up in smoke

This is going to sound a little strange (how unusual for me) I miss the smoke from cigarettes in Paris cafes bars etc..I miss walking into a cafe or bar and not seeing the room full of blue smoke...in fact not seeing anything.I miss my eyes stinging from the dry fug filled rooms. I know the pitfalls of smoking and all that stuff.I don't and never have smoked, but I think it was a French institution to have bistro's etc full of smoke.Those days are gone now and I know Americans and my clothes are very happy to hear that (but what can we complain about now) I feel we (they) have chopped a huge part of french culture off at the knees.So when I pass a TV station called NRJ (energy) I see this outside ashtray always full...always.
The French cant smoke in the cafes anymore but they still smoke, they smoke like chimneys, in the freezing winter as well as the hot stinky summers.I shot this photo (above) when it was 11 degrees below freezing.There were maybe 21 people standing outside NRJ trying to enjoy a cig.They looked stiff and maybe a little frozen ...but god bless them for making the outside ashtray a little work of art and maybe a small revolution against..??? Well what? Are we all becoming health freaks at the expense of national institutions , are we not allowed our little vices anymore.The next thing you know, the Parisians will start treating people with manners and courtesy..God forbid!!!

and now on the brighter side

Here is a little illustration I just finished for the Knight Foundation. As I'm sure a lot of you know (because I bored you to death with it) I won a grant from the Knight Foundation to start a project called 'The Miami Poster Project' Basically 'YOU' design a poster and win a lot of money, as well as great exposure. Its open to everybody. It doesn't have to be a drawing, it can be a poem, a story, a word...BUT!!! It does have to capture the essence of miami.(More about this later) Soon the website will be finished , so all you budding and not so budding artists can read all the simple details...who knows you may even win....Stay tuned, its going to be very exciting....
The illustration above is to call for entries for the new Knight Foundation awards 2009. Who knows, you might win that as well....I did.

a promise is a promise ...except!!!

Remember dear reader, when I promised never to write anymore about my Dr Marten boots (see January 11th entry) I promised you this because my blog is supposed to be about art and culture and me and everything in between. Well I'm sorry, I have failed you once again.For here is (and I promise it will be the last word on boots) another entry about Dr Marten boots. No I'm not being paid to advertise them, nor am I short of blog entries...It's just that when I was out the other day (monday) I saw this brand new pair of Dr. you know who boots. They had my name all over them and they were on sale. What more could a starving struggling artist want (o.k. I'm not really either) So now, I am the proud owner of some very flashy boots...Dont you think?

Oh! the photo above are not the boots I bought (are you crazy !!!) NO NO, I bought another pair of classic dark brown ones...
Besides they didnt have my size in little flower prints....Shame. BLOODY SHAME.

my screen saver or scream saver

I don't know about you but I have been through a million(maybe 9) screen savers over the last few years, I just cant seem to settle on one. So recently when I went into the apple store (as I tend to do every 30 minutes, it seems) the guy helping me (I think he was a genius) said ''what a scary screen saver''. In fact this Isn't the first time I've heard this and probably wont be the last. As an artist I usually like to work with a white screen, it seems cleaner and somewhat fresher. But since I bought my laptop, I have settled with one image. It's by one of my favourite artists. The painting is called 'l'historie centrale'and it was painted in 1928 , its by (as I'm sure you know) Rene Magritte. I have only used the top half of the painting, the best bit as far as I'm concerned. The story behind the painting stems back to when Magritte was fourteen, his mother committed suicide by drowning in the river Sambre. Following her footsteps to the river, Magritte saw a group of men pulling a woman out of the water, which turned out to be his mother. Magritte saw her body which was naked apart from the nightgown which had become wrapped around her face. This is all true, except that Magritte never actually saw his mother being fished out of the river. After some research, it seems the story was probably told to him in glorious detail, by his nanny .

I told the apple genius this story thinking it would put his mind at ease. He stared at me for a few seconds and replied ''will that be credit or cash?'' I probably wont tell the story again but I will keep my screensaver, at least till I find a gloomier image.

Screen Saver (also screensaver)
noun Computing
a program that, after a set time, replaces an unchanging screen display with a moving image, originally to prevent damage to the phosphor and now mostly for decoration or entertainment.

time to kill..part one

I have so much stuff in my apartment (Big sigh) It's all very beautiful and hand picked from a lot of strange and wonderful places. I've been collecting 'stuff' since I was a kid. I simply couldn't part with one piece. Never! Ever! Out of the question.
Inconceivable...
Well dear reader thats what I use to think as of maybe a few weeks ago. Now Im back in Miami, I seem to be looking at things with a fresh eye (both of them in fact) So I woke up the other morning (really!) and took a long hard look.I came to the conclusion, that even though it's hardly junk, I simply don't want it anymore.So I'm starting a new segment on my blog, it's called 'What the F... am I going to do with my little treasures' O.K. it's not really called that, but you get the idea...The 'stuff' has been very important in my art and also I have really enjoyed living with it ,but it's time to go (the stuff that is , not me) So here is the first in a very long series...

Part One.
ALL MY CLOCKS (no it's not a soap opera)

Yes thats right...I have about 60 clocks, all very lovely and all in working order.All the times are set at 2.45. The question is what should I do with them?

A. Give them away to a clock collector?

B. Sell them on E-Bay?

C. Put them in storage?

D. Drown them?

E. Pretend I don't see them.

I'm taking suggestions. The winner will get a clock...What else?

Why are the clocks set to 2.45 you ask? well thats the time my mother died.
Who said they were happy clocks.

P.S. All my clocks are featured in the film I made about my mother 'Sylvia' If I can loose my mother I can certainly loose all my clocks...Cant I ?

lights... camera...edit?

If you scroll down on my blog you will see (on the right hand side) the image above. There you will find all the little films I have made. I'm telling you this dear reader as a added service we (It's only me but 'we' sounded bigger) offer here at the blog. O.K. O.K. I'm saying this because 2 people complained they couldn't find my films on my blog. So that solves that little problem... It seems a tad strange to be editing yet another little film about Paris with the waves of Miami singing there sweet song outside. I wonder where I should edit the big film I'm making 'Au Revoir Monsieur Bonjour Mademoiselle' (The life of April Ashley) I shot that in Nice Paris London and liverpool. Oh well I have plenty of time to worry about that. Meantime stay tuned for the next little film, It was shot over Washington while the 'swearing in' was happening, and I have exclusive images ...How is that for a teaser...Then again maybe I'll post the Paris balloon film first...Then again.

where am I?

I just got back from Paris last night, so no postcards from Paris for a while (although I will be showing 3 short films here on my blog, in the next few weeks). Here is a photograph I took this morning, from the beach just outside my house. It's going to take a few weeks before I get use to not having Paris all around me.So bare with me.

I'll be fine....Really!! don't worry.