Playing hooky.

View from the cockpit!

Yes its February, but it will hit 60 degrees today!  My mind is on the river and whether I can find a paddling buddy to keep an icy water excursion on the safe side.  I have invested in the proper gear from EMS, American Terrain, and NRS so the trip will be enjoyable.  So its a day to play hooky!  You don't get these chances to often, in the winter, so you gotta grab them! What causes you to drop everything and Play?

Happy Motoring

Buy Here!

Happy Motoring was a slogan of the Mobil Oil Company for a long time.  My father owned and operated a Mobil gas station for over 30 years.  Motors, tires, gas pumps, fan belts and happy customers were part of my life for the six years I spent earning minimum wage at this downtown Buffalo establishment.  This should explain my recent fascination with putting the automobile into my artwork.  The slogan usually followed the Pegasus sign that you see here.  Mobil retired this version of the Pegasus sign back in the 70's.  (They changed it to face the other way and put it in a round white lighted sign, wow!)  I always hoped to find one for sale at a salvage store.  Now I want to share with you this spot on the web where you can get anything in a vintage look from garage signs, clocks, gas pumps even old aviation brands! Garageart.com  This will supply me with gifts for my brothers for years to come.  They even have a section titled "Man Cave".  The gas pump's days may be numbered (a very high number) but decorating with these nostalgic signs gets right to my motoring heart.  Is there a gear head in your circle?  One of these will really ring his bell cord!

Soho Valentine

This morning was a return to SoHo for my wife and I.  We regularly get to Chelsea, but it has been a few years since we walked around Soho.  Our return was to visit one of our favorite breakfast stops from years past.   Our first place in NY was on Church Street and we would often have our weekend start at the Cupping Room!  They have a date nut bread that is as sweet as cake.   Catherine has a cappuccino and I stick with their Colombian brew.  The traditional Eggs Benedict is always perfect.  There is art on the walls and the wait staff is very friendly.  This morning we were surrounded by young families and visiting tourists.  The galleries may have left SoHo but the charm of the Cupping Room has remained just as it was in our first year here.  It was a Valentine moment from 1984.  Do you have a special place where romance began? 

Versailles Fountains

I'm praying to the sun god Apollo for spring to arrive soon!  If it doesn't I may need to seek the help of his heavenly brethren, Baccus!  TGIF!

Painting and Photography

From Studio Matters

Somethings just happen on the right days.  This painting by John La Farge struck me as I skimmed over the Studio Matters site.  It is in:
In the Tonalist Mood: Paintings from the 1860s to the Present at Spanierman Gallery, 45 East 58th Street, 212-832-0208.  Maureen Mullarkey's review ( A voice and taste I trust) fills the void I have for this movement in 19th Century art. These paintings have a richness I pursue in my own work.  The beauty of living near NYC is being able to see these works in person.  I will make the trip to Spanierman Gallery soon.
I work with a number of photographers as their printer.  One whose work is very directly connected to the Aestheticism of the 19th century is Larry Lederman.  His recent show at the Four Seasons in New York featured these works that I believe have a strong relationship to Church and La Farge.

Sour Gum at Wave Hill

Katsura Willow, NYBG

Sycamore, NYBG

Valentine's Day Red for Him

MG Badge

 Is a picture worth a thousand words? I may not be able to own this rolling stock but I can appreciate their beauty and craftsmanship on my wall.  I prefer a time where the wind tunnel did not homogenize the shape and line of each marque.  Touches of chrome accented the purity of color and the fit exhibited the careful hand of the builder.  

Red Grill

Red XK-E

Red Morgan

 

Porsche 911

I can be reached at http://www.maggiotto.com/contact.htm or email at john@maggiotto.com

Team colors!

Green Morgan

 Congratulations to the Packers and all their fans!  Here are my contributions to the Green and Gold.  A green Morgan and a Yellow Ferrari from my photographic car series.  Few color choices are as important to your sense of style as the car you drive. Metallic Navy Blue (Bills fan, Old Glory, Canisius High School) has dressed three of my last four cars.  Small survey: let me know your color in the comments and I'll enter your name in a raffle for a print of Green Morgan, 7 x 11inches.!

Super Sunday!

OK Super Sunday! One more shot of football before the rest of the cold winter.  I plan to enjoy it with a full compliment of family, friends, chips, pizza, and beer.  As a Bills fan I have little stake in this outcome, I just want this to be a good game, and please, please don't let it come down to a field goal with no time left ("...its up its....WIDE RIGHT!!!!!!) Deeply scarred!   Does it give to much away to say I remember Bart Starr.  I love Terry Bradshaw on the pregame shows, but I think I'll pull for the Packers.


Two weeks till DAYTONA!







To the Pits

Gothic in New York

This is a favorite piece of mine.  The marble is especially beautiful.  I had recently been to Paris and was quite taken by the juxtaposition of old world and new world architecture.   I went looking for the closest example of old world that we have in New York and settled on St. Patrick's Cathedral.  This is the only view in which there is not a skyscraper in the background.  I have kept this one in my studio for myself, but now I am ready to share it with you.
Hidden on the website.

The Retailing Urge

Its a February Saturday, there's 20 inches of snow on the lawn and I'm thinking about Garage Sales.  I love satisfying my "retailing" urge by visiting the local sales that my neighbors use to reduce clutter.  Here I can shop for hours visiting five to nine sales and still return with change from a twenty!  The older the home the better!  I've already filled my home and my studio pretty well with finds, flat files, tools, stools for portraits, antique camera equipment for atmosphere and my real favorite - lamps!  I once found a Tizio that just needed a little TLC and it sits proudly on my desk.

The first of these sales is probably six to seven weeks away.  I must curb that "R" urge till then.  If I end up at the mall it will be costly.  If I want costly, maybe a trip to the Paris Flea Markets would be better!
Anyway, it's Saturday!  The one day I use to consume instead of produce.  I've got some sites to visit!

Antiques Diva

Tools, always a favorite!

Wall Street

Does New York have an "old city"?  About the closest we come is the southern tip of Manhattan.  Old maps outlining the location of the "wall" and the canals is all that remains of our early centuries. (Can I use that term when there is only four?)  This six marble piece is the result of a walk in that neighborhood two years ago.  Four of the images are from that area and two are from around 57th street.  Can you identify the sources?  Titled Wall Street it is now in a private collection, a print is available on the website. Print

Missed the train!

Watching the train pull away as you walk down the ramp is one of my great frustrations, but it gives me that extra time to appreciate one of New York's gems, Grand Central Terminal.  Out comes the camera and I join the tourists and the photo students from the ICP near by.  There is always something I have missed in my rush through the hallways and grand concourse.  Let me just give you a few clicks!

V8's for Valentines

At my website

I'm a recent fan to motor racing. The televised coverage of such an exciting sport is truly remarkable.  The introduction of live mini cameras in all of the cars with drivers' views, forward and back, and of the the drivers themselves during the race puts you in the race more than any other sport can.  What I used to experience as watching relentless left turns now has audio between crew chiefs and drivers.  The discussion of strategy, pacing, pit timing and tire use are compared among teams.  I have a better understanding of the physical demands of driving a race car for 500 miles. 

St.Valentine's Day (Catholic School coming through there) is just 13 days away.  Last year I received a "gift" ride in a stock car racer.  I recommend it! Here's the link http://www.877stockcar.com/  For a quieter gift from gasoline alley try one of these images from my website and a few others, where you can get a print for the man cave.   Some are available framed. 

Prints from Road and Track Magazine

 

  

Road and Track

Artful Home