So what, exactly, is jazz? Depends on whom you talk to. One thing jazz is not, is exactly or precisely anything, Jazz is a complex palette of harmonies and rhythms and beats and syncopations that continues to evolve from then until now. Some look at jazz based on styles: Ragtime, honky-tonk, Dixieland, big band, boogie-woogie, bebop, traditonal and so on. Others think places: New Orleans, Kansas City, Chicago, and so on. Still others think people: Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Hoagy Carmichael and so on. Though the marble slab of jazz was certainly infused in its infancy with the blues, and so is richly veined with misery and “ghetto blues,” it nonetheless, overall, is music that lifts and buoys the soul rather than sinking it. Leonard Feather once quoted British musician and scholar Benny Green: “Jazz started out to be happy music, a music of release and exultation,” pointing out the music’s “bonhomie, its vitality, its enthusiasm, its warmth.”

So here is “All That Jazz,” a painting to celebrate and honor the style, earthiness, and sheer class of early jazz. There are cornets, snapping snares, a cymbal’s ring, with long mellow tones, sprightly rhythyms and scattered flashy red staccato notes. Mostly it’s fun, like jazz was meant to be.

Private commissions are especially exciting and challenging. Some call it “art your way.” It is an opportunity to project the client’s personal vision through my lens of creativity and arrive at a wonderful result. Here is FISH’s BLUES. The client specified their preferred color palette of cream and blues, and offered a page from a magazine to better exhibit the blue shade they were looking for. The client wanted the painting to be “free flowing and have movement.” I also visited their home and viewed the spot they were to hang the finished work. This gave me the opportunity to see the dimensions of the space and the surrounding décor. After some experimental sketches, I layered scampering sweeps of pastel blue on a cream base, finishing with spatters in dark slate blue. They loved the painting, which is what matters most.

My EDGE series is particularly time consuming to create. I lay the paint in with a strong texture, so maintaining the sharp edges is like drawing a straight line on a corrugated metal fence. This piece is COPPER SPLINTER in 38″ x 72″ and is one of the largest single-canvas paintings I have created. Take a look at my gallery for more EDGE paintings.

Most artists, myself included, don’t typically feel a need to explain their art. Especially if you are an abstract expressionist. After all, isn’t art in the eye of the beholder? Well not always. This piece, entitled Tumult, is an example. First I am proud to say this original acrylic is in the collection of artist Michael Hall, whose paintings hang all over the world in homes of well known celebrities, businessmen, lawyers, judges, and many more. In fact this is the only painting he owns besides his own work. I called it Tumult, because it images in my mind a medieval parade, with the revelers carrying spears and flags with loud colors and shouts. Of course you may see it differently, and there’s nothing wrong with that either. Michael Hall may have a different take as well. But now you, and he, know what I think it is.

So how do you choose how you hang your abstract art? That, of course, is up to you. Yes, every artist probably has an idea about a particular piece, but when you are dealing with abstract paintings featuring dramatically dynamic dimensions — whether you hang it as very wide, or as very tall, is governed by the space where you intend to place it. The piece shown here can be hung vertically for a vaulted entryway, or horizontally to accent above a wide California King bed. It gets much easier if you actually commission the artwork: you show the artist the space in your home or business, and the artist’s mindset matches with yours. You get exactly the piece you desire, for the spot it is intended.

Of course artwork that is square or marginally rectangular can be tried any which way you choose, and as you rotate the art, the most interesting position usually presents itself. It doesn’t hurt to ask the artist to offer a suggestion. Imagine this: if the artist is local, invite the artist to your home to participate in the installation! Invite some friends, open a couple of bottles of wine, and throw a mini-soiree. Everybody will have fun, and you’ll suddenly become a sophisticated art collector with the artist on hand. How swell is that?

I started working on this painting today as an experiment with some brush techniques. I began with a series of outlined boxes, playing with the brushes in gold, copper, silver and red. I usually start a painting with a pretty clear idea of where I want it to go…. but sometimes the painting takes over and takes me where it wants to go. Not entirely satisfied with the composition, suddenly the notion of triangles burst forth, and the thing had taken over. Then there was a surprise or two, like the bright and unexpected flash of yellow triangles. So this painting is named Sudden Whimsy, in honor of the moment itself.

Brunch! What a splendid way to spend a casual midday. It is unlike any other mealtime — it is relaxed, insouciant, convivial. The very act of joining your friends and family for brunch declares you are in no hurry, you have nowhere else to be, and you can luxuriate in their company. Why, for the most part, even the wait staff understand and let you linger.

And the food has come a long way since brunches began in England in the 1890’s as after-Church gatherings. The leisurely repast from mid-morning till late afternoon arrived in America sometime in the 1930’s. It was what Jay Gatsby was doing in his afternoons, after his wild nighttime parties. The fare became lighter over the years, moving from hash, liver, and fish balls to something more “breakfast.” Eggs soon featured, along with bacon, light meats, toasts and pastries. Today Eggs Benedict often reigns in a variety of interesting styles: A New Orleans café features poached eggs nestled in steamed artichoke bottoms, while southern California favors chipotle Hollendaise.

Nor would today’s brunch be brunch without it’s collection of refreshing, snappy cocktails. There is the classic Bloody Mary in many incarnations, but there are Greyhounds with grapefruit juice and Champagne cocktails aplenty. One refreshing version mates gin, lemon juice and sparkling Rose wine for a crisp version of the French 75. It’s all good.

So the point? What better than an Art Brunch? Where you can sit among featured artwork, sipping Champagne and nibbling from the nearby buffet. Hence ART UNDER THE UMBRELLAS, an upcoming series of weekend brunches hosted here and there featuring my art, conversation and light, relaxing revelry. Be watching for your invitation.

Wow what a night! My wife and I partied at White Tie Magazine’s private Champagne Gala, where they served Poinsettias — champagne laced with handmade cranberry liquor. Very tasty and potent. They also had a wonderful assortment of small plates: artichoke hearts with garlic aoli, Italian olive & onion salad in endive leaves, roasted avocado toasts, devilled eggs with crab and Chinese mustard, baby romaine leaves filled with crumbled bacon and chopped pepperoni with blue-cheese citrus dressing, and on and on. Talking with the magazine editors about hosting an art show featuring my art. So far, so good.