the arts and culture community in the Mahoning Valley. As a group, we need to see your plan and how these individual projects that you are proposing work toward the larger economic development.

Eric Planey: The concept sounds great, but it’s the plan that will make the concept ultimately successful with long-term economic development.

Jim: So to whom do we bring these ideas?

Bill Mullane: You as a group need to take ownership of these projects and prioritize which projects will achieve the group’s goals. That’s why this planning is so important.

Jacob: I work at the Lemon Grove whose patrons represent a lot of the ideas here in this room. How do the arts not get steamrolled by businesses in economic development?

Eric Planey: That’s a great question, but there are so many steps between where you are now and where this actually becomes an issue. I just don’t think we’re there yet. I would recommend taking it one step at a time.

Tyler: To wrap things up, I think all this is our job to actually get it done. We don’t want the city to determine for us who moves in where and how.

Please join us: Next Session in the Power of the Arts Series
“Our Arts and Our Valley: A Call to Action”
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
McMenemy’s
4:30 – 6:00 PM

One of the panel members said, "You as a group need to take ownership of these projects and prioritize which projects will achieve the group’s goals."
Who is this group they asked of him.
"To the members of this panel, every member of the audience here today is a group representing the arts and culture community in the Mahoning Valley. As a group, we need to see your plan and how these individual projects that you are proposing work toward the larger economic development." was the reply.

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Happy Halloween '09

2009-11-01T22:48:00.002-05:00

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The Clarks Halloween show at The Cellar

2009-10-31T13:38:00.001-04:00

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Can you believe I went to nearly every popular store around here, and could find a rubber snake?

2009-10-30T16:51:00.001-04:00

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In case you hadn't heard, Halloween is coming...

2009-10-22T22:29:00.003-04:00

Old Boardman Cemetery.

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A Gathering of Chiefs

2009-10-20T00:28:00.003-04:00

Sometimes it's difficult to get the big picture on multi-faceted issues, even more so around here. We've noticed a profound lack of cohesive, "News-reporting" locally. I'm not volunteering to fill the void, but I am willing to attempt to suture some of my observations about the impending Youngstown art renaissance. A lot of what you'll read here is purely speculation on my part, and I'm not always that swift, so please correct me where possible.

Part One:Youngstown 2010-A subject we've all heard of, but the bulk of the local populous is unacquainted with the details. Here's the low-down. Mayor Jay Williams, in consideration of the fact that Youngstown has lost the majority of it's inhabitants, and industry, and will likely never regain them, came up with the unprecedented notion of down-sizing the city. The plans call for a new map of the city. Whole neighborhoods would be leveled, and turned to forests while their inhabitants would be relocated to areas chosen for rehabilitation. The city of Youngstown would be no more: it would be transformed into a network of, "districts" separated by green spaces. 2010 is a couple of months away. There have been some snags. The people in the first neighborhood targeted for annihilation, refused to move. They also ran out of money for demolitions-you try and figure out what that means.
Those snags don't stop plans from being made. Youngstown has picked a neighborhood to be the first, "Renaissance District". That would be The Garden District, some of the details of what the city, and The Garden District Neighborhood Association can be seen on the links I've provided.

Part Two: Philanthropic Community Foundations
Thank God for these folks. Most every place has them, humble heroes who generally don't make a big deal about the heaps of money they bestow on worthy causes. One of our local organizations is The Wean Foundation, They write substantial grants to eligible tax-exempt organizations under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) or as public charities under section 509(a) of that code who are providing services benefiting the residents of Mahoning and Trumbull Counties in Ohio for the purpose of directly raising the capacity of the recipient to effectively perform its stated mission.

Part Three: Various Local Art Organizations
It's not my intention to depart from being clinical, and I hope I don't. Honest, I don't have anything against anyone. I simply come from the perspective of a slightly skeptical, but optimistic local artist. There are a few local art organizations, I've had some interactions with most of them. A friend recently commented on the subject, "It's such a closed group in so many ways(the Youngstown art community), and if you're not already friends with so and so or part of some other prominent organization, it's really hard to even get a foot in the door." That's not an uncommon opinion, and that's a shame. It's so counter to what well-wishers of the local art scene call out for. It has caused me to ponder what's the motivation of local art organizations that aren't actively seeking to engage local artists? Let me be clear that I'm not attempting to make any blanket statements about any of our local art organizations, they all have their thing, and their own way of doing their thing. I've had good interactions with some of our local organizations. If a local art organization meets the criteria, it is eligible for having money heaped on it by one or more of our local Philanthropic Community Foundations.

Part Four: Rust-Belt to Art-Belt
This post-industrial era we live in has left a, "Rust-Belt" across the country, and indeed all over the world. Places like Youngstown, "Dying cities" as they are called. In recent years, there has been a renaissance art movement in some of the more blighted areas. The idea is to induce an art-based economy. The first place I heard of doing this was Paduca Kentucky. I think they've had some success. I mentioned before that I'm not that swift, I have trouble wrapping my mind around how it works, but in blighted places all over, people are giving it a whirl.
On Thursday, June 18 at The Butler North Education Center, The Wean Foundation, The Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley and The Youngstown Foundation sponsored a session titled “Valley of the Arts: How artists can transform our neighborhoods.” A panel of community development and arts experts discussed the role of the arts in transforming neighborhoods. This included a brief overview of a paper called From Rust Belt to Artist Belt

Part Five: Current Events
In November of 2007, Art Youngstown Incorporated made it's debut. It was formed by local artists, and art supporters. They promptly introduced themselves on their new website as, " a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization with the purpose of enhancing the community through artistic expression for charitable, educational and scientific purposes." They also included a mission statement that sounded pretty good. They've had a couple of events since their inception, and received some very good sponsorship. Again, as I stated, I am ignorant, and often don't understand how things work. In the past couple of years, I haven't been able to understand why Art Youngstown hasn't taken visible steps towards its stated goals: They've gotten a good chunk of money from generous sponsors, and grants, how hard can it be to appropriate some of the bounty of empty buildings available for gallery, and or studio space? Better late than never I guess. John Cumpston, treasurer of The Garden District Neighborhood association leaked to me that Gallery and Studio space are in the works from Art Youngstown in the near future. Since It's John Cumpston doing the leaking, one might assume such an art space will be located in the garden district.
A couple of days ago I recieved an email from Art Youngstown, and it read like this:

Dear Friends,

Please see details below for an Arts Council meeting from the Westside Garden District Neighborhood Association.

The Lemon Grove Cafe has offered to provide us the opportunity to meet and form the Art Council. The meeting will be on Sunday November 1st at 3:00 pm at the Lemon Grove Cafe Downtown Youngstown.

We are hoping that all who have shown an interest in forming an Arts Council will be able to make this meeting. Your input and ideas are vital to our success if You can make this meeting please let me know.

Please RSVP at jjerryo@sbcglobal.net

So there You have it, as near as I can figure. I suppose if you want to have a say in matters such as these, You may want to attend on November 1st.
Good luck!

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Mosiac Unveiling

2009-10-19T12:38:00.002-04:00

It felt like an end, but I guess it's a beginning. I can be short-sighted like that. The Community Arts Project Foundation's Mona Lisa Mosaic Masterpiece was unveiled last night at The Eastwood Mall. While I haven't heard conclusively, I've heard it will travel around in the future. Foundation Director, Sue Jacobs is committed to seeking national attention for the piece. The unveiling was well attended, the participating artists, their fans, and foundation types. Those people are as much a mystery to me as I'm sure I am to them. The Mayor stayed for the whole thing. Even though their were plenty of people bending his ear all night, he seemed bored.
It was a fun project. It cut into my summer in a painful way, but I appreciated being invited to participate, and am glad I did.

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Minerva

2009-10-18T23:49:00.002-04:00

Here is a rough little sketch I did Friday, whilst baby-sitting at The Butler. It's the statue of The Goddess Minerva located in the front of The Butler. I'm hoping to one day do an over-sized painting of this statue, and display it there.
We'll see how it goes.

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loathes bananas

2009-10-08T00:46:00.002-04:00

Not really, but I have been avoiding them on account of their high glycemic properties. What I loathe is politics. I have a very basic precept in regards to politics: I believe anytime more than one person join together towards a goal, the original goal is in grave danger of corruption. Some might say this is representational of a dim view of human nature. While I recognize there are exceptions to every rule, all I know of it is what I've seen of it, and you've seen the same. Politics- all that posturing, and attempts to sway, I find it distasteful. If I were going to try to sway someone, I'd have to assume first that they were uninformed, and I think that's disrespectful.
I have similar feelings about political paintings, although I have been moved by some. Critics of mine have informed me that representative artwork lies somewhere between masturbation, and showboating, and if they were going to do fine artwork, they'd only do provocative pieces that sent a message.
That's a big, "if".
I don't pay much mind to that kind of rhetoric.
All that being said, sometimes we find ourselves in life considering doing the last thing we'd care to, things we find distasteful, because situations are forced on us that we never wanted. I suspect that has been the catalyst for many political paintings. In many cases, an artist's work is their voice.
Call me a hypocrite if you like, owing to relatively recent events, I've put up my lovely carousel painting I was working on, in lieu of a couple, "political" paintings of the less offensive variety-rebuttal.

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would think this fellow would object to me taking his photo. He didn't because he's not real, but a part of a disturbingly realistic exhibit at The Butler.

2009-10-02T00:31:00.002-04:00

Check it out if you get a chance, there a several very life-like sculptures.
It's a little spooky.

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Started a batch of pear wine last night. I couldn't get anyone to answer the door where the bosc pears were laying in the yard, and their neighbors were looking at me funny, so I bought 20 lbs of red pears.

2009-10-01T11:41:00.001-04:00

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Enjoying dried chicken treats courtesy of Nikki

2009-09-29T22:01:00.001-04:00

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Even More Controversial Canfield Fair Photos

2009-09-07T14:04:00.002-04:00

The truth is, that I literally have hundreds of good Canfield Fair photos. I could make a book, but it would be a little extraneous to post them here. These last few were taken specifically prior to when I was accosted yesterday.

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More Controversial Canfield Fair Photos

2009-09-07T12:22:00.002-04:00

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Controversial Canfield Fair Photos

2009-09-07T12:18:00.002-04:00

CAUTION: THESE IMAGES MAY OFFEND SOME VIEWERS!!!
More to come...

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Banned From The Fair

2009-09-06T22:57:00.001-04:00

I've been banned from The Canfield Fair, but not before an ugly, public display.
Those who know me a little bit, know I am a photo-realist, I render paintings from photos I take. That also makes me a photographer. A lot of you know my wife and I are also avid fans of county fairs, and amusement parks. We attend a lot of them, and while we're there we take thousands of photos of everything. Naturally, we look forward to The Canfield Fair. We attend everyday, and are usually there all day...taking pictures. We take thousands, and post the good ones various places on line, some we've entered in the fine arts photography competition at the fair.
So while Nikki was attending the 4-H dog showmanship judging, I found a nice spot on a bench by the rock, and shot a great deal of random crowd shots. There was a very large crowd constantly passing in front of me. I set my camera to shoot continuously, and shot hundreds of random crowd shots without thinking much of it. Most of the shots are garbage, but occasionally there are some gems. After awhile, I got up and was going to check on Nikki's progress. I walked a few paces, when I felt someone tried to smack the camera out of my hand, hard. I turned around to see what kind out idiot would do something like that. It was two burly dudes with crew-cuts, nobody I knew. I asked the guy closest what his problem was. These guys were super steamed, and not at all reasonable, they looked like they were about to try and beat me down, and I had no idea what was going on. They were calling me a pervert, and trying to snatch my camera, saying that I had taken pictures of their kids, which I'm sure I did, along with a lot of other people. I kept trying to calm them down so we could talk about it, but they weren't having it. I told them that I wasn't specifically taking pictures of their kids, rather random crowd shots, and that I'd be happy to delete the pictures of their people if they wanted. I tried to show them what shots I had, so they could tell me what to delete. One guy grabbed my camera, and said too bad, I lost my camera. Now this had been a loud, heated scuffle in a crowd of hundreds, with people watching, filming, etc. I look around and there's no cops. ??? The guy who grabbed my camera is screaming, threatening to smash my camera, and really looking like he's going to try to hit me. I said, "let's just let the police settle this". Still no cops. I had to stand there and yell at the top of my lungs for the police. A couple of fair cops showed up, the worked up guys said their piece, I explained myself, and asked the cop to get my camera from the guy who snatched it, and to look at the pictures so he could see that I hadn't done anything, "perverted". I told him that he could delete the pictures of the angry people. Another couple of cops came up, and the first cops began to explain what was going on. The second cops asked the first ones if we all should just go to the police station. I said, "Let's go to the station, perhaps cooler heads will prevail". I wanted to settle it, because I didn't want to be accosted by maniacs. The second cops, lead me by the arm to the police station. I told the cop that he didn't have to hold my arm, because I wanted to go and settle this. He told me that he wasn't hand-cuffing me because, I was co-operating. It was thoroughly embarrassing. They brought me in, and the second set of cops related the story to a third set as best they understood it. I again explained my position, and invited the, "investigator" to peruse the hundreds of pictures I had taken, to see if there was anything, "perverted" in there. After looking at all the pictures, he took the camera to the angry people. I heard him tell them that they were random crowd pictures, and they didn't appear to target anyone in particular. They complained that they were young girls, and nobody should take their pictures, and they were scared. "These are crowd pictures, 60% of the crowd at the fair is young girls" I heard the cop tell them. The investigator came back, and told me that he had deleted the pictures the angry people wanted deleted, and that I was being evicted from the fair for one year. I was rather unhappy to hear that considering I hadn't done anything wrong or out of the ordinary, and I told them so. "That's too bad, that's the way it is" a deputy sheriff said in a shitty tone. Another cop piped up and said, "Were you here yesterday? you fit the description of the guy that lady called about". "About what?" I asked. "She complained that someone who looks like you was taking people's pictures in the parking lot, as they got out of their cars". It sounded completely absurd to me. "get outta here, you never got a complaint like that!" I said before I could stop myself. That made everyone in the room laugh, except for the guy that made the claim, who replied, "Oh yes I did!" The investigator said, "Look, we're being nice to you, and cutting you a break. You'd be smart to just move on." I didn't see it that way."I already have a ticket for tomorrow, can I get a refund?" I asked. That got a few more chuckles, and The shitty deputy sheriff told me that I was pushing my luck, and had better shut up.
"Taking unsolicited pictures of fair patrons without their permission causing alarm" is the case they gave me.
Another shining example of our local law enforcement in action and the just, and sensible reasoning of the canfield fair police.
I've got a good mind to never go back.
I'll post some of my highly contoversial canfield fair photos in the future, when I'm a little less pissed.

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Wine Not?

2009-09-02T11:12:00.001-04:00

As for grape, I'm only making an early White this year.
On Sunday, I went into the backyard, and picked all the grapes, and brought them directly into the kitchen. I rinsed them, (all organic, Yay!) sorted them, then squished and dropped them into a bucket of warm sugar water, and yeast. I removed the fruit bodies on Monday, and racked the bucketful into my 6 gallon carboy where it is now awaiting it's next racking. We're still a good couple weeks from the start of grape harvesting season, the early harvest on this batch should yield a delightful, light-bodied fruity wine. I'm already impressed with it's color and aroma.
Something to look forward to!

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The Fair

2009-08-29T11:22:00.001-04:00

Chances are fair,
I'll be suspending most regular activities in lieu of the fair.
BBLLOUYEE!
Sorry.
I don't do anything special that requires my time and energy at the fair, everyone else in my household does, and I'm sucked into that energy by osmosis. Nikki and her family have a 4H dog agility club, and the county fair is a pinnacle in the 4H year. 4H aside, Nikki and I tend to be big county fair fans. We attend several, regionally. For those who have never been, our's is one of the biggest in the country. If you're going, I'll probably see ya there!

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One Month?

2009-08-23T23:58:00.001-04:00

I hoping this painting takes a month or less.
Mostly because I'm excited about it, I think it's going to be pretty good.
I wasn't completely thrilled about the workability of acrylics when I started with them on my last project, but I got used to them. They have their good, and bad points.

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Third Time's a Charm

2009-08-22T00:29:00.001-04:00

This is my third attempt with acrylics.
My first was in high school. I liked it at the time.
My second was the last painting for the mural. I figured since I was reacquainted, I'd have another stab at it.

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How Comfy Could they be?

2009-08-21T00:04:00.001-04:00

So much for laurels.
Who needs them?
I've started my next painting.

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Onward and Upward

2009-08-16T23:13:00.001-04:00

The deadline for participants in The Mosaic Masterpiece Mural came and went on Saturday. We took our piece to the Eastwood mall Saturday morning and placed it on the floor in the spot it was destined to go. Not everyone showed up with their pieces. Three out of the four surrounding mine showed up, and mine matched perfectly with those. I was glad of that because there were volunteers, "touching up" some of the paintings that they felt were incongruent in some manner. That made me a little nervous, because there was fine detail on every inch of our piece, and I felt there was no room for alteration of any kind. When we were ready to go, I asked Sue if anyone felt ours needed altered in any way, because if it did, I wanted to do it. She said she didn't believe so, but she'd ask the other ladies. The concensus was that they thought it was perfect, and wouldn't dream of putting paint on it. I was happy to hear that.
All and all it was a fun project.
It was a little hurried for my liking.
It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

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Rosetta Stone Cafe

2009-08-14T17:01:00.002-04:00

After a lot of hours, our portion of the CAPF mosaic masterpiece mural is finished, with a whole day and a half before the deadline to spare! It's entitled, "Classic Youngstown". (not, "Rosetta Stone Cafe", I'll get to that) It features 6 day scenes, and 6 night scenes depicting some of the Classic architecture found around town. It is, "Panel #17" on The Mona Lisa, if you were to split The Mona Lisa into 70 even panels. When put with the 69 other panels done by other area artists, It will make a 14'x20' Mona Lisa. The mural will be unveiled at The Eastwood Mall on October !5.

I spent a lot of time on a lot of small details, 8-12 hours a day, nearly everyday for the last month or so in particular, on top of my regular obligations. It will be nice to move on , and see about the rest of this summer.

So why "Rosetta Stone Cafe?"
Well, let me tell you.
After finishing the painting yesterday, Nikki and I were famished. After throwing myself into the fine details of downtown for so long, I thought it would be nice to celebrate down town. We had heard about the new, "Lemon Grove Cafe" and wanted to check it out. When got downtown, we talked about the big improvement there compared to 10 years ago, and that it's difficult for aging town centers to survive, when they aren't situated on major travel routes.
We went To Cedar's first for a drink and were surprised to find the doors locked. We walked up to Barley's passing the open door of the pizza place. You could see a single employee at the end of a big empty room. I think it's great to see these places open, yet I wonder how they do it. It's sort of surreal. Barley's looked the same, the bartender was alone. I ordered a Long Island Ice Tea. As often happens when you order that drink, and you're the only ones in the bar, It was virtually all booze. I drank some and asked for more coke in it. We saw that Barley's now serves Papa's Puerto Rican food. We enjoy the Papa's that's located near us on Mathew's road. I said to Nikki, that now we'd have to pick between 3 places to eat: here, The Lemon Grove, or Rosetta Stone Cafe. Nikki excluded, "here" because we've had Papa's, and had never been to the other 2.
We were both starving.
I hadn't eaten a bite all day, and now it was 7:00 p.m. I tried to get Nikki to help me finish my drink, but she wouldn't, so I chugged the nearly straight alcohol, and we left. We flipped a coin, and it was Rosetta Stone Cafe. It looked like a nice place, rather dark. Nikki thought it smelled good, I was conflicted about the smell. We were seated, and looked at the menu. The prices were high. Now generally speaking, we won't go to a place if we know in advance that the price are that high, unless that place offers something exceptional. We have been in this position before. When we try a new place, and see prices that high, we don't get up and leave, we don't even stick to the cheapest menu items. When in Rome, we try to be graceful. In such a setting, I also expect to see ultra-small portions, but my best hope is that the meal will be prepared well, and of really good quality, otherwise something's really wrong. So I ordered:

Shrimp Scampi Rosetta Stone Style 18
jumbo prawns, proscuitto, bleu cheese, scampi butter, linguini

(the, "18" is 18 dollars)

I frequently use proscuitto finely minced in my Italian dishes, it adds a good flavor when cooked down in various sauces. I was looking forward to something really good. Nikki ordered:

Chicken Rosemary 16
sautéed breast of chicken, white wine sauce, roma tomatoes, rosemary,
mozzarella

It took quite some time to get our drinks, and refills on our drinks and our food. I've worked as both a waiter and a cook, and know how things go, so I usually overlook a few things, but at a point, begin mentally reducing the tip I would have left from 20%. Our salads came, very small, not surprising. They were a little wilty, but I was pleased about that, they didn't seem to have any, "fruit fresh" type preservative used at most restaurants.
When our meals came, they looked okay. There were only seven shrimp, and a noticeable lack of cheese. There was none on the dish, or on the table. A nice, strong Pecorino Romano would have gone well. I can understand not including it on a signature dish, but I think it should have been at least been on the table. The dish wasn't put together well. It looked like Italian from Eat-n-Park. I couldn't detect any garlic. Scampi without garlic? It seemed like, shrimp, parlsey, butter, proscuitto, and pasta. Now what makes that all worse is that it was obvious that the pasta hadn't been drained well. So basic. Can you image how you would make such a lack-luster dish worse?-add water. Nikki's pasta came in a separate bowl, but when she added it to her chicken, her meal also became, "watered down".
We had to ask for all of our drink refills. Our waitress brought me a second cup of coffee after I asked, and it was cold. I was going to tell her when she came to see if our meals were o.k., but she never came back. I didn't hold the quality of our meals against her, just her poor service. I left her $5.00 on a $40.00 check.
In the car, I was again complaining about the lack of cheese, and how I was surprised that a signature dish had been so plain and poorly prepared. The Nikki mentioned the Bleu cheese, and how she expected it to be interesting on account of it. Bleu Cheese. There was no bleu cheese, I had forgotten the menu said it was part of the dish, and I got mad at myself. I would have loved to have pointed that out before I had eaten it.
Now comes the bad part of this story.
About 1:30 a.m. I began to get nauseous, and sweaty. The whole meal came out, much the way it went in.
That was the only food I had all day.
Can I say without a doubt my dinner from Rosetta Stone Cafe made me sick?
No, although I can't remember the last time I puked, it's been years and years.
I felt immediately better after that food was out of me.
Can I say without a doubt that I had a sub par experience at Rosetta Stone Cafe?
Absolutely.

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Stambavgh Avditorivm

2009-08-13T18:19:00.002-04:00

The final night scene is finished, which is also the final scene of the painting, and is also Stambaugh Auditorium.
Here's some facts from Wikipedia, and /www.stambaughauditorium.com

Stambaugh Auditorium is a public auditorium located in Youngstown, Ohio in the United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Stambaugh Auditorium opened in 1926, financed by Henry H. Stambaugh, one of the city's leading businessmen in the early 20th century. The centerpiece of the complex is the concert hall, which can hold a capacity crowd of 2,554. The auditorium also features a 9,700-square-foot (900 m²) ballroom, a smaller recital hall, and a garden at the southern end of the building, all of which can be rented out for private functions. Audiences and performers alike have praised the acoustics of the concert hall, which was designed for symphonic music performances. The auditorium was built in the Greco-Roman style.

Stambaugh's is located north of the Youngstown's downtown area. It faces once-fashionable Fifth Avenue, which was among the city's most exclusive residential districts in the 1920s. At the time of the auditorium's grand opening, residents of the neighborhood included chief donor Henry Stambaugh.

Architecturally, Stambaugh Auditorium is a free rendition of the classic as a exemplified in the Italian Renaissance. The structure was modeled after the public auditorium in Springfield, Massachusetts, which in turn was designed from the Pantheon in Paris. Helmle and Corbett Architects of New York City were the creators.

Originally intended to be erected either downtown or at the center of Wick Park, the 300 by 70 site at 1000 Fifth Avenue proved to be a wise choice, one which was enlarged to provide for parking areas when more land became available. Indiana limestone was used for the exterior walls. Inside areas feature top quality oak paneling, marble benches and again Indiana limestone.

I'll show you the whole painting next time.

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Positive Press

2009-08-12T17:13:00.001-04:00

I got some recently.
Here's a link to a current article in The Town Crier.
Thanks to the fine folks involved!

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People On The Move?

2009-08-10T23:16:00.003-04:00

People On The Move.
What can you say about that?
If we hadn't decided on,"Classic Youngstown", we would have called this piece, "People On The Move".
In this scene, we have some images overlapping.
Don't worry, it's part of the plan.
I couldn't resist including this scene. It screams downtown Y-town at nite, all in one eyeful. It's based on a photo we didn't even have to get out of the car to take.
This was the second to the last scene to go onto this painting, just one more to complete. This is a good thing, because the deadline is this Saturday, plus I'm in dire need of returning to my regularly scheduled life. Something to look forward to.
I was a little worried for a while, but I think I'm going to make it

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Metropolitan Bank

2009-08-08T17:25:00.001-04:00

There was no way we weren't including this view.

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Ohio One

2009-08-08T00:13:00.001-04:00

Nikki Helped with this one.

Here's some facts about the building at 25 Boardman Street.

Building Features:

6-story office building built in 1930 originally for The Ohio Edison Company.
54,000 total square feet with a typical floor containing 9,200 square feet.
1 passenger and one passenger/freight elevator.
Loading dock.
150 seat auditorium
Great Room, 80'x60' with 23 foot high ceiling and black walnut paneling.
24/7 access
Onsite Maintenance and Management Staff

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East Federal Looking West

2009-08-03T15:51:00.001-04:00

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Good Times Bad Times

2009-07-29T19:41:00.001-04:00

All the daylight scenes are done, now comes the night.
The view is from the southeast corner of Market and Front looking northwest. Like many around here, I've had both good and bad times in that building. Like many folks around here, there were more bad than good. I'm not talking about the one that says, "Huntington".
As far as details of The Mahoning County Courthouse goes, Charles H. Owsley strikes again. He designed many buildings around town, and this one is no exception. He designed it in 1910 in a second renaissance revival style. It's made of granite and marble.

As for the other building, here's the rundown courtesy of www.clevelandskyscrapers.com

Huntington Building (formerly Mahoning National Bank) -1909

26 Market Street, Youngstown
13 Floors

Detroit’s Albert Kahn designed this thirteen story building for the Mahoning National Bank in 1909. In the mid-1920s, the original five bays were doubled. The Mahoning National Bank Corporation organized in 1868 and was originally located across the Central Square from this site. In 1999, Sky Corporation purchased Mahoning National and changed the name to Sky Bank. The building retains much of the integrity of its classical exterior and also boasts a lavish interior with the original wood clad walls, coffered ceiling and lighting fixtures.

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Y-town's Ugliest Building

2009-07-24T23:39:00.001-04:00

Your opinion may differ.

My least favorite building downtown has found it's way onto our Classic Youngstown painting, and it's no Classic. In fact, it's younger than I am, at 28, and the youngest building in this painting. It's The International towers. It's made of plain, rough, gray concrete, no windows on the north and south, and tiny windows in between concrete grooves on the east and west.

It looks like something out of communist Russia.

If I were going to guess what it was from looking at it, I'd guess a prison.

Turns out it's low-income senior's apartments.

Here's a recent article about International Tower from The Spindicator.

YOUNGSTOWN — The 12-story low-income senior-citizen International Towers in downtown Youngstown has a new owner.

Millennia Housing Management purchased the 28-year-old building at 25 Market St. for $4.9 million.

Millennia, based in Valley View, near Cleveland, manages 5,735 low-income housing units in five states.

The company operates Arlington Gardens, Heritage Apartments and Jubilee V Homes in Youngstown and Sebring Manor in Sebring.

When asked why Millennia would spend nearly $5 million in a weak housing market, Amy Castelli, the company’s spokeswoman, said: “We’re very impressed with the downtown Youngstown area. The Youngstown area has a lot to offer. There’s more life in Youngstown than people think and we are impressed with what the future of Youngstown can be.”

You may be wondering why I included it if I dislike it so much. The answer is that it's situated right next to The Realty Building, which is a, "classic". Here's a bit about it from

Cleveland skycrapers (don't be confused, they have a Y-town page.)

Realty Building - 1924
47 Federal Plaza East
Youngstown architects Morris Schiebel and Edgar Stanley designed this building for the Realty Guarantee and Trust Company in 1924. Opening the next year, the twelve story structure exhibits elements of the Commercial and Neo-Classical Revival styles. Click here for a detailed view of the facade.

The view in the painting is from the corner of Federal and Market looking east across Central Square. Central Square used to be called Public Square. I read recently in The Metro Monthly that The Realty Building was being renovated for High-priced, luxury apartments. I think it would be cool to live downtown, high in a luxury apartment. I'd be rich, and have nothing better to do but don a mask and cape, and patrol the alleys and roof-tops...

Here's a bit about the renovations courtesy of bx magazine.

Downtown
The Chase Bank building was purchased by Cleveland developer Lou Frangos with the hope of renovating the 135,298-sf building to lease to businesses, leaving the 25,064-sf anchor space to JPMorgan Chase Bank. He also started the $8.3 million Realty Tower Apartment renovations at Federal and Market Streets. Plans call for 25 upscale apartments on 13 floors to replace the old Realty Trust Building by summer of 2009. Frangos also plans to transform the vacant 13-story Wick Building originally constructed in 1906 on West Commerce Street into housing

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Home Savings and Loan Building

2009-07-22T11:09:00.001-04:00

This one took me a little while.
You may notice a certain transparency about it.
I want all the buildings to have some degree of transparency as I'm overlaying them on the image of the portion of The Mona Lisa I'm working on. I arranged the position of The Home Savings and Loan Building to fit over a tree-line.
If I were political, I might say something like, "The transparency represents the vanishing of, "Old Youngstown", as the powers that be would like to see it go away, and be replaced by parking lots, and, "green spaces" landscaped by prisoners of society under the direction of The Community Corrections Agency."
Happily, I hate politics.
Here's some facts about The Home Savings and Loan building courtesy of www.clevelandskyscrapers.com

Home Savings and Loan Building - 1919
275 Federal Plaza West
10 Floors

One of Youngstown’s foremost architects, Charles F. Owsley, designed the headquarters for the Home Savings and Loan Company in 1919. The Home Savings and Loan, which is still a Youngstown institution, began as the Home Building and Loan Company in 1889. The bank was originally located on the Central Square, before moving into this ten story landmark building. Its Colonial Revival clock tower is brightly lit at night, highlighting the Youngstown skyline. There are some exterior alterations from the 1950s including a glazed brick facing over the original façade and an arched entrance canopy. The original building had yellow brick veneer on the lower stories.

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Black Kat

2009-07-18T14:10:00.001-04:00

This was simply for my own entertainment. I did it the last couple of times I was baby-sitting at The Butler.

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Sports Fans

2009-07-16T19:39:00.001-04:00

I remember when this thing was built.
Here is Stambaugh Stadium, and a bit about it courtesy of www.ysu.edu

"Ice Castle" Has Been the Home for YSU Football Since 1982

    Youngstown State’s football home is something that has been defended well through its first 25 seasons.
    The tallest building in the city, the stadium rises high above the Mahoning Valley and offers tremendous views in all directions.
    Perhaps that is why Arnold D. Stambaugh Stadium has garnered the nickname the “Ice Castle.”
    Over the years, the Ice Castle has been a protected place. Almost four out of five times a visiting program has left Stambaugh Stadium on the losing end of the score.
    Only three times in 25 seasons have the Penguins failed to finish above .500. At home in the playoffs, YSU is 14-1 having won 14 straight home games after losing to Central Florida in their first-ever home playoff tilt in November 1990.
    Since the 1996 season, the Penguins have posted a stellar mark of 57-17 (.757 winning percentage). Since the 1989 season, YSU is an impressive 102-20-1, including undefeated seasons in 1993, 1994 and 2005. In 1993 and 1994, YSU won the FCS National Championship while in 2005 the Guins won the Gateway title. In 2006, the Guins were 7-1 posting playoff wins over James Madison and Illinois State. The contest against JMU was televised nationally on ESPN2.
    The Penguins have won 74.5 percent of their games at Stambaugh posting an impressive 125-41-1 overall home mark in 25 seasons. Nine of the 10 all-time largest Gateway crowds have been at Stambaugh.
    One of the finest FCS facilities in the country with a seating capacity of 20,630, Stambaugh has been the home for the Penguins since the early 1980’s.
    Many tweaks have taken place to ensure a home-field advantage.
    Built in 1982 (17,000 capacity) with seating only on the west side, Stambaugh entered a new era in 1997 when the Stadium underwent a $5.5 million addition.
    Prior to the 1997 campaign, the number of loges (luxury suites) was expanded from 12 to 26. The Watson Media Center, one of the best press facilities in FCS, was added onto the second level of the complex. The DeBartolo Stadium Club, which overlooks the city of Youngstown, is located on the main loge area, and is used for meetings, press conferences and luncheons. Also, seating for more than 3,000 was added on the east side to bring the capacity to 20,630, the highest in the Gateway Conference.
    In 2000, a sound system was added to the east and west sides.
    Twice the playing surface has been replaced, most recently in 2002. That summer, SprinTurf, was installed making the school only one of five FCS schools to play on the syntethic surface. The replacement removed the AstroTurf that was in place since 1991.
    YSU’s athletic administrative offices, ticket office, football offices, strength-training facility, football and baseball locker areas, training room and Academic Center are located throughout the complex.
    Six racquetball courts and office areas for the ROTC program are in the building as well. The multipurpose complex is also home to the soccer team and intramural events.

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Tommy Chat Just Emailed Me

2009-07-16T12:12:00.001-04:00

I'm enamored with something most folks couldn't tolerate. So what else is new, right? I came across some video art I just can't get enough of. It features all the things I love about Rikki Lake, Heavy drugs, and idiocracy. These films are frenetic, if you feel you're at risk for a seizure, show some restraint.

Tommy Chat Just Emailed Me

I recommend check out the rest of Ryan Trecartin's work, you can do what you want.
The rest can be seen here: UBUWEB
Ryan also has a youtube channel. he goes by Wian Treetin

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I Remember Isaly's

2009-07-15T23:24:00.001-04:00

Here is the latest building completed.
Here's a bit of history about it courtesy of Wikipedia:
"In the 1930s, Isaly’s began a commercial building program that employed high style art deco / Art Moderne designed production facilities and retail outlets, most of which were designed by architect Vincent (Shooey) Schoeneman. The Youngstown dairy facility represented the apex of this project, with the streamline building (with exterior by architect Charles F. Owsley) dominated by a five-story glass block tower"
I believe after The Isaly headquarters it was The Vindicator Building, then U-Haul in the seventies.

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Youngstown Steam

2009-07-15T00:23:00.001-04:00

Like many great cities, Youngstown has a history of steam heat that persists today.(that's why some of the manholes in the streets downtown are steamy)
Below is a bit of history courtesy of energy.rochester.edu:

Youngstown - 1899 Independent electric co supplied exhaust steam to handful of downtown businesses. 1906 Youngsteam steam heating co constructed a plant to supply steam to about 25 buildings. ``Oddly, there was no electric generation association with this early steam heating operation.'' Mahoning County Light Company organized in 1913, bought Youngstown SHc in 1915. In 1917 the Mahoning and Shenango Railway and Light Co acquired the steam heating facilities and began supplying exhaust steam at North Avenue gen station building in 1889. Pennsylvania-Ohio Power and Light Co merged into Ohio Edison 1930. 196 customers in 1967, 477,919,000 lbs/yr, 5.6 miles. Youngstown Steam Heating Co. 1902L, 1910L, 1917S, 1917R, 1919R, Mahoning County Light Co 1921R, 1925R, 1930R, Ohio Edison 1962L, 1977L Serves Youngstown University. North Avenue Steam Plant. Pennsylvania & Ohio Co NDHA Member 1926 Sold 29 September 1980 to Youngstown Thermal Energy Corporation, 1992C, Steam. Youngstown State University, 1992C, Steam, CW

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What I put on underneath

2009-07-14T13:00:00.001-04:00

For those wondering what this is all about, I'll tell you. Locally, I'm participating in a community art project organized by The Community Art Project Foundation. The gist of it is that they took The Mona Lisa, and split it into 70 sections. 70 artists were given a section, and were asked to do an original artwork that loosely conforms to the basic shape and color of their section. The theme is that it should have something to do with life locally. My wife Nikki and I are collaborating on our section, our painting features some of the classic architecture of Old Youngstown. You can see everyone's ideas for their sections on the community art works website.
I can't speak for the other participants, but I want my undercoat to be nearly an exact copy of my section. That way, the buildings can go on in a thin, transparent layer, thus lending to the over-all congruency of the piece. I say, "nearly an exact copy". really I would prefer to make an exact copy, but there is a deadline on this project, it's been an ideal summer this year, and I long to feel free just like everybody else.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Gallagher 1904

2009-07-02T01:39:00.001-04:00

These are my latest buildings finished. Plural because above the Gallagher Building in the upper-left is the building that sits on the corner of Commerce, and Phelps.Actually, it spans the whole block, 20 Federal Place. The Gallagher Building is located at Commerce and Hazel, and was named after the fabulous local nineteenth century capitalist, Charles E. Gallagher. He was an oil man, among other things. The building holds present-day Cedar's lounge.

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Paramount Theater

2009-06-28T22:07:00.001-04:00

100 years ago, that would have been the time to live in Y-town. That's when the money was here. Not that this far future place is without it's charms. My wife and I have a taste for the spooky, and abandoned. We're awed by the empty splendor of downtown Youngstown.
The building featured in the previous entry is The Wick Building. Today's building is, "The Paramount Theater". Here's a bit about it, courtesy of cinematresures.org:
"Opened as the Liberty in 1918, this small, yet elegant building was clad in white terra cotta, and ornamented with swags and fluted pilasters.

It became known as the Paramount in the late 1920's and its mezzanine was given an Art Deco makeover in the 1930's.

Closed by the early 1970's, the marquee has since been removed, leaving only a metal framework. An ill fated renovation was attempted in the early 1980's but abandoned due to cost constraints.

The interior plasterwork was particularly beautiful. The building contains two empty storefronts which have been gutted although the lobby and auditorium is more or less intact."

It only stands to reason what's happened in Youngstown. The question is what now? The powers that be have decided the best thing is to downsize the real estate to match the populous. They'd like to see the over 4500 abandoned buildings in Youngstown demolished. There's been some demolition, and most residents agree that they would like to see some eyesores removed. What it it look like if all 4500 buildings were gone? as an artist, I can't help but to think in these terms. Unfortunately, most of the classic architecture featured in my painting are empty and or abandoned.

What will it be like around here when the buildings are gone? The truth is, no one knows. I do know that tearing down the buildings won't make the poor people go away.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Torment for your ears

2009-06-25T19:00:00.001-04:00

Download now or listen on posterous

ondungpeegmixlite.wav (13590 KB)

About nine years ago, I had recently become proficient at African drumming, having played regularly for a year or so. I also discovered the most recent (at the time) trend in Jamaican reggae. I do have dreads. I'm not a Rasta. My dreads are more related to my devotion to Siva. Rastas and Shaivites do share some roots, but this is all beside the point. I've always had a big fondness for reggae, especially rub-a-dub style. What I discovered nine years ago was Dancehall, at the time, virtually unknown in the U.S. What it amounts to is that someone records some, "beats", and they get passed around to deejays or emcees, however you like to say it, and they rap over it in Jamaican Patois. I heard it, and really liked the fresh sound, and the crispness of the patois.

I'd leave drumming, with the rhythm we had played still rolling in my head, and set lyrics to them. It occurred to me that I could make a short record, put it here and there into the right hands, and maybe get a few bookings. I'd use a few of the solid drummers I drummed with, to back me up. It was such a fresh, and addictive sound, I knew the time was ripe for it, and people would eat it up. I had just met P.J., and knew he had a recording studio in his basement, so I asked if he would help me with this project. I played The people a couple of excerpts from my newly purchased Dancehall c.d.s, and they looked at me cock-eyed, mouths agape. They found the music reprehensible, but that was back in their Puritan days. P.J. agreed to help.

Not long after that, a big gust of tumultuous time swept me up, and deposited me roughly here today. I lived with the people for a number of years, and never embarked on this project. That may sound pathetic, but in fairness, I'm a meglo-maniac. I do alot of shit, and pine for what I can't. About a year ago, I borrowed P.J.s eight track recording thingy-mabob.
He's lent it to a lot of people who did nothing with it, and a lot who have began their careers with it. If he lends it to you, and you don't use it quickly, he takes it back, and it's very hard to get it again. About two years into the nine years it took me to get it together, Sean Paul blew up big in the mainstream with his dancehall stylings. Hell, even that Hasidic Jewish guy, Matisyahu blew up. Have you heard that, Matisyuhu? It was the final nail in the coffin of this dream. Dancehall is now old hat. Please enjoy my debut. This is my first original piece, it's all me on the instrumentation, and vocals

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Old Precinct?

2009-06-25T01:02:00.001-04:00

I finished this building today. I was going to go downtown after the movies, (Sunshine cleaners-chick flick) to see the address, but it was after midnight, and I can't see so well at night anymore. I think it may be the old police station at 32 Phelps? If you know, let me know.

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LICKED

2009-06-23T17:53:00.001-04:00

The first building that is

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Fw: First National Tower

2009-06-21T19:07:00.001-04:00

--- On Sun, 6/21/09, jeffrey puccini <shemekalikashenice@puccini-art.com> wrote:

From: jeffrey puccini <shemekalikashenice@puccini-art.com>
Subject: First National Tower
To: "posty poster" <post@posterous.com>
Date: Sunday, June 21, 2009, 7:00 PM

My portion of the community mural is going much slower than I care for, in that it's not finished yet. No surprise there, my style of painting can be painfully slow. Factor in that it's beautiful Summer time, hard to want to be indoors, there's always so much to do.
I don't have the undercoat completely done. I'm leaving some of that for Nikki to do. It's done in the upper-right, that's where I've begun to add The First National Tower (Metropolitan Bank Tower)built in1929 located at 1 Federal Plaza West.

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The Meat of The Matter

2009-06-18T22:47:00.001-04:00

I really don't want anyone to get the wrong idea.
I love Youngstown, and would like nothing more than to live here as a successful artist, secure in the knowledge that local art is revered and supported in spite of difficult times. Youngstown has great potential, and there is nothing wrong with a diminished population, it can be advantageous in certain circumstances.
I wish I could have attended, "The Rust Belt to Artist Belt" discussion today, because I would sincerely like to know what practical ideas were on the table. Prior to this, I've only heard a lot of nonspecific hot air pushed around. In a recent email to a friend, while I was expressing my displeasure regarding my recent rejection, I wrote this:

"Considering all of the empty/abandoned buildings around town, I can't help but to think how nice it would be to get someone to donate gallery space to local artists. People involved wouldn't necessarily expect to make a ton of sales, but could view it as an opportunity to launch their careers, by having their first solo exhibition at a bonafide art gallery, something for the resume. Artists who volunteered to man the place, could also use it for studio space. Such a place would probably be eligible for all kinds of grants, and might do all right on the world-wide front with a good website."

In my opinion, that would be a concrete move that would provide a community-based outlet for self-determined artists to take some sort of steps towards establishing, and furthering their art career without having to leave the area. Realistically, as a local artist, I don't think we should expect to generate enough income through local sales to exist on, but that doesn't mean that we can't garner the communities support, and enthusiasm in other ways. I think organizing group shows, that are attended mostly by other artists, and the families and well-wishers of the participants, but no one planning to spend their money isn't the answer. In fact it builds disillusionment.
Again, I love Youngstown, and want to actively participate in projects that promote local art in a substantial way. I wish there were more of them. I'm currently participating in The Community Art Projects Foundation's, "Masterpiece Mosaic" . Above is the rough sketch I submitted for the project. It features some of the classic local architecture we know and love. I just can't attend one more group show where they sell more sandwiches than art. I can't stand to look one more time with empathy at the despair in the eyes of my fellow local artists. I've done it before. I'm losing my vision to an untreatable eye disorder, and don't feel I can spend my time in that manner. I need to make my efforts count for something.
Sorry if I come off cynical or skeptical, but it is what it is.
Some local organizations that claim to in support of local artists seem to only be good at raising donations for their organization. If any of the massive donations they've raised have or will trickle down to actually benefit local artists, it remains to be seen. Other local artists organizations would genuinely like to find a vehicle for advancement, they just don't seem to be able to muster what is necessary.
I sincerely believe the first step must be a permanent local venue dedicated to the promotion of any local artist with a body of work that can be shown. It can't be primarily about money. It has to be about exposure.

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Bitter is The Whine

2009-06-16T22:40:00.001-04:00

Normal 0

Who likes sour grapes? Not me. I’m usually the first one to poo poo sour grapes, based solely on principal. Are these sour grapes I offer? I don’t know, I guess I’m not sure how objective I can be about this.

I live in Youngstown, Ohio

As many know, prior to the late seventies, Youngstown was a flourishing steel town, well endowed with old money. In such a climate, art, and culture tend to thrive. When local American steel companies moved to Japan, it was the death of Youngstown. To make that statement locally, is sacrilege. The people who remain either turn a blind eye, or try to have hope beyond reason. Youngstown currently has less than sixty percent of it’s densest population. It’s estimated that every third house in Youngstown is abandoned. The city of Youngstown caught national attention by making the unprecedented motion of abandoning whole neighborhoods, and sections of town, declaring them, “no longer a part of the city of Youngstown. In the year 2000, The city elders unveiled their, “Youngstown 2010” initiative, outlining the ten year path of recovery, and prosperity for our city. As time passed, that dream faded. Now that it’s 2009, no one really mentions, “Youngstown 2010.” Last I heard, it’s been reshaped into a directive to convert, “grayspace” to “greenspace”. That amounts to replacing abandoned buildings with trees. I guess that is a, “recovery” of the most basic sort.

Among those who would like to deny that they live in a ghost town, are those that cling to the notion that art is not dead in Youngstown. With the exception of The Butler Institute of American Art, art is indeed dead in Youngstown. The Butler is a true institution, in that it is a hold out from better times, and has managed to stand in these grim times.

Aside from The art gallery in The Butler, who is proven to be supportive of local artists, there is only one remaining art gallery. I’m not stupid. Times are tough in the best of places. This is one of the most impoverished places in the country. I know the market for selling art locally is small to nonexistent. Be that as it may, being an at least adequate local fine artist with a reasonable body of work, I felt it would be good, and worth while to try to schedule an exhibition at the only independent art gallery left. I’m not what most would consider an established artist, I’m self-taught, and lack credentials. I’ve always felt that credentials were only important to automatons, and lackeys. I think the proof is in the putting. I put together a proposal for a solo exhibition as per the gallery’s guidelines and submitted it. I felt confident and certain that it was the first step towards a mutually rewarding alliance, and perhaps a statement, that amidst this desolation, hope springs eternal, and art can happen anywhere someone expresses it. I believed that the lofty whispers of those who say interest in Youngstown artists can be nurtured, could ring true.

“Thanks for entering your artwork for consideration, however the committee sees rarely an opportunity for a one artist exhibition”. That’s what the form letter said. I’m not really sure what that means aside from the obvious. Everyone rues rejection, but it’s more the implications of the rejection that I find troubling.

I have a general philosophy that can be summed up in a couple of my favorite quotes:

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”-Theodore Roosevelt.

The U.S. Army Officer’s Training manual states, “Any plan, no matter how poorly conceived, if boldly executed, is better than inaction”. I’ll have my exhibition. It will be in Cleveland, or Pittsburgh. I have a great deal of confidence in a better future through art for myself. I’m sorry I can’t say the same for Youngstown.

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15% Apathetic

2009-06-12T18:41:00.001-04:00

Hello,

Sorry for so few entries lately. It seems like I'm obsessed, or depressed about 85% of the time. In either case, I don't feel much like blogging. I did this whilst manning the art gallery at The Butler today. It's about half done.

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Let's never go to work!

2009-05-28T00:50:00.001-04:00

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And then…More Daffodils!

2009-05-21T21:16:00.003-04:00

You know you love it.

Shipped to you for just $200 USD plus $10 shipping and handling

African Violets

2009-05-20T21:14:00.001-04:00

These weren’t at Millcreek Park, They’re mine, and currently being attacked by aphids. When are these spiders going to get off their asses and do something.

Shipped to you for just $200 USD plus $10 shipping and handling

Lord, Love a Daffodil

2009-05-19T21:13:00.001-04:00

God knows I do.

Shipped to you for just $200 USD plus $10 shipping and handling

Back-lit Daffodil

2009-05-18T21:08:00.001-04:00

Naturally its lovely to see sun fall on a Daffodil in April. I just as fond of the view of the lovely with the sun shining through like a stained-glass window. You should get out more.

Shipped to you for just $200 USD plus $10 shipping and handling

Back-lit Pansy

2009-05-17T21:03:00.004-04:00

God help ya if you call me that in the local tavern.

Shipped to you for just $200 USD plus $10 shipping and handling

------SOLD------

Studio Space

2009-05-16T17:29:00.000-04:00

Yes please.

Some folks have quiet studios far removed from distraction. For some it's a small room above their garage, for others, it's a quiet place across town. Above is my work space. Just out of frame to the right, is my wife's desk and computer. Everything in the room is just as filled with stuff as the picture. It's a small room that my wife and I share with three dogs. Downstairs is filled with screaming dogs, and slamming doors.

What Do You Mean By That?

2009-05-15T17:08:00.001-04:00

The daily painting movement. There is some leeway as to the definition of daily painting. The zealots insist one must produce a finished painting everyday to be a daily painter. Others more moderate say a couple a week is close enough. Many reasonable daily painters figure it means one paints mostly everyday, and produce finished works frequently. Personally, I look at it this way: My, "Daily" paintings take an average of 8 hours or so. that Means I could easily produce one a day in theory. One must also have a life. Usually, if I'm not painting, I'm at least thinking about it.

A Rose By Any Other Name Again

2009-05-14T16:47:00.003-04:00

No, of course it's not a rose. I know that. I just don't know what it is. I guess the responsible thing to do would be to try to indentify it, and name it that. I'm not going to. I'm tired. This series is going to be florals from photos I shot locally at Millcreek Park's Fellows garden. I do know what some of the flowers are in a general way. These look like some kind of purpley daisy.

Flowers#1 is an 8"x10" oil painting on canvas board.

It sells for $200.00 USD, plus $10.00 shipping and handling.
------------SOLD-----------

Tis The Season

2009-05-13T19:29:00.001-04:00

This starts a series of floral paintings from photos taken at Fellows Riverside Gardens in Millcreek Park here in Youngstown.

Down, but not out.

2009-02-19T19:28:00.001-05:00

Hello.
Pardon my absence, but just because I haven’t been around here, doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing art. I fell off the bandwagon with the daily paintings just after my brother and I made an unplanned trip to see my mother before she had surgery. That was late last summer. I have remained as, “art involved” as ever. I didn’t jump right back in with the daily paintings for a few reasons, foremost being, as some of you may know, I’m experiencing a degree of vision loss that is both vexating and depressing. I’m able to compensate for it, but it’s a struggle, and that makes it difficult to get excited about detailed work. I do have some daily paintings yet to post from last summer. Before x-mas, I made several necklaces to give to the ladies as holiday gifts, as well as about 25 gallons of wine including blush, blackberry, sparkling strawberry, sparkling pineapple, apple, and grapefruit. I’ll post pictures of the necklaces, as far as the wine goes, see me in person. I also did a fabulous woodcarving I’ll be showing you, so please stay tuned!

Feathery Fun

2008-08-14T00:08:00.000-04:00

Play of Light

2008-08-12T10:44:00.001-04:00

It's what I'm into as a visual artist, and jewelry-maker. I was pleased with the way the carnival glass vase turned out. The other is a cobalt blue vase I recieved from an estranged girlfriend for x-mas holding some of Nikki's peacock feathers

Crack-pot Religions

2008-08-10T10:00:00.000-04:00

My wife and I belong to The Canteloupe Religion. We aren't accepting any pilgrims or devotees because there is only room for two. We believe that we live inside my belly-button, inside my wife's belly-button, inside a canteloupe. Whenever I put my finger inside my belly-button, or inside my wife's belly-button, I poke myself in the head. In front of the lamp is a very small cacti garden. On the other side is a Carnival glass vase.

Still Live

2008-08-09T11:09:00.001-04:00

This is a decorative, frosted glass lamp that is full of fractures. It came that way, on purpose. You turn it on by touching the metal base. It was a wedding gift from someone. It sits in the eastern window of our bedroom. In this painting, it's not lit by the light bulb, but by indirect rays of the morning sun. I enjoyed the play of light, so I decided to paint it.

Still Life #1, 8"x10" Oil Painting on canvas board, $100.00 USD plus $10.00 USD shipping, and handling

I Don't Like Outdoor Shows

2008-08-08T02:21:00.004-04:00

I paid a hundred bucks to be apart of an outdoor artshow a few years back. It was a two day festival on Lake Erie, so we rented a room. The lady in charge assured me that people bought like crazy the year before. It was called, "Perchfest". A festival of beer, and fish.I sold some dog leashes, and jewelry. I didn't quite break even. To be accepted for that festival, I had to participate in an obligatory, "Art in The Park" the week prior. No one came to that, and I didn't sell anything. The next spring, I thought I'd try it again. There was an art show in a well-to-do suburb near-by. Outside again. After setting up, the wind decided to show me what it thought of my efforts smashing my work on the ground, broken glass everywhere. I made about $60.00 in the sales of a couple of prints, and dropped and smashed one of my best sculptures that I was asking $250.00 for. I promised myself I was done with the outside artshows.

Recently I was invited to participate in, "Youngstown Rocks The Arts" The first annual outdoor art and music festival put on by the newly founded, "Art Youngstown Inc." They waived their fee for me, so I decided to give it a go. They said the space they would provide would be under a large tent, so what could happen? When I got there, I was immediately apprehensive. There was a strong, constant wind blowing, and low, and behold, there were no sides on the tent. From the start, the struggle was on. I set up my new cardboard display. (stop laughing). The wind whimsically flung my paintings about, as I wove a spider web of string around my display in a futile attempt to secure it. Then the hard rain came, and reduced my display to a soggy heap of paper. The paintings got wet, but were alright, just most of the 23 frames they were in got ruined. The rain stopped, and we called Steve to see if he would bring my old display(rolled plastic fence). While we waited the two hours for that to arrive. I hung my paintings from a string in clothesline fashion. just as they were all up, the rain came again. It continued to rain off and on into the evening. I finally set to split at 11:00p.m. as another thunderstorm was kicking up. After I packed up, the vendor next to me came over and said, "Oh, I didn't see you packing up, I wanted to buy a dog leash!" I offered to lay them all out for her to choose, but she wasn't very picky, and bought the first one she came to. I thanked her, and told her she was my first and last sale of the day.

Don't get me wrong, the offer from Art Youngstown was gracious, and I appreciated it. I certainly can't hold them responsible for the weather. They did a good job gathering local artists, and musicians, just not the art buying public. Even that may not be their fault. The art buying public may be a myth. I wouldn't know. In the local newspaper they said of me, "Jeff Puccini of boardman was glad to be an oil painter and not a watercolor artist when the rain came down. "They should be alright" he said reffering to the paintings he stowed in a box under the large artist's tent. Still he was disappointed to see the clouds roll in. "It barely got started" he said of the festival. The last time he did an outdoor show he vowed it would be the last. Have his feelings changed about subjecting his work to the weather? "I really don't like outdoor shows" He said.

The Angry Baby

2008-08-07T00:18:00.004-04:00

Death and Daily Painting

2008-07-14T11:41:00.002-04:00

Hello, please pardon my brief intermission in presenting my daily paintings. We've had a death, and as everybody knows, that interrupts everything. I'll be back with a new post, as soon as the dust clears.

Between Ma'am, and Macadam

2008-06-30T08:49:00.001-04:00

That's where one would find me, although you might not expect so based on the elegant and subtle beauty of the paintings I've showed you so far.
That last series was fun on a lot of levels. The contrast of white snow, and black fur. The content eluded to the spirited nature of the breed. What I liked the most was the sense of action, the blur of motion, the spray of snow, the juxtapositions of the dogs. That series was, "not-so-still lifes. The next series will be still lifes.
The photo above is of my wife Nikki and I's living space. It's betweem Ma'm, and Macadam, and would be a perpetual source of still lifes, as Nikki and I are weirdos