BULLSHIT

Click picture for a larger view | From Mats

It's a sad story. Viet Nam 60,000 military deaths. Korea 50,000. You want the Civil War? 600,000, that's more than the WWII. Duty, honor, country, yeah that's what generals say. The soldier has no choice. All these wars are fought over money, borders, or religion, aka bullshit.

UNISPHERE

Click picture for larger view | From Mats

In 1999 my wife and I went to visit my mother at a nursing home in Queens. Afterwards we stopped in Flushing Meadows so I could shoot the Unisphere. In the late 60s, my wife and I went to the Singer Bowl (before the Tennis Stadium was built) and saw The Doors and The Who perform. I was always intrigued by the Unisphere which was built for the 1964/1965 World's Fair and represented global interdependence. This is also called The House of Cards, as most people know what that could mean in relation to the world.

YANKEE STADIUM

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In the 70s my family and I shlepped to the Bronx to see the Yankees. I took this shot because I liked the way the two kids were silhouetted with the stadium in the background. Once again I used playing cards to decorate the mat, but this time using only the diamonds. The seams of the baseball were taken from a pattern I found at the art store. On the outside corners I placed asterisks because of the constant publicity about the baseball players who were taking steroids and the debates as to whether an asterisk should be placed next to the players in the record book indicating their performance may have been unfairly enhanced. In my opinion, I don't really care. They didn't do it for Roger Marist who broke Babe Ruth's record in 162 games where Ruth did it in 154.

SILVER MOON

Click image for a larger view | From Mats

This is the night time version of Sunset. The sail goes in the other direction here. There's no meaning to it…just putting down a lot paint. The sound of the wind going through the rigging is a nice memory...but the only way I'd return there would be by ferry (from Puerto Rico to Tortola)...I can't deal with that plane ride.

SUNSET

Click image for larger view | From Mats

I was inspired to paint this picture after touring the British Virgin Islands on Captain Sanfillipo's 50 ft. sailboat. Sailing is hard work. Painting is easier. This was all done by applying paint with a tiny, metal spatula. Using two primitive shapes (1 circle +  3 triangles) and 1 line, the design is as minimal as it gets.