"A Rose In Spanish Harlem"

   There is a rose in Spanish Harlem

A red rose up in Spanish Harlem

It is a special one, it's never seen the sun

It only comes out when the moon is on the run

And all the stars are gleaming

It's growing in the street right up through the concrete

But soft and sweet and dreamin'

Midnight in "The Garden Of The Eternal Waltz"

The now iconic image of the "Bird Girl" statue that once graced the grounds at Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia was probably slated for anonymity before 1994, when a photo of the unusual grave marker was used for the cover of the best selling novel by John Berendt, "Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil", which later became a movie in 1997. The statue itself, which was originally sculpted in 1936 by Sylvia Shaw Judson, was since removed and donated to a museum in Savannah.


The first time I saw the book cover, "Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil", I was intrigued. I only recently seen the 1997 Clint Eastwood directed movie, starring  John Cusack and Kevin Spacey. The imagery from the book cover featuring the now infamous, "Bird Girl" statue had stuck with me for many years. Hence, my idea for this artwork was interpreted solely from that title and imagery. My story tells the lifeless statue of a beautiful young woman who transforms and comes to life only during the "fullest" of moons and meanders and dances around the garden deep into the night! 

"Gossamer & Lotus Dream"

"On a prayer and a wing,
My mind drifts to "Gossamer & 
Lotus Dream.
Where butterflies encounter 
tea rose & tangerine.
The Summer winds smile 
purposely,
as the fragrant peonies stain 
the scape.
This space where fairies 
frequent 
and bask in abundant layers of 
chiffon.
Scattered satin breezes quietly 
assist ubiquitous dandelions 
swirling through the air!"
~SteveFarr

"You Don't Know JACK!!!"

How often does this happen? What, you say? Well, I'm getting ready to go to leave the house and go to the gym, when I glance at the television and see something that totally grabs my attention! No, its not one of those frequently ran, often not funny Geico commercials (though at this time I wished it was!). So anyway, with remote in hand, instead of turning the TV off,  I'm watching something that causes a bad feeling to come over me. What I'm watching is this movie called "Return To Oz."  I had heard of it, but never seen before until now. What actually gave me pause was the appearance of a character, whom I now know to be known as "Jack Pumpkinhead". So what, you say. Well, the relevance to me was that a couple of years ago I had drawn/created a most similar character for Halloween, that I aptly named "Jolly Jack", along with his own brief story.  So now, to my  dismay, I've discovered that my character was not so original after all. In fact, it appears to be a very similar likeness to this Jack Pumpkinhead!  Maybe not a big deal to some, but to me it is. As an artist, unless I'm doing "fan art", I truly pride myself on being unique and original. Well, in this instance, apparently not. Situations like this, remind me of the famous quote: There is "nothing new under the sun." Applying it to this instance, seems quite appropriate, but with apologies to the artist(s) who created Mr. "Jack Pumpkin", my character, Jolly Jack was created/drawn with no knowledge of the former's existence....until today, of course! 
          What to do now? Make changes to my character Jolly Jack? I wonder how often this occurs in art, literature, music?? Since the time I initially uncovered this most unnerving experience, I've even discovered yet another "similar", but not quite as, character named "Jack" as in Jack Skellington from the Tim Burton movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas", whom I had heard of, but never made that connection til now! Maybe someone used JP as a reference, who knows?  So just remember, when you think you do, you really don't.....know JACK!!!! ~S


Thoughts on this are appreciated and welcome!

Midnight in "The Garden Of The Eternal Waltz"

The now iconic image of the "Bird Girl" statue that once graced the grounds at Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia was probably slated for anonymity before 1994, when a photo of the unusual grave marker was used for the cover of the best selling novel by John Berendt, "Midnight In The Garden Of Good & Evil". which later became a movie in 1997. The statue itself was originally sculpted in 1936 by Sylvia Shaw Judson.


The first time I saw the book cover, "Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil", I was intrigued. I only recently seen the 1997 Clint Eastwood directed movie, starring  John Cusack and Kevin Spacey. The imagery from the book cover featuring the now infamous, "Bird Girl" statue had stuck with me for many years. Thus, my idea for this piece was interpreted solely from that title and imagery. My story of a beautiful young woman who comes to life only during the "fullest" of moons and meanders around the garden deep into the night!

The Bog

"The Bog" On a smuggy Summer evening in July, the air is filled with incessant chirping, croaking, and fluttering sounds....Yes, life is quite active and abundant here. What is heard is not always necessarily seen, but if you squint yer eyes and peer off into the distance, you can spy the community of fireflies hovering just above will-o-the-wisp and a healthy chorus of frogs.~S


This, my latest painting was totally inspired by listening to the continuous sounds of tree frogs, crickets, cicadas, and whatever other forms of life that sing the melodies of a hot and muggy Summer evening. I can see the lightning bugs of fireflies come out at dusk, which take me back to my youth and the fun me and the other kids would have trying to catch them inside empty jelly jars. All this activity just begining as the sun sets can make me only imagine such a lively world evolving on a larger a larger stage such as "The Bog".   

"The Look"

Admittedly, I haven't been spending too much time blogging lately. Most of my time has been spent working on my artwork and various other projects. I do, however plan to be on here tossing out my thoughts and opinions a bit more frequently in the weeks to come, time permitting. I'm usually working on three to four art pieces at a single time, not bragging, but it keeps me from getting bored that way!! LoL! One of my most recent images is called simply: "The Look".  Believe it or not, it was no easy task to come up with this particular title. I've always thought titles were underrated, and often wondered why some artist chose to leave their work "untitled".  To me, labeling a piece of work as untitled really misses a great opportunity to inject certain thoughts upon that artwork. True, the visual should speak for itself, but sometimes the appropriate title or caption can help steer the viewer to a place that the artist may or may not have even considered. Hence, the objective from the beginning! 
     "The Look" is one of those such pieces of artwork, that can be totally left up to the interpretation of the viewer. You be the judge. When I did the sketch, I intentionally tried to convey a particular emotion by means of the eyes and expression on the girl's face. I must say, that I was pleased at the way "The Look" turned out. I would say that her expression is an enigma. What does her look say? Could it be a look of anger? Is she pissed off about something or is there a sense of grief etched on her face. She could be worried or frightened about something! Maybe all of the above would describe her aloof appearance. Possibly a bad hair day, but of course the coarse, exaggerated hair was my attempt to draw more attention to her face. The sketch for "The Look" was done about three years ago, so maybe her "look" is saying "I can't believe it took three years to finally complete!!"                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                        Carpe Diem!!~S