CITYSCAPES
Being a native New Yorker, some of my artwork inevitably inlcudes scenes of the city. This is especially true of my photography habits, that are lesser known, but even more prolific than my drawing work.
August 2025, I participated in the members art show for LIC-A (Long Island City Artists) in Queens NYC.
The overall theme was "Cement City" featuring summertime in New York. Without drawings ready to present, I relied on photos that I had pre-selected for submitting to art grants.
"We gather here to celebrate" 2025 / "We watch our City glow" 2025 (each 13 x 11 framed)
Remade from "Fireworks" 2021 photograph
Originally, I had imagined drawing mermaids at the Coney Island parade, but missed my chance to go.
Then, I thought whichever (of 5) photos were selected would be printed in a polished, conventional way.
​
In the end, due to various unexpected circumstances, they became partially collaged and vaguely poetic in funky shiny frames. Better for it, truly one-of-a-kind.
​
This, in turn, has inspired ideas for new creative paths. (The whole story is being written up on Vocal.media)
​
While expanding this "Cityscapes" page on my website, I will add more items from the original selection and related pieces, perhaps actually collecting them into a poem/zine. Meanwhile, for other examples...
For a previous photography opportunity (competition with a short deadline), I had quickly put together this website with samples of pictures in a similar vein: Urban Imprint
​
Although it seems like I rarely have time to sit down anymore, when possible, I do have a tendency towards "urban sketching." Especially in the summer, I always hope for the opportunity to enjoy exploring interesting places and make more art outdoors.
(One of the main reasons why I have and hope to expand my Support page & Patreon profile is to fund making more artwork "just because it's awesome" where "sellable product" exists but only as secondary concern.)
The more I tell "the story of the art" the more I see through-lines between things. My lost dream of drawing mermaids features heavily in the story about Cement Summer. Even after the submission window passed, this topic kept my attention. One of my next exhibiting opportunities may be with the Freelancers Union, and seeing a connection between our CS show closing (especially trying to write about it in time for the artists talk) and their theme of "Cityscapes" prompted a new train of thought.
The simplest submission would be moving this prepared artwork from one wall to another. Even so, some of the "next steps" that were identified as a trajectory for these pieces (potentially becoming a poetry zine) would now be immediately relevant to pursue, not just a vague future. Or commonalities between these art shows, like the focus on city buildings, could become a coloring page design that I start to prepare while gallery-sitting at the last one's closing and finalized before the next opening.
The search for "building drawing" in my phone's photos brought up a whiteboard doodle from the afterschool program I taught for, so that would be a good prototype. And also the mini project I devised - then continued with a nonprofit pop-up - of making tiny buildings out of index cards. If they're open to setting up an interactive table, that would be a fun activity to revive. One of the little girls had started making a city, and we could offer that too, or pull similar ideas from these architecture-themed lessons...
