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2006

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2007

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5/06/04

   A funny thing happened today, for the first time in a long time I ate lunch in my car in a parking lot and did some quick sketches of people coming and going. (Other caricature artist friends of mine like to practice drawing people while riding on trains.) I had my windows open and the radio on. I just took out my stuff and started sketching again trying to catch peoples shapes, no details. I got one heavyset woman as she was walking towards me wearing a tight fitting sweatsuit and another woman wearing a trenchcoat like jacket from the back. I started blending in the last one when all of a sudden I hear "What are you doing?" "I never saw that before. Could I see?" Startled I looked to my left and up and there was this older guy, a little mentally challenged I'd say, looking down into my window at my pad. He was the guy who goes through the parking lot collecting the shopping carts for the supermarket! He noticed the one of the front view of the heavyset woman. Which didn't have much detail, mainly just the shape, no facial features not even hands or feet. He said "Your drawing naked people." bit the knuckle of his index finger, looked up at the sky and spun around laughing. (He reminded me of the scene in Bonnie & Clyde when CW Moss joined the gang.) In my panic I came out with a line like one that Yogi Berra would have loved. I said "She's not naked I just didn't draw any clothes." "I mean it's just the outline!" After realizing what I just said I knew nothing else would matter so I started the car and took off. When I told my wife tonight we had a good laugh, she said "I told you someone would catch you" and that she knew the guy I was talking about. She says he has a way of startling people by being right there to get your cart right when they're done unloading it.

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5/19/04

   It's Spring and the bugs are starting to come out. I did a backyard party last Saturday night and luckily for me, gnats don't bite, they're just annoying. The people that had the party bought out bug spray and it worked great! One of the worst bug stories that happened to me was while doing a street festival one fall. I was set up in the middle of a street in Oyster Bay and reached down for a bottle of Sprite that I was drinking from time to time. Only this time I felt something hard on my tongue and spit out the mouthful of soda with a yellow jacket. I recently heard a story about keeping a sheet or two of "Bounce", the laundry sheet cleaner nearby, that bees won't come near it.

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9/01/04

   Wow another busy Spring & Summer has passed. I'm going to have to try that "Bounce" trick soon since I'm still doing outdoor parties and this is the time of the year that the bees are annoying.

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10/18/04

   A few months ago, over the summer I booked a wedding a few hours upstate in Poughkeepsie, NY. I thought it would be a nice ride with the fall foliage and it was. I gave myself plenty of travel time and got lucky enough to not hit any traffic either going there or getting back.

   This wedding started off differently for me, than anything I can remember.The couple had their marriage ceremony in the hotel while I was set up and waiting in the cocktail hour room across the hall. Usually when people come into the room where I am, I have to go around, tell them what I'm doing there and invite them to come over until I find a couple willing to "break the ice". This time people seemed to know I was there and came right over. After doing the second couple I took a glance over at the next few people on line and followed the line right out the door! The cocktail hour wasn't starting for another forty-five minutes and instead of people mingling around the room they were "all" waiting on line for a caricature! After this hit me I shifted into hi-gear, stopped holding the bags open to help the people put their pictures in and just gave them a bag with their picture. Luckily I was doing black & white caricatures that day, it was non-stop fun. I like parties where people just jump into the chairs. It also turned out to be one where I hardly used any pre-drawn backgrounds, mainly heads, and shoulders holding drinks. Later in the day I spoke to the photographer who asked if I do mainly kids parties (this happens just about every time I do a wedding). She had never seen caricatures done at a wedding. I do all different kinds of parties, most of them these days seem to be adult parties (mainly 30th,40th & 50th surprise parties). When I do communions and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs I'm constantly getting adults asking if I can squeeze them in too.

   At another recent fun party was being paired up with three other caricature artists to do the pre-grand opening party at the new World of Disney Store in NYC. This party was for Disney executives and celebrities. We were surprised when someone came out and gave us these big colorful Disney smocks and a beret to wear. I met and drew the members of a singing group called "Jump5", there was a woman with them that sat down also. I asked her if she was with the band too. She was the mother of two of its members, I said "Oh, I thought maybe it was a group like the Partridge Family". She got a laugh out of that.

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11/29/04

   Little by little I've been developing the new style I've been speaking about since earlier this year (see back in March & April of this year). Last week I was going out to lunch and had my watercolor paper and stuff in the seat next to me. I was wondering where to go to draw people, somewhere where they would be natural and fairly still for a few moments so I could get a quick sketch and they wouldn't even know I was there. I realized I was low on gas and pulled into one of these off name stations with a cheap price. I was third on line and the car in front of me was an old classic from the 50's. In a few minutes it pulled up and the guy got out and leaned against his car while it was getting pumped, this is just what I was looking for! I had my stuff right next to me and started sketching. I got a quick outline and finished coloring it in a little later.

   I've been minimizing my equipment and getting faster at these. I want to start doing these live at certain types of parties.

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12/15/04

  Last night I did a party I've been looking forward to for a while, it was in the New York Public Library. I was never in there before, so it was nice that I arrived about an hour before the party started and got to look around for a while. This was a company Christmas party, with a Charles Dickens "Christmas Carol" Theme. I had made up 5 pre-drawn backgrounds that followed the storyline. They also had a group of actors acting out the story throughout the night and a band.This party took place in a large room, actually the library has its own catering hall which was also beautifully decorated to match the theme of the story. It's hard to see in the photo, but they even had those gold foil chocolate coins scattered throughout the table. Below are the 5 backgrounds I had out on a table for people to choose from. In the left column are a few of the finished caricatures.

I even got to see 2 original copies of Dickens' book on the third floor of the library.

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3/18/05

   "Top of the evenin to ya!" (St Pattie's Day ended about an hour ago.) So far this year has been busy and full of surprises I can't believe it's mid-March already. The parties have been coming in at a steady pace. I'm booking lots of first holy communion parties that start next month and go through May. One surprise is that I've been getting tipped more than usual lately, especially for the larger catering hall parties. I don't mention them in my contract or anything and it's always a surprise when I get one.

   Another nice surprise is that I've been getting a decent amount of repeat customers calling lately too. One of which is the "food convention" (see 4/30/03), I'll be calling in sick for work again that day. It's one of the few "public" things I do, so if you want to get a free caricature done, it's Wednesday, April 20th, at the Hofstra Sports Arena. This is basically a show for chefs and people in the restaurant business. I think there might be an admission at the door, I'll probably be in the lobby.

   Another cool thing is that I'm getting back into Flash Animatics again. Below is a pencil rough still for a new one I'm working on. These are a step in the process of making a commercial or movie. They're actually animated storyboards, the step between storyboards and filming, to work out some of the bugs before filming. I'm putting sounds into these and got fed up trying to find sounds and voice files on the web. So I recently bought a digital voice recorder. If anybody out there can do voice impersonations of say, President Bush let me know. I used to do Flash websites for an internet startup company right before the bubble burst in early 2000. You can see some of the websites and animatics I did back then by clicking here. When this one is done it'll be up there too.

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3/22/05

   Here's a quote from a guy that I'll be doing a party for soon. I was mentioning about how I'll draw the kids first then him and his wife and any other adults. He tells me "You wont be drawing my wife unless you come with a court order."

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4/22/05

   I'm in the middle of another busy communion season again. I took a sick day and did the food convention yesterday. They had me down on the convention floor this year and it was great. I was busy from the time I set up and met lots of interesting people, from chefs and cooking students to school lunch ladies and the owner of New Yorks' Carnegie Deli and his wife. Before I left I made the rounds and had my own little happy hour trying out some of the great food!

   Here's some other recent interesting stories: I was put into a very uncomfortable position at a recent sweet 16 party. I booked this party a few weeks ago, after the initial conversation with the woman, she called me back the next day and booked me after seeing my website with her daughter. I happened to call her the morning of the party to ask her what time she wanted me there, before or after the cocktail hour. Something sounded different this time, she asked me to come for the cocktail hour only. I reminded her that I have a three hour minimum and she told me that from talking to people (since she booked me) that caricatures didn't seem like a good idea for that age group. So she told me to come anyway.

   I got there early and got set up, feeling a little uncomfortable about meeting her and hoping I could get someone to sit right away. The kids finally started entering the room and forming little groups to talk, then started to get on line for the buffet. After a few minutes I went and introduced myself to some of the groups to let them know what I was doing there. One couple who was sitting at a table eating sounded excited so I showed them where I was set up and that they could beat the crowd if they come over soon. Then I went to hang out by me setup and mentioned to other couples, both adult and teens what I was doing there as they entered the room. One girl (who I quickly realized was the guest of honor) turned around to a woman behind her (who was her mother) and said "I thought you told him not to come."

   As luck would have it just then the (teenage) couple I met that were eating a few minutes ago came over and sat down! (whew) I didn't even worry about the pressure of this pivotal caricature, I was just glad they came over when they did. Well everything worked out amazingly well, other couples came by and watched. Two other 16 year olds sat down next and the birthday girl and her boyfriend were about the forth couple to sit. I ended up staying for the entire party doing most of the adults at the end, even the mother and her boyfriend.

   Remember the "Butt Caricatures" that I've been dabbling with? Well I got a call from a company in NYC that's having a company picnic in a few months and they think the butt caricatures will go over well. We talked about how they would want people drawn "from the back", without the big heads, catch their body language and shapes. Actually a good name for them could be "Candid Caricatures". So I'm trying to make up some samples and guess what, not even my twelve year old daughters will pose. So I'm coming up with some creative ways and places to catch people naturally. I'll be putting up some samples and probably doing these parties soon too.

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5/04/05

   I'll be doing caricatures for free at another public event next week, May 13th in Northport, NY. The Copenhagen Bakery is having a promotion and hiring me from about 4:30 - 8:00. I'll be set up right outside the bakery doing caricatures, there will also be face painters I think. So if you get a chance come on down to 75 Woodbine Avenue at the end of Main Street, make a left, the bakery is on the left side.

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5/05/05

   I just launched a new page featuring the "Butt or Candid Caricatures"! If you want to find out more about them, click here.

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6/21/05

   I'm back! Two weeks ago I noticed that my site was down, to make a long story short, I ended up finding a new hosting company. Since the old one seemed to be going out of business. My website was down for about a week and a half, during that time I watched my listings disappear from Google then eventually bounce back again! I was on the phone and filling out paperwork every night trying to switch hosts, what a nightmare.

   So as far as any new things going on in the world of caricature: I did a bunch of parties at CSHL and with all the talk going on now about cloning, genetics and stem cell research I couldn't resist asking some of the scientists I came across there about cloning human hair. I had all us bald and balding guys in mind (Every now and then I'll tell someone I'm drawing that they look like someone famous. I've had some kids over the years ask me if I'm that guy Colin from that Drew Carey show "Whose Line Is It Anyway") after all, how hard could it be to clone hair if their cloning animals, livers and teeth? And if they could make it affordable, it could be a great way to fund cancer research. Well anyway it seems to be a few years down the road.

   Something I've been noticing lately is this new style of frameless eyeglasses that people are starting to wear. You wouldn't notice it weird except if you had to draw them, especially for the first few attempts. Think about it, all you see is the metal bridge crossing over the nose and the side connections that go back to the ears.

   I did another wedding this past weekend and the caricatures went over really well. At first people were leaving their pictures with me so they can not have to worry about them and pick them up before they leave. About half-way through the wedding I noticed that the pile of pictures I was holding were all gone, those earlier people were taking them back to their tables to compare with other peoples. Once I did the first few couples, I was busy the whole night through.The "communion season" is now over and the graduations, proms, etc. are here now.

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8/17/05

   Guess what I have coming up again, jury duty. I'll be on call starting next Monday and it's in Brooklyn again, lucky me. I had to pass on two company picnics during next week because I couldn't guarantee I'd make them. I'm starting to run short on my sick, vacation and personal days anyway. I like to save some for later in the year. Actually I'm kind of looking forward to having a day to do sketches and work on some cartoon and animation ideas I have, as long as I don't get picked for a jury.

   It's late now and I just finished filling my markers. I have a Bar Mitzvah tomorrow night. It seems funny having it on a Thursday night, but the kids have off from school, works for me. Before I forget, here's two little stories I wanted to mention. About two or three weeks ago I did a company picnic and one of the things I heard some people griping about was the choice of music that was being played. It seems they had a vote within the company as to what CD's would be played at the picnic and their order. So it was Elton Johns's greatest hits (I couldn't wait for Benny & the Jets) then James Taylor ( I tried not to get depressed). Half way through they stopped it for the magician, who had some good music with his act. When he finished up they finished the rest of Taylor, uuuugh. Then it was Neil Young, they only played a few of his earlier songs, since it was getting late. I finished and started packing up to Yes. The following week at work I couldn't get one of those Neil Young songs out of my head, luckily I can't remember which one now. Since then I bought the Eagles farewell DVD from Australia, which I think is great.

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8/30/05

   I got called in last Tuesday, things didn't change much since the last time I was there. The same woman that I sketched last time gave the orientation speech again. Her hair is much shorter now, but she still has the at-it-ude. So as you can see, I sketched some of the people sitting around me. We all got lucky this time, there was only one trial selection for the day. When we got sent up to the courtroom the judge came out and gave us a speech about how important it is to come. She thanked us and told us that she was called to be a juror for a state court the following week. She then told us that a few minutes before we got there the defendant pleaded guilty, so no trial. I was surprised that no one clapped. So we got to go home early that day, only I got lost on the subway for a while and had to wait for connecting trains when I finally made it to the LIRR. I took me almost four hours to get home. (In the column on the left is another watercolor sketch of a guy waiting on the platform.)

   I'm still on call-in for the rest of this week. Actually there is so much going on at work that I hope I do get called in again. I did these new sketches of people sitting around me while in the waiting room. I really should try my hand at being a courtroom sketch artist one of these days.

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9/06/05

   I never did get called in again for jury duty, so that's over for at least the next two years. The Labor Day Weekend was busy but great, even the weather held out. I did a 13th birthday on Friday night, a Sweet-16 on Friday night, a Bar Mitzvah Saturday afternoon and a Cold Spring Harbor Lab party on Saturday night. On Sunday my parents had a big party at their house with all the relatives, (a last big bash before selling the house and moving to a condo) so I did caricatures of all the kids. The CSHL party had a few fun moments. One of the scientists, a woman from Korea told me she works with mice, then went on to mention the particular part of the mice. So I had her holding up a mouse by the tail with one hand and a large pair of scissors in the other. The next tells me she works with "biological clocks", so as I'm drawing her my mind is scrambling, picturing ways to illustrate this without getting too graphic or complicated. Finally when it came time to do the body, I asked her if she had a lobster dinner and wanted to be drawn with that, she said yes.

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10/14/05

   I got my first call today for doing someone's first Holy Communion party next May. That's pretty early, usually people start calling me for those around December and January. So just a reminder call early for those or tell a friend or relative who's having one. That's my busiest time of the year, the "Communion Season" stretches sometimes from late March through June when the graduation parties start.

   I also got a call from someone about giving caricature lessons. I've been working on that too. I just don't have the time right now to do them in person, but I'm putting together lessons with Flash animations, more on that soon.

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10/31/05

  Happy Halloween! It's been a busy few days, weeks. We had a little party at work today I didn't have time to go shopping for a costume, so I painted four monkey masks attached with rubber bands and bought in some goofy ties.



I did two Sweet 16 costume parties on Saturday and at one of them a kid sat down without any costume, when I asked him what he wanted to be he pulled out this cow-face mask and sat there with it (see inset photo) so I drew him with a Trick or Treat bag. I thought it would be a fun idea to get a few people together and do something like the commercial where the guy works with a bunch of monkeys. It went over pretty good, we made a pass through the audience (the people that didn't get dressed up) and shook some of them up with bananas, picking at their hair, things like that.

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12/24/05

  Happy Holidays! I just finished up with the last of my office holiday parties and did alot of running around to stores this morning, last minute shopping, I love it! It was one of those rare days where my wife and kids had school, but I had off. One of the things I was stressing out over last week was getting into the city with this NYC transit strike, but it all worked out.

  Well I Wish Everyone A Happy & Healthy New Year!

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1/23/06

   This month has been kind of slow as far as parties, but I guess I needed some weekend time to myself, the four or so I did do were fun. They were mostly left-over corporate holiday parties. I didn't take a camera to any but I wish I did. One party had alot of people and I got another guy to help out. We were doing them in b&w and trying to speed it up by not doing much in the way of bodies or backgrounds, mostly people holding drinks, drawn down to the waist. I was getting into some exaggeration and the crowd was really getting into it. One guy had a great face with a goatee. I did him in a 3/4 view, finished it by drawing a string tied to it and some clouds and birds around him (like his head was a balloon). He didn't seem to get it at first, but everyone else did.

   I don't usually do things like that, usually playing it safe by asking "What do you like to do?" One of the other things I've tried only a few times over the years is drawing someone upside-down. Like one kid that liked Spiderman, I did him getting unmasked by Doc Ock (similar to the cover of #12), he was very confused. The same with drawing someone bungee jumping, and sometimes skateboarding or snow boarding they don't seem to like it.

   Last Saturday night I did a bar party, which was great. they wanted their employees and favorite customers done, so they could frame them and put them up on the walls. It was also that first night I tried using a couple of new markers. I always take a bunch of light flesh and dark brown markers for the skin and hair because they tend to run out pretty quick. So I ordered two wide "Copic" markers which just came in that morning so it was my first time using them. The flesh worked great, the dark brown, for the hair, I still have to get used to. I have some sort of a golf function coming up in two weeks. I'd like to try using that new watercolor look I've been working on, the candid look, we'll see.

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2/02/06

   A couple of nights ago I was going through my e-mail, weeding out the junk and really had to hesitate before opening one with the subject "Balloon Head". I wasn't sure if this would be positive or negative, so I took a deep breath and opened it:

Marty,

I was just checking out your website and ran across the post where you talk about the balloon head drawing of me. You were right about one thing... I didn't get it at first. Now it is hanging proudly on my wall at work. People always comment on how you captured my "essence". Whatever that means. Lots of jokes have been floating around (no pun intended) about me being an airhead, or having my head in the clouds. Needless to say its a memento I will cherish, as will all of my co-workers.

Keep up the good work.

   Whew, (LOL) I'm glad he liked it sometimes you never know what people think. Occasionally I get into parties where the crowd tells me what to do with the person who's sitting there, that can get awkward at times, but usually it livens things up.By the way, his title is "Knowledge Manager".

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3/12/06

   Friday night I went back to that bar to do more of their favorite customers and employees. The place is in Ronkonkoma on Hawkins Ave, just north of the LIE, it's called "Shennanigans". They framed the pictures I did in January and put them up along the wall so that when you walk in and look up you see them.

   I have to go back and take some close-ups when they get the new pictures framed and mounted. They let people take them home and get them copied, then bring back the originals for their wall. This is a notable PR investment, great for bars, restaurants, office settings, schools, etc. Plus I'll probably mention it here.

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4/27/06

   I've been doing lots of Sweet-16 parties and Surprise 40th birthdays lately. This is the busiest time of the year coming up with all the communion and graduation parties. There's even a few public events where you can come and get a free drawing, just come early and expect crowds. I'll be back doing caricatures at the Copenhagen Bakery in Northport again on Friday, May 19th starting at 4:00. On Sunday, July 16th I'll be at the Hicksville street fair, probably in the gazebo again. The caricatures will all be in black and white.

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7/25/06

   Hi, it's been a while, luckily most of these gigs are indoors. That party at the bakery in Northport got rained out, right when I got there the wind kicked up, sky got dark and rain came down in buckets. I was soaked from sweat at the Hicksville street fair, even though I was in the shade. The same thing happened in the city one night when I parked between 1st & 2nd Avenue and walked to a place on 5th Ave. The long streets between intersections were deadly hot with no breeze (you pay double for parking in mid-town). Then when I got back to the parking garage the gate was down and locked. I rang the buzzer, yelled into the garage and shook the grille, after more than a half hour later the attendant finally appeared and let me in. He probably fell asleep somewhere in there. I got lucky one night in NYC by finding an outdoor parking garage (I paid abour $45.00) right next to the restaurant I was working at. It was a hot sunny day and three hours later when I walked out it was starting to drizzle, the attendant got my car and by the time I got to the end of the street it poured. I even did a company picnic last Friday where the rain just stopped before I got there and started just as I finished loading stuff back in my car.

   I heard another memorable quote while doing a communion party at a restaurant. A little girl came up to her mother and said "Mom I just wanted to let you know that I'm at the bar with the girls."

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9/10/06

   It's been nearly five years since I started this blog, it's also been just over five years since I finished chemo! I got lucky in October of 2000 when I had a cold that wouldn't go away after weeks. I finally went to the doctor and because he was on vacation they took a small finger prick blood sample from all their patients. A few minutes later the nurse came back and said they got a bad reading so she took a vial this time. A few minutes later a whole bunch of nurses and the substitute doctor came in and asked how I get up out of bed in the morning?

  My red blood count was down to 7, after a few days of tests, it turned out I had colon cancer. After the operation they recommended chemo because it turned up in one lymph node.So I got lucky, it was caught early.

  Up until then I felt fine, but looking back there were times when I would get tired after doing things like riding a bike, playing soccer with the kids, putting in a fence. They said it probably happened so gradually that my body adjusted, but anyway enough of that. I just wanted to mention this little story because this blog is one of the little changes or adjustments that I've made after a life threatening experience like that. Also that chemo is no picnic and finding out you have cancer isn't always the end.

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9/15/06

   I've been doing gigs in the city quite a bit lately. Last Sunday I was doing caricatures at a Bat Mitzvah in Bridgewaters at the South Street Seaport. President Bush was in the city that day for some 911 memorials. We were on the second floor overlooking the West Side Highway which was closed most of the day. Towards evening a large motorcade went by, there must have been about 50 police motorcycles leading the way, then some police cars followed by two presidential limos, more police cars, some big black police truck, an ambulance and more police cars. It was something to see, reminiscent of scenes from countless movies and the Zapruder film. I only wish I had enough time to grab my camera to take a movie of it.

   Another thing I just wanted to mention is that I still have dates available for Halloween Parties. Try to book early for the Company Christmas/Holiday Parties. Also that I already booked one Communion Party for next May.

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11/17/06

   Aside from doing party caricatures and the occasional watercolor gift caricatures, I started doing something new recently, painting "Wall Murals". Here's a small sampling. These are in a three story building, going up two flights of stairs. It features about 41 employees of a company. I'll put together a few videos and stills in the left hand column soon. These would be great for health clubs, restaurants, etc. or in the home. I have other samples of scenes, without caricatures, more fitting for the home.

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12/30/06

   Happy NewYear everybody! Here's a little sampling of some things I did this past month. My dad & I finished up with the wall murals, I did some candid caricatures. I also did a holiday party for ABC TV, along with a few other artists. One of the notable people I did was Lee Goldberg the weatherman and his family. When we were done we went up to the studios of Regis & Kelly and Eyewitness News, where we took a few photos on the sets.

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2/17/07

   Hi again, it's been a while but I finally have some time to myself today and wanted to post something up here. As far as caricatures, I've