A new to here series of "Phontography". I have been working on a collection of phontos called "Close of Business". These are pictures based on the effects of the present condition of the economy on business and the workers they employ. In most cases, the frame is devoid of any life.

There is something beautiful to be said about decay, as a process. The breaking down of one thing to its simplest element, so that in time, those elements can be incorporated into some new form. Reincarnation in its purest sense.

And so, we walk on the bodies of the dead until the day they too will rise in new bodies and be reunited with the living. Maybe then we will all be the same and have no differences to fight about. Won't that be something. Or, at least, may we all be nothing more than mud.

Another example of Phontography. But this one has a message. Pull tabs from soda cans can be collected and given to St. Jude's Hospital. Coke will make a donation to the hospital per pulltab. Its a wonderfull was to donate to St. Jude's and it cost you nothing. Even if you save coke cans, you can donate the tops. If you haven't saved them in the past, I encourage you and your family to do so. And don't forget to tell your friends and co-worker. Heck, start a collection at work. Just think of all the cans and pull tabs that are thrown away. Thats a lot of money that could be going toa great cause.

This is an example of "Cell Phontography". Following in the footsteps of Andy Warhol with his poloroid work, I intend to show that great art doesn't need expensive gear, but can be made by with accessible tools like cellphones. Feel free to post your input on the subject. We'll see where it goes.

Its difficult to see this whole thing. The overall effect was to be looking through the bamboo forest. The light changes from red to yellow to green. The texture was made with credit cards.

Funny story about this painting: The Vice President of Nigaraua, Jose Rizzo was at my mother's house, don't ask, and he saw this painting. The name at the bottom said Statom, so he asked if she had paited it. She said "no", that I had and he said how much he admired it. I only heard about it later and I thought "Jeez mom, why didn't you take it off the wall and say "Here, as a token of our hospitality." I could have had a painting hanging in the Presidential Palace, or whatever they've got in Nigaragua". She told me that she couldn't give away a painting I had given her. I could always paint her another.

When we had the house painted this year, I had to cut down my potato vines. I was not pleased to do it, but there was no way for them to paint the metalwork in front of the house with the vines still there. My wife refers to them as my "babies", so you can tell I was upset. So to take my anger out on something, I grabbed a canvas as I often do. This is my angry painting entitled "A Year with No Potatoes". In case you're wondering, my potato vines did come back up, oh happy day.