Here’s the view from our hotel room this morning. Charlotte and I are back in Italy for what I believe is the 8th or 9th time. We’ve were in Sorento and along the Amalfi Coast a few years ago, but this is our very first visit to Napoli. We spent about half of yesterday exploring […]
I just asked ChatGPT this question: Why is traveling so enjoyable and inspiring? While not the most poetically written prose I’ve ever read, the chat bot’s response was nonetheless accurate and relevant: Traveling is enjoyable and inspiring for many reasons, as it offers a unique opportunity to explore new places, learn about different cultures, and […]
Not until yesterday did it strike me that my Fuji x100v had not been emptied of the resurfaced pieces I’d captured while Elle and I was in Stockholm the other week. Here’s one of four keepers.
It’s been an intense weekend to say the least. I spent the better part of today (Sunday) in the studio painting, sketching and thinking. We spent most of yesterday in Vejbystrand where we enjoyed spectacularly beautiful spring weather. The drone view above is from May 2021.
The other day, a woman walked into my Pop Up gallery. We spoke for about an hour about this and that and eventually touched upon the subject of my abstract art which she admitted feeling confused by. I did my best to explain my perspective and why the genre is so important on a cultural […]
Here’s a new 60 x 90 cm acrylic painting titled “UP 2023”. The conceptual idea stems from how ever deep we fall into life’s many and often seemingly treacherous crevasses, the only way out is up, up, UP! In the 1980s, I painted with tubed oil colors and occasionally even dabbled in mixing and producing […]
Before my two talks at Malmö Latin last Friday, I walked around the block and found this wonderful utility box packed with layers upon layers of posters, stickers, and whatnot. I don’t intend to stop collecting artifacts for the Resurfaced series, but not since the late-1980s have I been as focused on painting as I […]
Here’s “Heavy Metal”, the short documentary I’ve composed from over 10 years of serendipitous filming in Sieng Gong, the sub-district of the Talat Noi neighborhood in Bangkok.
Yesterday, while cleaning up from a 4-hour painting session, I became intrigued by the cleaning process itself. So that’s what the above video is all about.
This is the beautiful venue where I had my talks this last Friday for graduating seniors at Malmö Latin, a well-known performing and visual arts high school in Malmö. The talk’s overreaching theme was creativity, passion, and the art of visual storytelling through film and photography. It’s been a little over a year since two […]
Here’s what it look like outside of the new gallery and art studio last night. We had a couple of dozen invitees, a few good friends and some art-curious passerbyers join us for what turned out to be a very lovely grand opening.
Finally, finally, finally. My new book is now available for order on Amazon. I have been documenting an incredibly remarkable area called Sieng Gong along the Chao Phraya River near Bangkok’s Chinatown. Last fall, I finished the documentation and now you can order the book “Heavy Metal” on Amazon.se or Amazon.com. Some of the book’s […]
I’m often naively optimistic, which is probably a good thing. But re-teaching myself or re-tooling my mind to create de-constructed, non-figurative images is proving to be a lot more challenging than I expected. The Resurfaaced project has definitely helped remind me of my younger years as a non-figurative painter. But all those years as a […]
Whenever there’s an opportunity to order a burger, regardless of where in the world I am, and there’s nothing else on the menu that tickles my fancy, nine times out of ten, I’ll order one. How many burgers I’ve eaten in my lifetime? I’m guessing that the very first one was likely served to me when […]
I am slowly making my way through the mental and physical hurdles that painting has thrown at me during the last few weeks. I can feel a less anxious, less insecure approach and noticeably more fluidity when ideas pass from my mind to my hand. Much like with writing, the only thing I know for […]
I took this photograph yesterday, just after Elle and I were leaving one of Sweden’s most famous art institutions, Liljevalch’s Art Museum. We had walked about 40 minutes to get there, mostly through an intense snowstorm. And even if the museum was packed, the warmth was nonetheless welcome. Judging from the large amount of visitors […]
If you visit this page with some regularity, you know that one of my many weaknesses is the classic shrimp sandwich. I don’t remember when this life-long love affair began, but I’ll wager it was well over 40 years ago. I don’t eat them as often as I used to, mostly because a well-made shrimp […]
Earlier today, Elle suggested we have lunch at what is arguably one of Stockholm’s most popular cafés, St Paul’s Bageri (bakery), located on one of the capital’s legendary streets, Götgatan. While the brewed coffee was flavorful and the grilled Focaccia with feta and sun-dried tomatoes tasted surprisingly good, it was this beautifully designed retro lamp […]
Elle took this selfie yesterday on Riksbron, the ancient bridge that leads to the Swedish Parliament building. It’s been 5 years since Elle and I went on a trip together and after some back and forth, we decided to return to one of our favorite destinations, Stockholm.
This Resurfaced artifact isn’t from the famous/infamous Berlin Wall, but it is from a Berlin wall. I usually take my time going through my captures after returning home and this is one of a few that will remain in the collection. In about an hour, daughter Elle and I are boarding a train to Stockholm. […]
Shot this Resurfaced artifact in the Georgian capital. While at the gym this morning, I heard a BBC report from Tbilisi that caught my attention. The ongoing protests near the parliament (which was near where I stayed when I was there) are about new, authoritarian legislature focused on quieting journalists and media outlets from reporting […]
To all my female friends out there, I wish you all the happiest and most joyous International Women’s Day 2023. Above all, I would like to congratulate you all on this day for being so incredibly tolerant and patient. How you manage to put up with us men is in itself such a tremendous accomplishment […]
I know I say this about a lot of places, but I really do love Berlin, even in early March when winter is still firmly gripping this mostly grey, gritty city. What Berlin lacks in color and aesthetic consistency, it easily compensates eclectically with exceptional vibrance. As with most metropolises, Berlin is not very representative […]
Captured this yesterday from a tall sign completely covered with tattered stickers. posters and papers near Alexanderplatz here in Berlin. It’s the fact that I am continuously and feverishly fascinated by the abundance of public postings in our digital age.
I’m currently in Berlin for a couple of days. I’ve not been back to the German capital since 2018, so I’m psyched about being here again. Since I experienced all of the classic tourist places several years ago, the focus of my most recent visits has been on exploring the city’s art scene in the […]
The house on 849 North Alfred Street, where I partially grew up, is no more. According to brother Nick, it’s been torn down, demolished, and removed. A tiny part of me was saddened by the news. That’s to be expected, I suppose. But for the most part, I feel nothing, zilch, zero. The house on […]
This is image shows some of what remains of Malmö’s heavy industries. Much of this area is being developed into a new residential and commercial neighborhood called the Northern Harbor (as opposed to the Western Harbor, where we live). I remember it being extraordinarily cold that winter morning and how a combination of fog and […]
I am close to clueless when it comes to how social media works. Probably because there’s so little organic logic involved as the algorithms at play are designed to create stickiness and generate engagement. They are the secret sauce that keeps billions of people glued to their screens for hours and hours. Like most folks, […]
Captured the above sunset last night. Though short, February is my least favorite month. But once we kiss it goodbye, especially down here in the south where winters are, well, meh, I begin to look for early signs of spring.
The plot thickens. Lots going on right now. Breaking news coming any day now. A new chapter. A new era. A new focus. A new space. I’ve always considered myself a painter that got sidetracked by other creative stuff. Well, finally, I’m back on track again. Compared with the instant gratification of photography and the […]
I can’t remember when I last smoked. But when I saw this public ashtray in Copenhagen today, I was instantaneously reminded of what it was like being a smoker. Now, I wasn’t a pro smoker like my father, who could easily puff his way through three packs a day. But admittedly, I was a party […]
Here are some of the albums that have kept me going and in good spirits during much of February 2023. My longtime favorite radio station, San Francisco-based Soma FM, which I listen to several hours a day is not shown here. The station’s Groove Salad channel and the Left Coast 70s channel are my two favorites. And […]
More or less on a mid-week whim, Charlotte I went to a tiny jazz concert together with pals Michael and Gg last night at Hotel Duxian in Malmö. The place was packed and the three-piece band, Johanna Jarl Jazztrio, was jamming with Johanna on lead vocals, Sven Erik Lundeqvist on piano, and Aaron Mandelmann on […]
From our reportage trip to Bansko, Bulgaria where the skiing was surprisingly good, the beer welcomingly affordable, and the service level shockingly high, easily on par with every other ski resort I’ve been to since forever.
I don’t each much bread these days, but once in a while, the craving for chewy sourdough or Italian Focaccia overpowers my sensibilities and I indulge with a vengeance. The above is a photo of today’s lunch, one of my staple dishes, an Egg-Salad-Salmon-Avocado- Sandwich. Its amply accessorized with garlic and chili-marinated green olives, cucumber, […]