Sandy Aftermath: Jenkinson Boardwalk Point Pleasant NJ

Hurricane Sandy Pt.Pleasant Beach Boardwalk

Hurricane Sandy has swept through my entire hometown leaving only debris in its wake. This massive storm has left millions in the tri-state area without power and homes. It is truly devastating to see how many people were affected by this tragic storm.

A few days after the storm I was finally able to fill my brothers car with gas and bring my mom and family some supplies. I walked along what use to be Pt. Pleasant boardwalk and is now just piled up boards and debris. The whole entire Martells Tiki Pier is now just a wobbling broken building standing on the edge of the ocean. To even get to the beach and be allowed to pass the barricade of police you have to know someone who lives on those blocks.  My mom and I made it through to help a friend clean out, scrub, and dry her belongings. As you walked down these streets covered entirely with piles of sand your heart wrenched for all the people coming together to clean up and rebuild. Along all the curbs everyone's memories and lives were just piled up on top of each other making a wall of sadness down every street you turned. There were tears in each persons eyes but an overall feeling of strength, resilience and a determination to come together and rebuild.

A thread of hope stitched through Americas history.

I might be heading back to Washington DC again this winter with the Dalvero Academy. It's a great place to research and fill your blank inspiration board with some new projects. Last year during this session I completed these stamps I designed for the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. These stamps represent and symbolize the importance of having a message of peace and hope in America.  During the civil war women made quilts sewing inscriptions against slavery and the separating of families. These quilts were a way for women in the North to have a voice against slavery and a platform to speak their ideas of hope and peace in America.

Travel bug!!

Again I caught the travel bug! As I'm planning my trip to Ireland and Amsterdam in a few weeks I thought I would post some of these on location sketches I did a few years back in Prague. I'm really looking forward to doing a lot more reportage drawings on my upcoming travels.

Fall Life Drawing

Here's a sketch from my Fall life drawing class. Capturing the moment, the mood, and the personality of the model is the most fun part.  I feel this quote by Henri Matisse explains it all.

"Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence"
-Henri Matisse

Charles W. Morgan- Whaling ship

I'm very excited to start this Fall with my new blog and website coming soon! I'm excited to share one of my new illustrations from a reportage I did last year. This drawing is of the Charles W. Morgan whaling ship at the Mystic Seaport in Mystic CT. It was a cold February day but I still managed to tough it out through the freezing rain to get a few great drawings done. You can view this drawing on exhibit at the Mystic Seaport Museum. See some beautiful art by the Dalvero Academy artists in the Restoring a Past, Charting a Future: An Artistic Discovery of America's Whaling Legacy