the a list

This is another addition to a series of artist books I’ve been creating over the past several years. It features a collection of untitled images and photographs that come together as a unified whole. I find satisfaction in this collection, as it represents the result of years spent taking photos, modifying them, setting them aside, and rediscovering them through the power of computer search algorithms. Recently, much of my effort has been focused on this rediscovery process—searching through thousands of photos and images I've accumulated over the last 20+ years to uncover emotional and visual connections. I hope you enjoy the book. Please let me know what you think.

these paint cards are artifacts of my paintings.  I frequently use paper to lay over blobs of paint on the canvas to create a worn, speckled effect.  I usually save the paper I use for this purpose for additional design touches and then mount them.

  Here's one that slipped my mind.  I had three asemic prints published  in DeLuge Journal in last years Fall/Winter 2022 issue .  These are prints from the pandemic era and ones that I think have stood the test of a few passed years.   

  One of the recurrent themes of my works is the use of words, numbers, and ascemic writing.  In particular, I've felt drawn to the original motto of the United States.  E Pluribus Unum - out of many, one - has always felt more authentically American.   In God We Trust, which replaced it in 1956, feels more like a Christian Nationalist political platform item than a unifying statement.  So I have adopted the use of the phrase in quite a few paintings and prints. This painting is notable in that it starts with a black background and includes the use of handcut print stamp that produces a blueish white root like structure, or maybe even an image resembling sperm.  The blue coming from previous inkings in blue used for more traditional prints. This is one of several black background paintings that have cropped up this summer. We'll see where this format goes.

  Something as little as a pencil mark up and to the left can finish a composition.  Much of this painting was planned.  The text and the punctuation mark were linocuts I've had for a while.  The sparse contrasting black and white with the gold is a common color choice for me.   But the line was spontaneous and final.  Such is composition. When to say "enough".   

  Its been probably 20 years since I last spent time with paint and canvas.  In June I took a stab at it again.  I bought some cheap materials at Ocean State Job Lot and started to revive my chops.  This is the first of several posts of paintings that I've completed since June 2023.  This painting connects back to an influence I discovered near Soho, NY in my 20s.  I wandered into a studio and found the works of James Coignard - a French abstract artist who had the right touch of composition and grit to inspire me.   Later that day, visiting the Strand Book Store , I was lucky enough to find a copy of the limited edition book of his work.  That book is something I referred to regularly, and something to which I've reacquainted myself. But the years have added new inspirations and perspective.  I've incorporated my printmaking and other elements that I've worked through since 2019, as part of my recovery routine when I lost some motor fu...

Sunday, July 2nd, 2023 I'm in between jobs and getting myself to museums. This summer has been rainy.  The grass (and the bittersweet) is growing. I went to the Harvard Museums - which are now free to the public - and found my favorite space there.   On the 5th floor there is a sitting area called the lightbox gallery.  Its generally quiet - there are gallery books for reading and a circle of comfy chairs.   Looking up through the glass ceilings, the rain rolling down the panes captured the mood of the space and the day perfectly.  

  I've been in a bit of a free float creatively.  Occupying myself somewhat obsessively with carving up portrait prints.  These are a few of my favorite prints. I've been using reference photographs and portraits that express emotion.  I gravitate towards expressiveness, clarity of the gaze and the light of the eyes.  I seek out sharp contrast that lends itself to simple linocut. I have to say that this current interval of work is a departure for what I'd consider my norms.  But I'm going to have faith that this wandering is an unfolding opportunity to see and experience the world and to find joy and pleasure in it.   

punt volat : A diacritical mark of the Latin script, called punt volat (“flown dot”) in Catalan, and found in the combination l·l to distinguish it from the digraph ll . I am happy to announce that two of my photographs, "Paul's Photo" and "Homeward," have been featured in the journal Punt Volat . It's published in Catalan (Spain) by a number of emigrants from North and South America.   "Paul's Photo" was taken in San Francisco in 2022.  It's named for a friend in Colorado, who picked the photo out of my photo library as interesting.   The photo itself is of a street curb painted red in the alley way next to the Continental Hotel.  The line it took was beautiful enough to warrant a photo.   The second photo is a black and white image of the MBTA Commuter Rail Train I took back and forth to work into Boston in the fall of 2022.  

  1291 numbers (016) Ink & pencil on paper Published in Stonecrop Magazine

  1188 Monoprint 4X7 (158) Ink and pencil on paper Published in Stonecrop Magazine

  1146 Minimal (11) ink & pencil on paper published in Stonecrop Magazine

  Things are getting larger. The art is at least.  This piece and 40 or so others I've created in June/July 2022 started on 11X14 inch paper, much larger than my typical 3X5 pieces over the last few years.   This is a multimedia work, pencil, print, and gesso on paper.  As always this piece and others found on this website and instagram are for sale.   Email me  for more info. 

 This... is another in a series of small handmade books I've been building. This one is much more free form and blends collage, prints, stickers (yes lovely, lovely stickers - a childhood obsession) and other miscellaneous ingredients. 

Pronounced Aye-mē So, I'd like to introduce Ayeme, He was conceived in an overlap of body images drawn over the last year or so and a poem inspired by James Hannaham's book Pilot Impostor .  I feel this is shaping up to be a limited edition book release. More on that to come if things germinate. As the image suggests, Ayeme is also an overlap of pronouns, intended to illustrate the challenging mental gymnastics of identity.  While contemporaneous with the pronoun adjustments associated with gender identity, this is much more existential.  In its current draft, the opening stanza hints at the pronoun usage. I = the physical body me = the self - a collection of ideas It also explores the mysteries of birth to propose a way of conceptualizing  the body and self that exposes the existential conundrums that are at the root of our world view and have perpetually vexed philosophers.  Ayeme, if it blossoms, appears to be taking on a more basic form than Hannaham'...

  This little unconventionally unfolding book was inspired by my trip to San Francisco in May 2022 and a mild obsession with a rotary sign in Chestnut Hill.  The book contains a few words in English "We just wanted the universe and its perpetual perfect attendance" The book contains a multitude of words in Chinese characters cut from a San Francisco Chinese translation of of the Conservative newspaper Epoch Times. Knowing only a few things about the source of the Chinese characters San Francisco origin Chinese translation conservative Epoch Times May 2022 time frame Leads, at least in my mind, down many contradictory paths. Ultimately I'm forced to know very little, to have very limited foundation for any opinions, and I am forced to contend with my biases. 

  A small little book/graphics project I finished up in early May 2022.  

  This is... a collection of various accordion books I've crafted over the past few years. Behind the video is the song "We're In Love - There's the Song (Instrumental)" I recorded in April when I had a bout with omicron BA.2.  The books are mainly filled with handmade print blocks I've created in the same few years.   

  This is... a photograph - one in a series titled "studies in light'.  Part of an even larger series called 'Light is Life'.

  Blooms: a poem and illustrations by andrew furst  was a fun little staple bound book project that balanced whimsy and and precise planning. Part of the humor comes from the cutouts that pull in partial images from the next page.  They amplify the absurdity of the poem and the images themselves. What is more absurd than falling into pants?  Well, for one thing - fish in pants! These were limited edition.  The one in the video is my sole copy.    Let's talk if you'd like to purchase it.