Travel Tips

This painting was done by my stylist and segment producer Rachal Ayala. She's multitalented and very funky..This is a huge painting that I babysat for a while until she wanted it back. Then I bought it. She was happy, but not as happy as I was.

This is a painting of me that was done by a Cuban friend of mine in NYC a few years ago. We were in a pending meeting, meaning, we were discussing our clients' pending projects. I was bored and sat with my hands asi, and he painted my hair, being curly and wild, like this. This painting inspired him to do a whole series of "Pending" paintings that ended up in a Soho gallery. Luckily I bought mine before he went retail.

Here's that painting from my Cuba shopping page,, framed appropriately for its style.

Bernice Kramer Sokol is an artist who works with papier mache and creates sculptures based on the concept of marionetttes. This is a sculpture made from an old puffy sleeved shirt which was wrapped with the sex ads from the Village Voice. I cant for the life of me remember the name of the piece, but I love it and I love her,, She's an amazing woman and a friend.

I bought these portraits in San Diego in the mid 80's because I loved the colors and the way these two looked together. They were painted by an artist, Andrea Zuell, who is still active.

Originally I was going to buy him only, but I couldnt dare part them. I thought they looked like they had just had a fight or serious discussion, and they both look like they are very contemplative.

This is the most serious painting in my office collection. It's a self portrait by Judy Glantzman, an emerging artist in NYC. I met Judy a few years ago in her studio when I bought this painting. I find it so much more fulfilling to meet the artist behind the artwork, as they are able to give you so much more insight about their work.

This painting was one of Judy's lighter works, painted some time after her father died. Right after the his death, most of her paintings were very dark and monster-like. But as the pain subsided from her, her paintings became brighter and more introspective, which also coincided with the birth of her daughter.

As you may note, this woman has three arms. I never found out from her why she painted herself this way, but knowing Judy, I think it may have something to do with the different responsibilities she saw herself undertaking at that time: daughter, mother and painter.

James de La Vega lives in East or "Spanish" Harlem in Manhattan and is known as the "ghetto Confucius". This is because he paints walls and chalks sidewalks with his personal philosophies. In 2000 he was commissioned to paint the images of two Nuyorican Poets, Mariposa and Carlos, along with their poetry. Since I loke to collect art that depicts couples, I purchased these so that these two kindred spirits could co exist together in one environment.

On Saturday and Sunday, on 26th and 6th Avenue, there is the famous NYC flea market. At this market you can find almost anything. Great stuff, crappy stuff, cheap stuff, expensive stuff. Since I collect bad paintings of women, I had to have this one,, she was only $25 but a beauty!!