A Burnt Orange 🧡🤎

The first time I took a Modern Art class, it was in '96 at BMCC (Borough of Manhattan Community College). I loved learning about the painters and the various art movements of the 20th century. It was my evening class and afterwards on my way home, I would leave the building in quiet, wistful reflection and see the Twin Towers shimmering only a few blocks away, lit up so beautifully in all its glory. How lucky I felt to be amongst its beauty. And how integrated I felt to society to be a student taking my classes and commuting, not in my usual state of truancy. Apparently that good feeling didn't last too long because I eventually dropped out. I was going to do my report on Frida Kahlo and I don't know what exactly made me derail like that. But fortunately, that wasn't for long either. Through a friend, I got a job as a notetaker at BMCC and City Tech and one of the courses I was assigned to take notes in happened to be Modern Art. I got to sit in as a kind of observer o...

1. He Came from Rock, Sweet Mary Rachel 2. Just Too Much I'm so excited to report that SerlingFest is no longer just an idea. I've purchased my event ticket, reserved my room, and arranged for time off from work. Now it's down to the final details- bus tickets, packing, business cards, and counting down the days. These are the latest pieces I'm bringing with me so far, just recently finished. The first one,  He Came From Rock, Sweet Mary Rachel, inspired by Twilight Zone episode Come Wander with Me,  (s5e34) and  Just Too Much inspired from I am the Night, Color Me Black (s5e26) .   In the first one, I wanted to draw and somehow replicate Bonnie Beecher's beautiful eyes, but then thought it best to use an actual photo. She appears twice here and a little unclear, just as I wanted her to be conveyed. Mary Rachel's face slightly dissolves while 50's Rock & Roll images fly across her, including a subtle nod to Alan Freed , prominent disc jockey who helpe...

Origami hearts I folded last week during my job as we took June 10 to show our NY Knick's love As I write this, the Knicks championship parade has just begun winding its way through the streets of Manhattan. Their long-awaited victory in this year's Finals has me feeling all kinds of ways, just like every other New Yorker- and I'm not even an active fan! Sure, I watched the occasional game with friends or family over the years but the truth is, in my household my father- my very New York father, born and raised in the Bronx and a lifelong Yankees fan- was never a Knicks fan. His basketball heart belonged to the Boston Celtics. So instead, I grew up surrounded by Larry Bird posters, T-shirts, Celtics books on shelves and the coffee table. As a boy, he fell in love with the team of the 1950s, dazzled by a player whose brilliance stayed with him for decades. Later, Larry Bird became his favorite. The Celtics Kelly-green uniforms didn't hurt either, as that particular green...

  The thought of attending SerlingFest as a fan is thrilling enough. The idea of displaying some of my artwork there is even more exciting. My sister has kindly offered to come with me so that I’ll have the chance to walk around and explore while she keeps an eye on the table. We can definitely take turns 🤗 I’ve decided to reserve a half table rather than a full one because even though the full one isn’t terribly expensive, I only have a handful of Twilight Zone pieces so far. For now, this is what I’m planning to bring: Librarian on Trial – inspired by The Obsolete Man But a Dream – inspired by Shadow Play And You Better Be Nice to Me – inspired by Living Doll There Was Time – inspired by Time Enough at Last Marsha’s So Like the Others – inspired by After Hours Don’t Paint the Sun Anymore – inspired by The Midnight Sun Little Boy and His Games – inspired by It’s a Good Life I’ll see if I can find the originals but I'll be ordering from Fine Art America ,  where th...

by my aunt Ydalia Diaz, who's been painting ever since I can remember I took a photo of this in 2009 when I visited my grandfather in the Dominican Republic, please excuse all the blurriness.  I’m showing a close-up of the painting first, then the full photograph so that its scale becomes more clear.  Here you can see a family member sitting beside it on his phone, bizarrely perched on a stack of four lawn chairs. Nevermind him. Or actually, do mind him. That strange detail is exactly why I took the picture in the first place.  I have always liked photographing strange moments that catch my eye. During my visit, there were a few: a kitchen sink overflowing with limes under running water, a can of roach spray twice the size of any I'd ever seen, a towering statue of ceramic Jesus standing on a bathroom counter.  So in a way maybe it makes sense that one surreal image ended up next to another. Ydalia's ability to create tender, life-like portraits always impressed me....

  Librarian on Trial, 2021 Whether the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation Facebook page approved this drawing I submitted (submitted for approval? 😉) or discovered it elsewhere, they recently shared it on their page with a black heart emoji, followed by about 100 likes and a handful of kind comments.   I wrote back (DM) simply to say thank you, and from that small exchange came an invitation to potentially participate as an artist vendor at SerlingFest , an annual event held in Rod Serling’s hometown of Binghamton, New York. The idea that some of my work- pieces inspired by The Twilight Zone episodes- could exist within a space that actively celebrates Serling’s legacy is both thrilling and humbling. I’ve since been in conversation with the organizers, and as of now, the possibility of having a table there feels very real. What’s especially meaningful to me is that this opportunity sits right at the heart of two identities I’ve carried for years: -Longtime Twilight Zone f...