Artist Block

I am a 77 year old man, a 3rd generation New Yorker. I don’t lie or steal. In NYC that’s known as a standup guy. I’m an Artist and am starting this business not only to make money but because I love the process and journey of any artistic project. Artists are usually bad business people and often terrible at selling their own work. As you know, most great Artists die broke. My aim is to help you get past the hurdle or problem that is slowing you down so you can finish, sell and make a profit from your work, get the recognition you deserve and feel good.

I met Leonard Bernstein, (the great American composer) many years ago and we spoke about how I am an artist and how I do many forms of art and sell 90% of everything I create. My problem has always been that I go on to something else just as I am getting good at it. I asked him, what advice do you have for me? His answer “unless you have a burning pitch fork up your ass to achieve something you will never succeed” I realized then, that I didn't have that feeling for just one form of art.

20 years ago I would have told you I created the phrase Artist Block. I would repeatedly get to a stage in developing something and come to a halt or place of confusion on which direction to take. I would ask friends for their opinion but they were never much help. I have found through the years that there are more people with bad taste than good taste therefore ugly stuff sells. Innovative forms of art are harder to sell but when they do they can often be very rewarding financially. Everyone knows the design principle KISS, “Keep It Simple, Stupid” however this ideology doesn’t reign supreme for most Artists.

When creating art, despite the art form, my objective has always been to make sure it has a message, conveys elements of emotion, makes you feel it personally and relate. Who cares who will like it. Push their buttons. Innovating and controversial, that’s what it's about, but like I said there are more people with bad taste than good taste. It is an artist’s job to shape their taste.

After retiring from the NYPD I went to school for a few years studying all aspects of video production. I studied under Video Artists, Nam June Paik and Steve Rutt. I produced a few documentaries and worked on several Music Promos which today are called music videos. I have likely had more experiences and professions than any three people you know. I will share with you now my background or as some call it resume. It's quite varied and extensive. Too extensive to really list everything in chronological order as I am always doing two projects at the same time. I believe the more busy you are the more challenged you are and ultimately forced to make things happen. I don’t do science fiction, vampires, werewolves or action heroes but give me a subject and I’ll give you a real story. My main areas of interest, but not limited to, would be the high end design of men’s fashion or character/story line development for short stories, novels, film, or television.