Nostalgic Artwork

Growing up in Brooklyn in the 1940s and 50s, on the tough streets of East New York and Brownsville, I would sometimes skip school and my studies. Both my parents worked, so that, there was little parental supervision. Thus, I was remanded to the care of my very stern grandmother who happened to work afternoons in the neighborhood movie theatre. Ostensibly doing my homework I was enthralled with those wonderful old black and white movies. I found myself enchanted by the likes of Bacall, Bergman and Hepburn; and, envious of the likes of Bogart, Cagney and Tracey. I must have seen Casablanca a dozen times and knew what Rickey Blaine was going to say to Ilsa or Colonel Strasser or Louis before he would speak. There is little wonder that much of my early artwork would reflect that nostalgic time in my life.