Picture of the Week #61 "The Postman Worked Christmas"

Picture of the Week #61 "The Postman Worked Christmas" Paris, France 1971

Signed and Stamped

The Champs Elysee at Christmas time is always a joy to experience. Even years ago, before the hi tech lighting and the masterful computer generated decorations, the great promenade lived up to it's name of "the City of Lights". Here the Postman retrieved the outgoing mail before going home to open celebrate. A number of years later I painted this image and it still remains one of my favorites.

Picture of the Week #60 "Future Artist of Florence"

Picture of the Week #60 "Future Artist of Florence" Florence, Italy 1989 Signed and Stamped

On the last leg of my around the world trip in 1989 I was walking across the Arno River in Florence when I looked down to see this budding artist drawing. I couldn't make out what they were drawing and didn't wait around to see the finished product. There is so much to see in Italy and so little time that I just kept moving. I often thought of this image and wondered what the drawing looked like when it was done. Then one day I thought could it be they are writing a letter, after all this was before email and photoshop. So I scanned the 35mm slide into my computer into photoshop, blew it up and saw that it probably is a drawing as there is a pencil case next to them that artists usually carry, and a coke. A simple deduction.

Picture of the Week #59 "Lee Strasberg & Ruth Gordon"

Picture of the Week #59 "Lee Strasberg & Ruth Gordon" Brooklyn, New York 1978 Signed and Stamped

My favorite film that I made was definitely "Boardwalk". I was lucky and grateful to have the legends Lee Strasberg and Ruth Gordon as well as the fabulous Janet Leigh to star in my ill fated Independent film. Sadly the distributor went broke and my film never really saw the light of day, even after garnering all of the accolades at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. This image was taken while we were resetting the lights between takes. It said everything that I wanted to convey in the film about an elderly couple who have loved and enjoyed each other for 50 years, but will soon face time and societal changes. To have written for and directed these incredible actors was the highlight of my film career and this image brings it all back so simply and so lovingly.

Picture of the Week #58 "Pets Bait Taxes & Tires"

Picture of the Week #58 "Pets Bait Taxes & Tires" Atlanta, Georgia 2009 Signed and Stamped

While visiting family in Atlanta I had a meeting just outside of the city concerning my "Gone With The Wind" mural that I painted 20 years earlier for Ted Turner and MGM. Although he commissioned it and had the right to exhibit it, I own it and had recently been approached by some local Atlantans about acquiring it. We met up and discussed it, but that didn't happen. On my way back to the house I passed this unique store. I had a good laugh as I took it all in. Then stopped, turned around and went back to get a photo. Coming from Bel Air where you never see bait shops, this was special. I wondered to myself if I could get my cats groomed while I bought worms and had my taxes done all at the same time I get 4 new tires installed and rotated? Talk about multitasking.