Electro-Swing Party Poster

My friend Deejay Spinach organizes awesome electro-swing parties in NYC called "Swingin' Penguin". He asked me again to make a flier for the upcoming event in July. The Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" animation was a major influence on the design of this series. Remember the clip "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"?

New England Riverscape

The boating season is in full swing on the Mystic River of Connecticut. It's such a lovely place to be, especially in springtime.

Welcome to the Monkey House

Anandapur Royal Forest in Disney's Animal Kingdom has an elaborate abode for the fuzzy inhabitants. "Anandapur" is Sanskrit for "place of all delight". Can you spot the gibbons?

More Spring Buzz :: Carp and Cherry Blossoms

Carp from the Japanese Garden pond at the Brooklyn Botanical.

In Full Bloom

Ahh, long-awaited Spring has finally come... Blossoming apricot tree branches from the Brooklyn Botanical are the proof!

Drawing Music :: Ecstatic Music Festival's Grand Finale

Here are a few drawings from the Ecstatic Music Festival's closing concert at the Merkin Concert Hall that took place on March 28 of 2011. Drummer and composer Bobby Previte premiered 'Terminals' with So Percussion, Zeena Parkins (harp/electric harp), John Medeski (piano, Hammond organ), Jen Shuy (er hu, voice)  and DJ Olive (turntables, computer).

So Percussion and Jen Shuy

 Zeena Parkins on harp and So Percussion's Josh Quillen

 

John Medeski

 

Bobby Previte

 

 

DJ Olive and So Percussion's Eric Beach

 

Jen Shuy playing Er Hu

Congratulations and thanks to composer and Ecstatic's curator Judd Greenstein for his first [amazing] music festival! It lasted from January 17 untill March 28 and showcased a constellation of most unusual and interesting musical explorers. I attended a few shows. Here is a recap, with thoughts written and drawn:

Judd Greenstein with Olga Bell

Roomful of Teeth

So Percussion with Dan Deacon

Theater :: The Rover

The New York Classical Theater must be the city's best kept secret. They do FREE stagings all over Manhattan during warmer months of the year. The 12th season has been opened with the Restoration comedy "The Rover" by Aphra Behn inside the World Financial Center complex. The spectacle is called "panoramic theater": the location becomes the stage set, and the audience follows actors from spot to spot every 5-10 minutes.

"There's no sinner like a young saint."

I've attended "The Rover" twice, and did some reportage drawings. I was really impressed with the cast and the powerful performance. Last year's "Hamlet" and "Richard III" set the expectations very high. "The Rover" was delightful, fun and funny, from the plot and language to vibrant costumes and musical arrangement. It's a story of love, lust and jealousy.

Couldn't help but favor one character: Angellica Bianca, the courtesan "who never loved before". Her evil laugh was hair-raising. Here she is, striking a pose.

 The rover Willmore tells her:  
"Though I admire you strangely for your beauty, Yet I condemn your mind."

There is a parallel between the courtesan, Angellica Bianca, and the playwright, Aphra Behn: not only do they share the same initials, but also, according to Aphra, both "playwright and prostitute are entertainers of men."

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NEXT UP:

The School for Husbands by Moliere

Central Park (at West 103rd & Central Park West)

Thursday through Sunday, June 2 - 26 at 7:00 pm

Jacket in Repair

Drawn on my iPhone

Subway Commuter