Lake House, Autumn

Lake House, Autumn is about a calm, crisp sunny day, looking out over a lake, in a big green chair by a fire, cozied with a blanket.

The wash of blue on the surface layer glistens and highlights the textured images painted below it. I painted this while living in Quebec, by a lake.

I imagine this woman with a thick Québécois accent, speaking mainly French, tough as hell, and very funny, full of stories and opinions. I love people like her. I miss them. There was a time when all New Yorkers were like that, especially the older people who had lived full and serious lives.

All my life, I've gravitated to older, substantial people. I think maybe because I knew three of my four great-grandparents and listened to and remembered their stories.

When I was a young actor in NYC, a lot of my friends were 80 years old. People like Roy Schatt who took photographs at the Actor's Studio when James Dean and Brando, Montgomery Clift, Paul Newman and Marilyn Monroe studied there. Roy taught me about photography, how to structure a frame, about the lights and the darks, and the Music. We'd listen to music all the time, Jazz from the 40's and 50's, mainly.

I studied with, worked with and became friends with members of the Group Theatre. At that time, people I read about in books were still around and I knew my history enough to know who they were. I used to eat hamburgers in the neighborhood with Greg Corso, the poet. I caught the tail end of the history I read about and got to know the people who created it. I learned about the deeper aspects of life from them.

Through knowing them and seeing how they dressed, how they behaved, the ways they worked, what they thought and why, and, the way to listened. They showed me how to Know Thyself. By that, I mean, how to be an artist.

This painting is a tribute and a Thanks to all of those beautiful people that I had the good fortune to not only meet, but to count as close friends, inspirations and educators in my life.

She's painted in oils, raw pigment and leather paint on canvas.