Biodiesel was discovered on August 10th, 1893

Corn flower as Energy

by Despina Georgiadis

This drawing is about 10 years old and it’s still one of my favorites. This is an art deco inspired (obviously) drawing of a 1939/40 Cadillac LaSalle. A beautiful car, I hope I did it justice!

drawing by Greg Betza

It’s June 7th, 1993 at the Magic Kingdom. I was 23, and really young. A little over a year had passed since I graduated from Parsons School of Design with a BFA in Illustration. I knew instinctively there was still so much to learn if I really wanted to call myself ‘an artist’ or find the slightest success commercially.

So I looked for more school, and was given undeniably the opportunity of a lifetime, to study with a master, Dave Passalaqua. I can still hear him, my teacher (my mentor) telling me while standing on Main Street in front of the Confectionary …

” Michele to become an artist it’ll be work, more work than you’ve ever known. It’ll be painful, and it will be nothing of what you expect. If you practice your art seriously and honestly, the art itself will tell you what kind of an artist you’re gonna be.”

click for a larger image

It’s now August 8th, 2009 and I’m still practicing. So why am I posting a drawing that’s 15 years old? I mean look at it. There’s no structure, hardly a strong design, not to mention the people in it, haha (some look downright strange and those who know, I’m missing a few hundred). For sure it’s not the best drawing I’ve ever done. There have been thousands, and I mean thousands! of drawings done since then.

But this one means something to me because there’s this tremendous amount of study in it. If there’s one thing I learned from Dave (a humorous understatement) is that without studying, and learning how to, I would have ceased to grow. Meaning consequently without knowing it becoming an artist would’ve been nothing more than a wishful dream, never getting me any closer to finding out what kind of an artist I might be, (when I grow up that is).

’till next week – michele

Can’t wait to see what’s on the horizon! I’m off tomorrow to the Magic Kingdom with Veronica, Margaret and the students of the Dalvero Academy in search for more endless possibilities!

If you have ever traveled along then Hudson River in New York, particularly via Metro North Railroad which rides along the river, you may have witnessed an odd looking ship that seems out of place among all the tug boats and tankers that crowd the waters. That vessel may have been the Half Moon, a replica of the ship that Henry Hudson captained up the river that would later bear his name. The crew of the Half Moon took part in the Hudson-Fulton celebration in June, commemorating the 400th anniversary of Hudson’s voyage. The drawing is from teh festivities as the ship pulled into port in Newburgh, NY.—Dominick

Summer as a kid was great.  I spent all my summers  in the Dominican Republic running around, eating fruits straight from the tree.  My grandfather had cows, pigs, chickens, rabbits and more.  Being a city boy I’m thankful to have experienced milking a cow, chasing chickens and hunting lizards. Above is a drawing of Emilio. Emilio owns the minimarket in front of my grandfather’s house. We would run over and he would always give us soda pops, it was the best.  I still visit the Dominican Republic, but it will never be what is was.  No worries, no responsibilities, just pure ol’ childhood bliss.

Emilio

A neighbor hanging out in front of my grandfather's House. To the right are thumbnails of the old house I call home away from home.

Every year during the summer time in NYC, the fishermen line up along the East River on New York’s lower east side. They are out here every day, looking for treasure in the rivers around the Big Apple. They do seem to catch something, and they eat it, too! Not sure how I’d feel about that, although I do tend to like things from NYC… Veronica

Different Roxy Paine “trees” at Madison Sq. Park on 23rd Street from a few years back.  Everyone sat under them like they were real trees and enjoyed the afternoon!  Margaret

…for St. Kitt’s and Nevis. These, of course, are islands in the Caribbean.

To me, one of the more interesting facts about this smallest of nations in the Americas, is that Alexander Hamilton spent his childhood there. When I learned this I smiled and thought how contradictory these two visuals are. I pictured Alex, in his colonial garb, dickey and all. I then went to my mind’s stock image collection of Caribbean islands, with their beautiful sandy beaches, turquoise waters, and swaying palm trees, the polar opposite to the marble and straight lines we normally associate with Washington, DC. Very interesting!

So, I put the two images together…

’til next time, Despina

This drawing was done a little over a month ago down at the south street seaport in NYC. Now I’ve been there a million times and drawn the boats at least that many times, so on this day I looked for something different. I found this great mess of bikes. There truly is always something else to draw.