THE BRILLIANT ART OF DANIEL PECI

(Study for "Hangover" by Daniel Peci, Copyright 2008)

Well, now that my addiction to Ebay has subsided (I didn't even need psychotherapy for it!), I can focus on making my own art. Lately, I have been creating some cool linocut prints and experimenting with making my designs smaller and smaller. The good news is that I haven't sliced a finger, so I think I'm off to a good start!

Now from my humble beginnings as an artist, to someone a little more accomplished. One of the best parts of my extended Ebay "vacation" was being able to check out and connect with some of the artists to whom I have been introduced there. One such young man is Daniel Peci, a native of Macedonia, who now resides in Los Angeles, where he runs a successful online fine art business selling his own pieces. I was very impressed his business savvy and marketing sense, but most importantly, by his sheer talent as a visual artist. Interestingly, he is one of the most followed artists on Ebay and his work generally sees buyers trying to outbid one another on a weekly basis for his pieces. This made me curious to get to know Daniel a little bit better, and he was kind enough to do a brief interview with me via E-mail:

Q: Through good instruction and encouragement, a person might learn to master art technique and style, however, an ability to see beyond the obvious—to delve below the surface of one’s subject--requires sheer talent. Your body of work clearly shows that you have that gift, as well as intuitiveness about the human experience that exceeds your thirty-two years of life. Would you consider yourself an old soul?

A: The Answer for this question might go in a spiritual or metaphysical direction since its really hard not to go there. My perception on this, on my soul and everyone else's souls is that there's no difference. It all depends how you use the time that you are given in the sequence called life and do you really use that time for the right reasons?On your question of the age of the soul, I do believe that we as spirits evolve through birth and death and previous incarnations might be crucial in our ability to see clearly and have a clean channel for intuition and similar 'gifts.’

Q: You attended the Academy Of Fine Arts in Macedonia. You mention on your Web site (www.danielpeci.com) that the competition to get in was stiff. What do you think set you apart from all the other candidates to be able to win one of seven
coveted spots in your class?

A: When you have seven open spots and one art academy in the whole country and a corrupt educational system you better pull some strings if you wanna get in. My artistic quality didn’t get me there.

Q: You look up to the masters, and that is highly reflected in your work. From which artists do you take your inspiration? Who has inspired you the most?

A: Rembrandt always inspired me, I started doing copies around the age of 18--also did a lot of drawings after Leonardo and Michelangelo, but the Dutch masters have
always been my favourites. I liked Rembrandt's dramatic lighting and compositions and Vermeer's quiet meditative interiors with figures doing seemingly random daily actions.

Q: When you paint or sketch a subject, what do you most hope to capture? What types of things in the creative process do you obsess about?

A: I usually have a concept before I begin sketching. I try to get the essence of things, make it truthful since that will be evident in the artwork--you can't hide it. I observe things outside and within and get ideas that are transformed, or better said, interpreted
into a painting. The most common underlying theme in my work would be a spiritual quest, I think even if you look at a simple still life of mine you'll get the same idea.

Q: Is there a style or medium in which you have not worked that you would like to?

A: There's lots of styles there. I've tried experimenting with a few, but I always came back to the realistic approach since I find it most suitable for expressing my ideas and I'm gonna stick with it. I want the audience to be able to read my message as clearly as possible.

Q: Since all artists are self-aware, I’d love to know what you think draws people to your work.

A: I think people see things that are familiar to them in my work or maybe things that they want to see or things that make them think. One of my collectors told me that he never noticed that the sky can be yellow until he saw it in one of my paintings.

Q: You live in Los Angeles. How long have you lived there and do you have a large following of collectors there?

A: I've been in L.A. 6 years now and I have a few regular collectors mostly from USA.

Q: I first discovered your work on www.dailypainters.com and instantly recognized that you are an artist to watch. Since I was an Ebay “virgin,” I was surprised that such an accomplished artist, with representation in the “brick and mortar” world, would opt to sell his work online. What motivated you to create a store on Ebay? Are more people finding your work there than in galleries? Also, are many artists of your caliber doing the same thing?

A: As probably you have noticed I sell only really small works online, most of them 5x7 or 6x6 works that Galleries don’t really sell. It’s a great daily practice for me and the paintings are affordable…I also think some self-promotion is never wrong. I'm also seeing some real good accomplished artist doing the same thing. It's good that the real artists started emerging from the shadows in new ways and redefined and reestablished the values of art just when the whole art world was going in a wrong direction.

Q: The Internet is constantly changing the way we live our lives. How has the Internet changed the way artists communicate with collectors? Do you think that the Net is the future of art buying?

A: I think the Internet has changed a lot of things and this is just one of them. It's constantly changing and breaking barriers. The future of art buying? I don’t know but I'm sure it will change it.

Q: Here’s a question just for fun...If you could go back in time (or not!) and host an artists’ feast at your home, who would you invite and why?

A: Leonardo Da Vinci--it's just a chance that I wouldn't miss--an "old soul" like him as you would say it, and as eclectic as that is, more than a great opportunity for a meaningful conversation.

Q: Are there any exciting projects in the works that you would like to talk about?

A: I'm working on some larger paintings and I have new ideas constantly about them. I'm aiming for some big galleries. Hopefully I can get in one of them soon.

...and I'm SURE we will. My thanks to Daniel for taking the time to answer my questions. You can see more of his work at www.danielpeci.com.

DOES GOTH HAVE TO MEAN THE UNDEAD?

As I was racing to work yesterday morning, I boarded my usual train to take me to SoHo. As I stood on the opposite side of the car from the door, which would open when we arrived at Broadway/Lafayette, I noticed a man in front of me waiting to exit the train. He had long, black hair, pulled back in a rubber band and wore tight embroidered jeans. A puke brown leather jacket, which tightly fit his feminine back, complemented the outfit, which looked pretty edgy and worn.

As we glided between stops, I occupied my time by noticing every detail--his demeanor, bodily movements, as well as his hands, which were tightly wrapped around the pole to his right. They blinded me with their pasty whiteness. I then focused in on how dry, cracked and almost inhuman they were. It was at that point, since I was sleep-deprived and in need of some morning excitement, that I went into a whole, fantastical scenario, in which his fingers, which currently sported the worst manicure ever, suddenly sprouted talons. He dramatically whipped around, revealing the most sinister red eyes and the sharpest of fangs. Then with all his strength, he grabbed me, forced my head to my shoulder as he leapt for my neck with his mouth.

At that moment, the train jerked on the track and began to slow. It was then that I realized that, apparently, I hadn't been too observant. I happened to glance down towards “Goth Guy’s” left side and saw the most hideous purse made from cheap fabric with a faux tapestry print on it. I’m not sure, but it might have had a Teddy Bear on it, which made everything seem to fall out of focus—mostly because I was in denial that someone could match that bag to any kind of footwear. While my head was spinning, contemplating a mixture of the items on my "TO DO" list for the day and trying to sort out the whole Teddy Bear thing, he gently turned revealing his profile, some out-of-date eyewear, and the fact that he, indeed, was a “she.” I exited the train completely confused. Maybe it's my eyewear that needs some updating.

DOES THIS SHOPPING EXPERIENCE MAKE MY ASS LOOK BIG?

Can we all agree that we go to the Levi’s Store only in the case of energencies--that moment, between paychecks, when you really need a pair of jeans, but you don’t want to spend a bundle of dough (and your local sample sale, which for months seemed to happen every week, has all but gone away like the circus)? At that point of desperation, we go to the Levi’s Store for convenience to find inexpensive and fashionable quality, right?

A couple of years ago, Levi’s upped its appeal factor in an attempt to revive the name and jump into the luxury market to steal some business away from the 7s and Lucky Brands of the world—the folks who have managed to convince us and unemployed college students with new credit cards and no income, that $120 for a pair of jeans is reasonable. The difference then was that the prices were better and the styles more interesting. Of course, it roped some of us in and we bought Levi’s. Since then, I have yet to find a pair of Levi’s that I like. It’s also not surprising to me, given the fact that the fashion industry is trying to get everyone thin in America by pretending that a 31 waist is really a 34. My problem is that the larger sizes fit my waist but are too baggy and make my ass look like a sideboard. The size down is too tight everywhere, and I might as well wear nothing because they leave nothing to the imagination. (Do you hear that? It’s my mother saying “that’s TMI, Paul!”)

At this juncture, I’m desperate for a new pair of jeans. Let me preface this story with I LOVE my William Rast’s, but I’m not willing to shell out $239 for a new pair since I only paid $80 for mine in the first place at a sample sale. They are a little too baggy, but they flatter. Pardon me, I digress.

Today was that moment of desperation and resignation, so off I went to the Levi’s Store in SoHo to see what I could see. There were a couple of styles, reasonably priced, that I liked. I should have known at that moment, though, to cut my losses. Just my luck they did not have my size in any of them! To top it off, every time that I even slightly touched another clothing item, some gay, shaved-head Latino boy with faux Prada glasses and a soul patch would fly up behind me to ask me if I needed a size. I could have been looking at cufflinks and they would probably have asked me if I needed a size. “Yes, I need a size, but apparently, you don’t carry it,” is how I should have responded, but I was too tired today to be a jerk. I simply thanked them and went back to the office. Fast forward to complete exasperation, depression, feelings of inadequacies, and a sense that Club Monaco wasn't going to be any better. In spite of the sweet saleswoman, I was right. To add insult to injury, I went to Old Navy and wasn't sure where I was. Who decided that all things Hawaiian are back in (Sincere apologies to my colleague, Jen)?

This story pretty much summarizes my shopping experiences of late. I’m giving it up to buy art! The only problem now, is that my wardrobe is old and falling apart and I’m not sure how long it will be before I look like a homeless man. God, give me the strength to hold out for a pair of jeans that fits well, is priced reasonably and makes my ass look good!

E-BAYWATCH

(Pirate ACEO by Lydia Velarde 2008)

No, it's not me in a red swimsuit flying down the beach in slow-mo with my floatie under my armpit (Seriously, me in a bathing suit? I always just do the favor and refrain...unless I'm in another country or at a beach where people look worse than I.),but it is me swimming through the art listings on Ebay, yet again. It's not so bad today, and I am pretty pleased with all of the items I have purchased. For the most part, I bought ACEOs (Art Card Editions and Originals), which are guilt-free and great for gifts, etc. In the process, I discovered some pretty amazing artists, who not only sell their mini-wares in cyberland, they also sell in the real world for hundreds and even thousands of dollars at brick and mortar fine art galleries throughout the country.

One of new favorite artists is Lydia Velarde of San Diego, California. As you can see in the preceding photo, Lydia celebrates whimsy in her work, with themes ranging from pirates to VW buses to sheep, which I love! It's impressive to me how she captures so much detail in a 2.5" x 3.5" gouache painting. In reading about her, I learned that she has been away from painting for a while, but is now working on all thrusters trying to regain her spot as a top artist in the San Diego area. Her full-sized paintings are lovely and are priced very reasonably for the quality of the work. Someday, it would be great to own one of her still lifes or landscapes.

In the meantime, you can visit her blog at http://artyvelarde.blogspot.com/. I also recommend going to http://www.lydiavelarde.com/ to learn about the woman behind these fabulous miniature creations.

E-BAYLITZED OUT!

My name is Paul and I am addicted to Ebay. We all have our addictions, in some form or another, but I got it bad for Ebay. This weekend, I literally spent, all in the name of "research," twenty hours browsing various auctions, becoming familiar with the "bay"scape, and pretty much avoiding housecleaning, laundry and eating. I think I might have lost ten pounds, which would not necessarily be such a bad thing, given that the winter blahs were severe this year. The truth is that I had hoped to read a little bit, get caught up on some things, go grocery shopping. None of that happened.

Today was particularly slothful as I just sat in my armchair, fused to my laptop, overloading on all the art for sale online. Interestingly, I discovered a whole subculture of people who buy small paintings of about 2.5" x 3.5" that are called ACEOs. They are meant to make art affordable to anyone. And, for the most part they are. Most ACEO auctions start out between 99 cents and $9.99 plus shipping and handling, but prices can rise quickly, especially in the last five minutes of bidding.

It's pretty incredible that people can now buy fine art without ever having to step into a gallery--a brilliant way for lesser-known artists, who can't find, or don't want representation, to market themselves. There are hundreds of ACEO artists on Ebay. And while a great deal of the ACEOs I found online were crap done by people who call themselves artists, many of them were very lovely and whimsical. It's amazing that people can paint something that small and have it result in something of such clarity and beauty. These pieces, which can be originals or reproductions of originals by the artist, commonly come in protective plastic sheets and can be displayed or kept in an album. What a great way to enjoy art and save space at home!

Crap or no crap, the competition from avid ACEO collectors to buy can be very tough. I was a pretty tough bidder today, and the time spent definitely paid off. I was able to purchase a ACEO of a famous artist who lives in Phoenecia, New York, one of my new favorite places to visit Upstate. He is known for creating beautiful animal and Native American art. Normally, I don't collect works along this theme, but I do happen to have a few Native pieces of art, which I treasure. This lovely portrait will blend nicely with those items as well as with the other portraits and landscapes that I own. In the end, I paid $10 for the painting, so not only did I get a piece of truly "fine" art, I got a bargain. I'm guessing that rehab to get me off of Ebay, on the other hand, may cost me just a bit more.

THE "LADY ONSTAGE" WAS A RAGE

I just finished watching "American Masters," the life story of Judy Garland on Channel 13, the local NYC PBS station, and it reminded me of how lucky and grateful I am to have been born when I was.

When I was a kid, however, I used to say that I was born too late, fantasizing that I had come into this world around the same time my late grandmother Jessie did(1910), so that I could have been an adult in the 1930s and 40s. My dream was to be my idol, Jimmy Stewart, and marry Claudette Colbert or Janet Gaynor. It's ironic, though, that later, I'd figure out that I really wanted to date Gary Cooper in all his timeless handsomeness! I still put Claudette Colbert on a pedestal and think she is one of the most stunning and adorable women Hollywood and America has ever known. Sitting in a frame in my living room, next to a wonderful vintage, autographed photo of Maurice Chevalier, is a prized possession of mine--an autographed publicity still of Claudette as Cleopatra that I sent to her when I was 14. She was acting in the Broadway production of AREN'T WE ALL? in the mid-1980s, and I sent her a package containing a couple of my favorite photos of her with a very complimentary letter. Unfortunately, I never heard back from her, until one random day after I'd graduated college in 1993, I received a very tattered package in the mail. This thing must have gone between NYC and Barbados (Ms. Colbert's permanent home), but it was there and included the photos that I had sent her. To my astonishment, they were signed! It was one of the strangest experiences of my life...well, that and having a crush on Jane Seymour all through adolescence and then finally getting to work with her on a project in NYC just a few years back.

I guess what I am trying to relay is how fantastic my life has really been. Now, life is not quite so exciting as I mostly schlep between SoHo and Queens every day for work, but when I was age 14-21, I used to go to the theatre all the time in Dallas, Texas where I grew up. There, I'd use my allowances to pay $35 to see the likes of George C. Scott as Clarence Darrow, Martha Raye as Miss Hannigan in ANNIE, Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney in SUGAR BABIES, Debbie Reynolds in THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN, Joan Copeland in BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS, Dorothy Parker in I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER, Carol Channing and Mary Martin in LEGENDS, all of whom I actually met in person. I've had hugs from Mary Martin and Barbara Rush and been kissed by Lily Tomlin. These were the talents that have truly made show business as we all used to know it. I call it "the real show business," since it is virtually gone, except for faint glimpses of it when you consider what is on Broadway now. Shows like CURTAINS come to mind--those that strike a chord with those of us who remember what true musical comedy was. Every once in a while, Broadway producers try to revive the classics, but they always seem small in comparsion to the original. In high school, I saw the original Broadway cast of INTO THE WOODS. I'm almost appauled that we have so few great ideas anymore that already a revival was mounted. I love SWEENEY TODD too, but was it really necessary to revive it twice in 12 years? That doesn't even account for the fact that it was originally on Broadway not much more than a decade before that, and I remember that one too! It's so strange that we so desperately want to recapture the past, but ineffectively recreate it leaving us unhappily thirsting for something unidentifiable. Young people, who have never had the experience of seeing some of these shows in their infancy have really lost out. There is nothing more thrilling than sitting in a Broadway theatre, experiencing an uncontrollable case of goosebumps, as you watch and hear the audience excitedly chatter around you just before the curtain goes up on a new show. In recent years, this has happened to me perhaps four times--in the case of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL, HAIRSPRAY, THE BOY FROM OZ and SPRING AWAKENING. As the orchestra tuned and the first notes were played and sung, my blood coursed with the energy of the evening--the audience sitting in suspense on seat's edge to see what only a handful of the population was getting to experience. Intently, we listened to every last word and note to determine if we had a hit on our hands...and we DID! What a feeling to be part of history. It happens so seldom anymore, so when it does, I'm completely overwhelmed and become emotional. As a former actor and singer, it hits me in the same place that it does every time I see or hear the number "What I Did For Love" in A CHORUS LINE. The "gift" of the past was really "ours to borrow" as the song says, and we need to "re-gift" those memories to ensure that our memories live on with new generations, who scarcely know who people like Claudette Colbert and Lily Tomlin are. I guess the question is, how do we make them care?

Dare I say that the word "celebrity" has been so overused in recent years by the same generation that tosses "love" around as if it were a frisby during the summer of '69 that they have no idea what true celebrity is? Sure these stars from the "Golden Age" had their vices and problems, but we were pretty forgiving of them, and so was the media because WE truly needed them to make our lives have meaning and get through the day. They made us laugh and smile and gave us hope. Today's stars, even the ones who use their "brands" for charity, are at the mercy of the vicious public and its need to pull them down from the heavens. It's how we now have chosen to make sense of our lives--trivializing strangers to hide the fact that we are unhappy, have lost God, are in debt up to our eyeballs (so that we can look exactly like the celebrities we seek to strip bare), and are fearful about where the world, economy and the war are going. The sad fact is, that as THIS war continues to thrive, Hollywood won't try to keep us and the troops entertained. It will just keep bringing us more reality, the kind that we think we crave, the kind that keeps us cynical, the kind that reminds us how dysfucntional we are, the kind that gives us more reasons not to change, but stay indifferent and wallow in our fears and bask in our sense of entitlement. Okay, now I'm off my soapbox (Do you young folk remember what a soapbox looks like?)

So back to Judy Garland. What a tragedy! She fell apart from drugs and alcohol right before America's eyes, and yet people STILL loved her because she was a true icon. Last week, David Hernandez(http://www.tmz.com/2008/03/05/david-hernandez-if-you-could-see-me-then/)from "American Idol" was criticized in the television and social media for being a male stripper of the gayest kind in the past, but he was voted off of "Idol" because he is the farthest thing from a star. If he had been a true star, filled with that "spark," he wouldn't have needed to dance in a gay club in the first place. He might have a great voice and be a moderately better-looking version of Marc Anthony, but the one thing that Mr. Anthony has that he lacks is "star quality." In comparison, watching clips of Judy dancing and singing with Gene Kelly overwhelms me with emotion because they are so filled up full with talent that they feed me and my need to experience something wonderful and out of the ordinary. Who of our newest generation of "stars" will leave people 50 years from now in awe of their talent? As I sit here with my computer on my lap, watching reality television with the TV on mute, I give thanks to history that I can sit back with a high-ball in my hand, look around the room to enjoy my treaures of the past and "remember when" every once in a while about how things used to be and try not to get too depressed that they never shall be. Perhaps, I was born just in time!

ASK ME IF I KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS

I wrote this tonight. Ask me if I know what it means...


Leave it all behind
kissing frustration gooodbye
the momentary illusion
with its values that serve
to ruin you and not
the source which lives
in its own universe
isolated, refusing to be
altered.

Give me the peace
to walk beyond that
place of momentary
ruin and confusion.

Cause me to refuse
its glance, the temptation
of the past which seems to
fulfill with a burn
as it navigates the
terrain of my naïve
and tender throat.

It Churns the bile
which spews and spews and
spews, endlessly spewing
into the frenzy of normalcy.