Benny the polar bear

My son Kyle absolutely loves animals and so of course besides having three cats here in the house he has a huge collection of stuffed animals and other types. Kyle is Autistic and so his strong connection to animals is something we have always encouraged as it enables him to focus and relate easily.Here is Benny the Polar Bear, one of his animals around the apartment. Benny usually sits atop the sofa and in the morning as the sun comes up and shines through our east window I am fond of the light that hits him and his great design and texture. Benny is one of many stuffed animals made from a great company called Hansa. Hansa toys makes excellent quality products and whenever we are looking for something for Kyle, I always search through their collection first. They can be found at www.hansatoys.com I believe their website is being redone but you can still find their collections by looking at amazon.com and placing a search for Hansa toys.If you have kids that love these stuffed animals, give a look at Hansa first.

The hole in the roof

I spotted this in an old building that used to be part of a military base near the beach in Fort Tilden in the Rockaways, New York. I loved the contrast of the dark edge of the jagged outline of the hole against the bright blue sky diffused with thick cloud layer. Slight details of the roof interior were kept evident to add to the interest. I also like the warm glow of the late sun coloring the interior beams and rafters. The shapes made from the roof edges at different spots can resemble different things. Ican see what looks like the profile of a man in the left side. . .

A bottle in the sand

A colorful green/yellow bottle with a dried stem and buds sitting in the sand, glowing in the late afternoon sun. Hard to explain, but a good feeling was had as I came across this little scene. . .as if someone cared enough and made someone else smile without even knowing. . .

We are all connected. . .

It makes me stop and think sometimes when I see the jumble of wires and leads coming off these old and massive poles on the street leading off to other poles and houses. We are truly a web of networks and connections.

People with disabilities. . .

I just wanted to blog a bit about a couple of incidents regarding disabled persons that I had come upon. One was heart warming and encouraging while the other was somewhat unsettling.
A few days ago while in the mall ( one of my least favorite places to be )I came upon a small group of handicapped adults that were being supervised by a couple of very patient and assisting helpers. One of the group, a young man possibly autistic was having trouble getting on the escalator. He was afraid to get on the moving stairs to go down. This is something that I have had first hand experience with as my son Kyle is also very frightened of them. Things that are easy for most of us are not so easy for him. He feels that he will fall down because his sense of balance and coordination is not that good and so the idea stepping onto stairs that are moving while looking down to the bottom is very scary for him. His fear is so great and overwhelming that there is no coaxing him on, and yet at the same time I can see he feels bad about disappointing me. I reassure him that it is ok and we can take the elevator. He is glad.
I could see the situation with this young man was very much the same. The assistant apologized to everyone waiting and let them go ahead. She did not try to force him or make him feel bad about himself. I stood around to see how it was handled and eventually they led him off to the elevator. I was really impressed at how calm and understanding the assistants were and it made me happy that this young man was in good hands.
My second incident was not so encouraging. A day later while on the bus there was a very large woman standing behind her wheelchair waiting to board the bus. The bus pulled in to the stop where there was a large crowd waiting to get on. The driver first opened the rear door to deploy the wheelchair lift to board the woman with the wheelchair before the other passengers which is proper procedure. As the lift was coming down and the woman was standing behind her chair waiting some people in the crowd started to yell " you phony, you don't need no wheelchair you fake ". She grew very upset with this taunting and after telling them to leave her alone she looked like she was about to cry. Some people are so ignorant that it just angers me to no end. Not everyone who has a wheelchair needs to be sitting in it all the time. As in her case, it may be that because of her weight and condition of her legs and/or feet she might only need the chair with her when she travels so she can sit down and take a load off her legs when she feels the need. She may not be able to stand for too long and so needs the chair with her when she goes out. She certainly does not need to be taunted and called names. I mean, if she were trying to put something over on everyone she would sit in the chair and pretend. She might be better off doing that anyway just to shut everyone up, but I suspect she does not because it is very difficult for her to maneuver the chair on to the lift while sitting in it. I'm not saying there are no fakes out there but I'm no doctor and am not going to lay judgement on anyones condition.
Some people just need to shut the %@?k up.

Shout out to all my Peeps!!

It's getting close to Easter and I just have a soft spot for these little guys as they appear on the shelves everywhere . . .I was hoping to include a chocolate bunny, but I ate it.

Featured in Design Sponge

I have heard some good news today that I have been featured in the highly popular and trendy Design Sponge blog.
My "the little things in life" and "New York water towers 8" were the featured photographs. The print of "the little things in life" will be on exhibit along with several other works as an 18x18" Gallery Wrap in "The color of Hope" exhibit being put together by the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition this spring. More info about the upcoming show can be seen on their site BWAC .

Testing

Testing my mobile blogging capabilities. Here is a short video of Iki giving his very large sister, Eclipse the business. Observe his kangaroo kick technique. . .

Quiet time by the window

Quiet time by the window. Early morning light filtering in through the trees, reflecting off the white snow. A glow from the curtain as the light hits from behind gently illuminating it's color and texture and giving us a hint of the detail of the wall and floor near. The old sewing machine on a stand, just it's silhouette evident allowing one to enjoy the shapes and design from it's early years.
Only the sounds of the floor boards creaking and the gentle winds blowing outside. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and the burning logs of the fireplace fill the room.
This wonderful little scene was captured at the home of a friends farm house up above the Catskill mountain region.

PAWS for Charity - 2009 Art Book Project

I'm happy to have had one of my photographs selected to be used in the 2009 Art Book Project by PAWS for Charity.

What is "Paws for Charity"?
Paws for Charity was created several years ago by four women who ran dog businesses and used their businesses to raise money for breast cancer charity. When the group was started, Sara Harley ran a dog biscuit business and sold a package called "Crunch for a Cure". One hundred percent of her proceeds was donated to breast cancer charity. Last year, Sara sold her dog biscuit business and Paws for Charity languished. This year, she decided to focus on fund raising through Paws for Charity through two projects. Two of the other Paws for Charity founders continue to sell their products to raise funds, and this year will be raising funds for different charities. Paws for Charity is not a registered charity, but we do raise funds for registered charities.
What is the "Art Book Project"?
2009 is the first year for this project. A 40 page book is being created using donated art and photograph images from the US, UK, and Canada. The book features dogs and cats (and one teddy bear!) (the PAWS part of the project) and all proceeds raised will be donated to breast cancer charities (the FOR CHARITY part of the project).
Why are you donating to breast cancer? Why not an animal charity?
Sara's mom died of breast cancer when she was 21, so it's a very personal cause for her. We thought it might be unique to use the bond we feel for our animals and raise funds for a human cause.

As the book is being put together and more information comes about I will update this post accordingly.

What a turn of fate for many. Our Iki was found in our backyard near death after his mother removed him from her litter. We nursed and raised him into a fiesty and loving 8 month old Kitten. Now, his great mug will be featured in a book that will go towards Breast Cancer Research and support to help save the lives of many more. Go iki, Go!! Selected photograph is shown below.

Here are some other photos of Iki. . .