The Time Collection

July 20, 2007 Time Series, 12 x 16"

For 100 days I created a unique watercolor for each day based on a newspaper story that touched my heart.  Mankind tends to put the past in order as we look back on our history, and we make well laid plans for the future.  It's in the chaos of the present that we see life for what it is. 

Reflecting a lifelong love of news, I began a project to capture the news every day in a watercolor painting.  Events from around the world as reported by the San Jose Mercury News, my local paper, serve as the inspiration for an assemblage of images that reflect the stories that touch my heart.  The images are created by ink pen and sable brush using India Ink and watercolor pigments on 12"x16" 100lb cotton hand-pressed paper. 

My father migrated from Israel to the United States in 1959 and hung on the evening nightly news for word of events from his homeland.  Furthermore, his habit of rising early to consume the morning newspaper was passed on to me at a young age, being one of several factors that lead to my former career at CNN.  Now that I am a full-time artist, I am compelled to return to the news of the day.  There is a connection to the rest of the world that happens when reading the daily newspaper.  The goal of this project is to capture life through images and text so that the viewer can use the artistic compilation as a time machine to relive and reflect on the past.

It all begins with a personal connection to a story which, when reading the paper, grabs me and makes me want to express an artistic reaction to it.  Actually, there may be several stories that capture my attention, in which case I create a collage.   The initial drawings are often done directly in ink, although complicated images require initial pencil sketches.  Watercolors are then layered over the ink to add color and life to the painting.  Once 90% of the painting is complete, I integrate the picture caption or story headline into the image itself.  Lastly, each image carries my name and date in a style tied to the story itself.  The entire package comes together to provide a unique interpretation of a news story.  Once this is complete, the next day's newspaper waits for me anxiously on the driveway."