SUBWAY TOKEN

11" x 8 1/2"

Uniball pen, Pentel brush pen and Faber Castell brushes in hand:book sketchbook

If you didn't have one you hopped the turnstile. Oh no, I never hopped or sprayed. Ok, I never tagged.

THAT INNER VOICE

11" x 8 1/2"

Uniball pen, Pentel Brush pen and Kuretake Fude brush in hand:book sketchbook

People who think they know everything tend to stop thinking. They will tell you there is no such thing as magic, supernatural phenomena or intuition. Not the two detectives who went to interview the forensic psychiatrist at the Oregon State Corrections Facility for the Criminally Insane in Salem, Oregon though.

It's the same building where the movie One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was filmed. The place had an even weirder vibe in it's real life function than in the movie.

The detectives were investigating the murder of a young woman whose body had been carved up and stabbed 27 times, then staged in a ravine choked with blackberry bushes. During the course of their investigation they had developed a credible suspect and were about to interview him when the Chief of Detectives requested they go over the case details with the state forensic psychiatrist before contacting the suspect. Profiling was in it's infancy at the time and the Chief felt that talking to the psychiatrist would help them get inside the suspects head. Although the detectives were more interested in corroborated evidence that would prove a fact rather than dabbling with psychology, an order was an order, so they went up to the facility in Salem to meet the headshrinker.

They went passed the outer barbed wire fences,in through the front door of the foreboding facility, and walked down a brightly lit long hall to the reception desk where a bespectacled man stood smiling. The dude liked like a drawing of R. Crumb. They told him they had an appointment to see the head doctor whereupon he smiled and hissed at them through his foul looking teeth "Please hand me your weapons."

Of course. Security purposes, and all.

As they both obediently reached their hands to their hips to hand over their guns the thought hit them suddenly and simultaneously as they looked at each other: That little voice inside their heads said "Huh?"

Just then an orderly came running down the hallway toward them screaming "No, No, Stop, he's a patient."

In this facility for the criminally insane all 52 patients shared the distinction of having committed the most brutal and mind bending murders. None of those run of the mill ground ball crimes of passion with these guys. And part of their rehabilitative treatment was to build their self esteem so there were no prison uniforms or jump suits issued to them. Everyone wore civilian clothing. It was tough to tell the inmates from the staff. Perhaps in time some of the staff went insane too. Who knows?

But on that day the detectives learned that psychopaths or sociopaths are both intelligent and clever.

And that you should always listen to your inner voice.

MUMBAI, INDIA

18" x 24"

Mixed media

This is the cover I did for a book by Tara van Dijk. I worked on it some more after it was published and made an alternate night time scene.

PROBLEM OR INCONVENIENCE

11" x 8 1/2"

#2 pencil, Pentel brush pen and Kuretake Fude brush in hand:book sketchbook

I reached up into the bathroom medicine cabinet that hangs directly above the toilet. The seat lid was up. As I lifted the prescription bottle by it's child proof screw cap it came off and three months worth of medicine flew in three directions. On the floor, in the bathtub and yes, of course, into the toilet!

Standing there in disbelief all I could mutter was "I can't believe this!" I repeated this several times using the F word and the S word. It didn't help.

Julie came in, sat down and cleaned up saving more than I thought could be saved. We discovered that I had placed the wrong cap on the bottle the last time I took a pill.

She hugged me and said to always remember when things like this happen ask yourself if this is a problem or just an inconvenience.

She's amazing and I more than love her.

STUDY OF ROCKWELL

11" x 8 1/2"

#2 pencil, Pentel brush pen, Faber Castell brushes, Kuretake Fude brush and white China marker in hand:book sketchbook

Norman Rockwell is one of my favorite artists. His illustrations are masterpieces. This is a study I made of of one small section of a larger painting he made in 1941 entitled Strictly A Sharpshooter

ROCKWELL STUDY

11" x 8 1/2"

#2 pencil, Pentel brush pen, Faber Castell brushes, Kuretake Fude brush and white China marker in hand:book sketchbook

Norman Rockwell is one of my favorite artists. His illustrations are masterpieces. This is a study I made of of one small section of a larger painting he made in 1941 entitled Strictly A Sharpshooter

CHRISTINA GUSEK HAT

CHRISTINA GUSEK HAT

11" x 8 1/2"

#2 pencil, Pentel brush pen, Faber Castell brushes and Kuretake white ink in hand;book sketchbook

Drawn from a photo of artist Christina Gusek. I have been reading about and studying Rembrandt and they way he used to dress his models in robes and hats. This is a preliminary drawing in my sketchbook for a painting in the future.

SNOW ON THE SANTIAM PASS

11 1/2" x 16"

#2 Pencil, watercolor and Faber Castell brush in Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook

Julie drove her Dad and I back home from Bend, Oregon today and there was plenty of snow on the ground over the Santiam pass. It's a steep winding road and she proved once again what a great driver she is! I don't recommend sketching from the back seat though. Thanks for the wonderful visit Aunt Linda Cofer, Mel, Greg Cofer, Susan Jensen, Diana DeLand and Don.

TONI MORRISON

18" x 24"

Mixed Media on Arches paper

I agree with both of these quotes from her: "If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, you must be the one to write it."

"You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down."

HIROSHIMA

11" x 8 1/2"

Pentel brush pen, Kuretake Fude brush and China white marker in hand:book sketchbook

SHADOW ON THE ROCK

by Daniel Berrigan, S.J.

At Hiroshima there’s a museum

and outside that museum there’s a rock,

and on that rock there’s a shadow.

That shadow is all that remains

of the human being who stood there on August 6, 1945

when the nuclear age began.

In the most real sense of the word,

that is the choice before us.

We shall either end war and the nuclear arms race now in this generation,

or we will become Shadows On the Rock.

CUCINA VERONA

11 1/2" x 8"

#2 pencil, Pentel brush pen and Kuretake Fude brush in Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook

While we were in Fort Bragg, California, we stopped and celebrated our anniversary in a little restaurant named Cucina Verona.

Our waiter was very nice. When he found out it was our 40th anniversary he said "That's quite an achievement, may I buy your desert?"

Alas, we were both too full from the delicious dinner. Maybe next time?

DREAM JOURNAL HEAVENLY BINGO

8 1/2" x 5 1/2"

Uniball pen and watercolor in Strathmore mixed media sketchbook

In this dream I find myself back in a Brooklyn neighborhood that I used to live in. Walking around I notice it looks the same as always despite the fact that I've been reading about how much gentrification has altered the place. Now it's all rich people and trust fund hipsters. As I wonder what is going on I recognize an old friend walking toward me. How can it be that he hasn't changed a bit, hasn't even aged a day since I last saw him...what, 42 years ago? We hug and laugh, and I search his face and brace myself to see if he notices how much I have aged. But he says nothing and just keeps smiling.

"Man, you haven't aged a bit. You still look the same" I tell him. "Yeah," he says. "I died in 2005."

He can see that I'm too stunned to say anything and then he says "It's cool though, they have bingo there."

We started walking along looking at the old brownstones.

Then I woke up.

SILVER BULLET

11" x 8 1/2"

Uniball pen, Pentel brush pen and Faber Castell brush in hand:book sketchbook

"The myth that werewolves will die from a silver bullet to the heart is no myth at all. It's entirely true. If you're a good shot and have bullets made of pure silver on hand, then you should have the easiest time of anyone killing a werewolf.

The introduction of silver to the heart will stop it from beating immediately. The bullet doesn't even have to do actual damage. Actually, it doesn't even really have to be a bullet. The reason the "silver bullet" became legendary is because it is by far the easiest method of getting pure silver to reach a werewolf's heart.

Other methods of getting silver to a werewolf's heart work just as well, they are just harder to pull off. Unless a werewolf voluntarily allows you to perform open heart surgery on it with a silver scalpel, you're probably going to have a hard time getting this method to work.

A variation on the bullet-to-the-heart method would be finding a way to to introduce small pieces of silver shrapnel into the blood stream. This only works if they are able to move through the blood stream and reach the heart. Once at the heart, the smallest bit of silver will cause the heart to immediately stop beating. If the silver lodges itself in the heart, you're job is done." - source: Gods and Monsters.com

KIRBYVILLE GENERAL STORE

11 1/2" x 8"

Uniball pen, Pentel brush pen and watercolor in Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook

I sat in the car in the parking lot outside the store and watched two tweakers on the front porch. The tall one was scratching, jerking, chain smoking by lighting one cigarette after another with the cigarette that was almost finished, while the other one just looked like all good sense had flown out of his eyes a long time ago. Phhht, gone!

The tall one would open the front door of the store for anyone coming into the store. The old politeness trick for spare change. His eyes never stopped darting around while scanning everything.

All of a sudden a pickup truck with Montana plates rolled up and a well dressed middle aged women got out with with bags of hot food. She stepped onto the porch and spread the food out on a table. All three of them sat down and started eating. Was she a friend or relative? A social worker? Had I witnessed a random act of kindness?

27 RUE DE FLEURUS

11" x 8"

Uniball pen, Pentel brush pen and Faber Castell brush in Hand:Book sketchbook

COMMUNICATE

COMMUNICATE

11 1/2" x 8"

Uniball pen, Pentel brush pen and Faber Castel brushes in Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook

While traveling in northern California I saw many different interesting looking people. Some were just hanging out, some were road warriors and some were just plain low down. I had two fortune cookie sheets in my wallet which I taped into my sketchbook. One says "Your sparkling eyes shed a healing spirit on those you meet", and the other read "A smile is the universal communication between two people". I noticed that when I looked and smiled at others no matter where they were in this life the day went well.

UNDER THE OVERPASS

11 1/2" x 8"

Pentel brush pen and Faber Castell brushes in Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook

ERICA RUSSELL

9" x 12" 23cm x 31cm

Schmincke watercolor, Pentel brush pen, Kuretake Fude brush and florescent acrylic on Arches paper

The paper is hot pressed 300g/m2 - 140lb . Very nice paper to draw on. People frequently ask me about the backgrounds in my portraits, mostly "Do you see aura's." Well, humans do transmit energy, right?

AVE OF THE GIANTS CALIFORNIA

11 1/2" x 16"

Pentel brush pen, Kuretaki brush pen, Schmincke watercolor and florescent acrylic in Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook

MONSTER HAPPY BIRTHDAY

MONSTER HAPPY BIRTHDAY

11" x 8 1/2"

#2 Pencil and Pentel brush pen in hand:book sketchbook

For Elizabeth Flanagan who requested a birthday monster! Happy Birthday.

THE TEACHING

11" x 8 1/2"
Uniball pen, Pentel Brush pen, Fude brush and acrylic in hand:book sketchbook

Life is suffering. Suffering is a direct result of our desires. To eliminate suffering, eliminate desires.

DREAM JOURNAL PARIS

8 1/2" X 5 "

Pentel brush pen and Fude brush pen in Strathmore sketchbook

I'm in line at a department store in Paris and the person ahead of me is the classic slow customer. He writes a check, makes a mistake, tears it up, starts another one. His pen runs out of ink. This is excruciating. Finally he finishes and it's my turn when the store clerk puts up a closed sign on the counter and goes outside for a cigarette!

Well, I'm not having it and I go outside and start yelling at the guy but he is ignoring me. Then he hands me a cigarette and says "Here, have a Gauloises."

I fire it up and, hey it's not bad. The clerk notices that I still have the store merchandise in my hand and says "keep them, they're on the house."

Then I woke up