painT

VINNY'S HEART.

2011-01-17T01:49:00.001-08:00

POP HEART, 2011, GREGORY SIFF.
PHONEBOOTH TAKEOVER

2010-11-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

INTERVIEW MAGAZINE presents Gregory Siff at The Standard, Hollywood

2010-09-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

“the mistakes look better than what you want.”

“play with everything.”

“use a lot of color and feel hard.”

WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE

get it on your iPad here:

WATCH HERE:

MUSEYON NEWS: VAN GOGH GETS AN UPDATE.

2010-08-16T17:15:00.000-07:00

MUSEYON GUIDES: painT

Paper Magazine writer Peter Davis recently noticed on his “street art safaris” around New York and L.A., a new artist had entered the scene with simple, beautiful, three color, drip paintings on walls and newspaper boxes. After some digging, Davis discovered these abstract works to be by actor, painter and filmmaker Greg Siff. Siff is creating the works to create viral buzz for his new film entitled painT, which is currently is currently in pre-production.

painT will be a contemporary retelling of the life of Vincent van Gogh with the main character of ‘Vinny’ played by Siff himself. Siff explains the film as:

“what if Vincent van Gogh was born today? painT tells the story of Vinny, a struggling artist and quintessential “art underdog” who sees the world as a living, breathing painting. Set against the backdrop of the New York & L.A. art scene, painT is an American update on the tragic life of van Gogh, seen through the eyes of his modern day counterpart and spiritual heir, examining the fine line between love, madness, and paint.”

According to a new survey in this week’s Herald Scotland, more than a quarter of children under the age of 11 do not know who Vincent van Gogh is while 10% believe is a ‘footballer.’ Perhaps van Gogh is in need of an updating in order to distinguish him from David Beckham.

I feel good.

LEAD WITH YOUR HEART. - GREGORY.

2010-08-15T17:40:00.000-07:00

‎"OH MY GOD!!! HE PUT A PIECE UP ON THE ROOF WALL IN THE SPOT WHERE BANKSY HAD STUFF IN THE PAST. AWESOME!" -LOUIS xxx, photography by LOUIS XXX

Vinny's heart beats on Melrose.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyvfd2t4OQA

check out my friend LOUIS XXX
http://www.powderfrench.com

PAPERMAG has eyes for painT.

2010-08-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

PAPERMAG has eyes for painT.
DOPE FEATURE from THE DOPEST MAGAZINE.
Gregory Siff's Cinematic Street Art

Gregory Siff paints live with his heart at URBAN OUTFITTERS SPACE 15 TWENTY for PAPER GARDEN RECORDS

2010-07-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

On Sunday July 11th I painted for 3 hours straight live on stage while three bands from PAPER GARDEN RECORDS played their songs into the air. MONSTER, PEASANT, and MIGHTY TIGER brought their words and sounds to me and I painted this piece which Zack Kelly from Mighty Tiger entitled, SHEKHINAH. I was surrounded by love, friends, magic, sun and life. Today is a different day as I am alone on a couch in a house so quiet you can hear the electricity tap, so down that everything seems impossible, but when i look at the vibrancy in the photo taken by Jim Budman, hand over heart, and by Robert T. Williams, I know that everything is going to be alright. painT is no longer a seed by now in roots begin to grow. More updates shortly....

“I believe that it may happen that one will succeed, and one must not begin to despair, even though defeated here and there; and even though one sometimes feels a kind of decay, though things go differently from the expected, it is necessary to take heart again and new courage. For the great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. And great things are not something accidental, but must certainly be willed. What is drawing? How does one learn it? It is working through an invisible iron wall that seems to stand between what one feels and what one can do.” - Vincent van Gogh
watch Gregory paint live to MONSTER

Sequential PAINT, IMDB.

2010-07-03T16:39:00.000-07:00

Guys, go on IMDB and give it 10 STARS

if you feel like it deserves it.

watch it here and see for yourself..
Sequential PAINT

Sequential PAINT officially selected to open NewFilmmakers Series at the New York Anthology Film Archives

2010-07-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

if i've learned anything in this beat of life yet, it is patience.
4 years ago I took my video camera and shot myself
painting two intense installations for The Standard, Hollywood.
hours of footage which consisted of me romping around
the City of Angels, painting till sunrise and eating cupcakes were
mailed to my buddy from NYU, director/writer/photographer, Stephen Dackson.
Steve, a filmmaker at his core, had started his own production company,
FILM CONTRA MUNDUM,
and went to work on the tapes detailing my creative process.
like Vincent van Gogh mailing letters to his brother Theo,
the tapes became my letters to him on how life was going in Hollywood.
Looking for work as an actor, heartbreak in love and in career,
became the fire and voice which erupted on canvas and now film.
The result is a 7 minute documentary chronicling what happens when artistic life meets apocalyptic love.
I am pleased to inform all my friends that Sequential PAINT
has officially been selected to open the NewFilmmakers Series at the New York Anthology Film Archives on Wednesday evening June 30th, 6PM

if you find yourself available that night, I will be in attendance and
my ART, SHIRTS, & THINGS will be available for purchase.
Tickets are just 6 bucks. Included are two other Documentaries
Mezzanotte Obscura, by Lori Prechers, and Scribble 08 by Mark Murphy.
it would be great to see you all.

with a handshake and a smile,
Gregory

NewFilmmakers Goes Over The Line

FILM CONTRA MUNDUM presents the

WORLD PREMIERE

Sequential PAINT

"A short film about love and loss, the suffering of creation, and an art machine with animal structure named Gregory Siff."

Wednesday June 30th, 2010
6PM

Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Avenue (at 2nd Street)
NY, NY 10003
www.newfilmmakers.com
www.anthologyfilmarchives.org
www.myspace.com/sequentialpaint

Edited, Written and Directed by Stephen Dackson
http://www.myspace.com/dacksonphoto
http://www.octogenarius.com

Painted and Photographed by Gregory Siff
http://gregorysiff.tumblr.com
http://gregorysiff.bigcartel.com
http://paintthemovie.blogspot.com
http://www.gregsiff.com

vinny is up.

2010-06-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

as producers are sought and rewrites are written, Vinny puts his heart on the streets. Keep your eyes OPEN and your heart FREE. ONE DAY it will be.

"he lost his feathers in a fight

but knew they'd grow again all right,

far finer than before." - van Gogh, The Letters.

the gift shop is now open.

2010-04-27T15:16:00.000-07:00

you waited for it.

now you can.

get yours,

at the

gregory siff big cartel gift shop gallery.

Stephen Dackson, Writer/Director/Photographer/Brane shoots the install at The Standard, Hollywood.

2010-04-09T01:01:00.000-07:00

to painT, perchance to dream.

2010-04-06T00:33:00.000-07:00

painT at The Standard, Hollywood

the works of Gregory Siff and photography by Ingrid Mellor, March 30th, 2010

LA TIMES BRAND X ARTS SECTION, they think I am a socialite.

THE EXAMINER called me "GREG STIFF",

a name that will live on in infamy.

THE STANDARD, WHAT'S HAPPENING, featured the show on their page

and

FECAL FACE .

While promoting the show I was issued a citation for trespassing and soliciting when handing out art flyers at the W Hollywood Hotel after attending their bar for drinks!

THANK YOU Jenni Boelkens, the ART DIRECTOR of The Standard, for being by my side, giving me free creative range, and an expert eye. The show displayed in the lobby looked like a mini MOCA exhibit, complete with the live model in the box installation. Three paintings were purchased, the proceeds being donated to

J.U.I.C.E.

There are still some paintings available for purchase, drop me an email, gregorysiff@mac.com, for availability and I will send you a price and works list. The turnout of friends and support was incredible. After the show I walked home with a full fist of jasmine and a stomach full of love that night. I thought about Vincent on my walk back home up the hill, how he had only one friend his brother Theo, how he never had an art show that he could be at and have peopleFEEL his work I thank God for bringing this night to life, the alternate universe in his mind now actually exists and took place. My friends, THANK YOUWITH ALL MY HEARTFOR BEING THERE. The next step, another script revision. Then we walk the walk. with a handshake and a smile, Greg

take revenge on hollywood, the Standard, Hollywood presents painT

2010-03-26T23:55:00.000-07:00

so there are true believers and on the evening of Vincent's birthday, March 30th, 2o1o we will celebrate and remember. what it is to be in the struggle, what it means to create beauty out of a suffering and what it means to beat. the Standard, Hollywood will be the spot to see new artworks and photos inspired by the film. YOU ARE ALL INVITED.

on the evening of the birthday of artist Vincent van Gogh, Tuesday, 30th of March, 2010

Gregory Siff invites you to take revenge on hollywood.

The Standard, Hollywood presents

painT

a celebration of the life of an artist.

introducing new artworks never seen before

inspired by the upcoming feature film painT

http://paintthemovie.blogspot.com/

by Gregory Siff

http://web.mac.com/gregorysiff

and featuring photography

by Ingrid Mellor

http://www.ingridmellor.com/index.php?/project/paint/

WHEN & WHERE:

7PM-9PM

The Standard, Hollywood

8300 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069

all proceeds will be donated to J.U.I.C.E. Justice by Uniting In Creative Energry

http://www.rampartjuice.com

"La tristesse durera toujours."

revenge on hollywood, i will have my starry night, 2010, 54" x 122", acrylic, oil crayon, spray-paint, cardboard, on canvas, Gregory Siff

photographer Ingrid Mellor paints painT.

2010-03-23T23:22:00.000-07:00

ingrid is a mystery. her photos are dreamlike shafts of light, crunching leaves, pure dark, and lush rich beauty. her models and locations are just attractive to the eye and i am lucky to say that she said yes to shooting me and helping bringing some of the dreams i have written down on paper in the screenplay, painT, to life. She shot over 9 setups over the course of a 12 hour day and night in Bushwick, Brooklyn before i came out to LA. the rest is history as she has painted the story's fine moments with her camera, the night ending in a full-on photo realistic version of the famous painting by Vincent van Gogh, skull with burning cigarette. here is a link to her work, some of the painT series, that will premiere at the Standard, Hollywood at 8300 Sunset Blvd. for the painT exhibition. check out some of the behind the scenes polaroids as well. she is on point, and i can live in my dreams longer because of her. thank you alana for styling a modern day vinny, thank you ingrid for magic.

stylist: Alana Hudkins

INGRID MELLOR

it's happening.

2010-03-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

i met this man on the D train 4 years ago.

2010-03-09T00:49:00.000-08:00

DAVID NOARD - Actor/Playwright of My Name Is Vincent

he told me that if you do a movie about van Gogh, do not forget A.I.P.

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/04.22/05-bigpic.html

coming from the stars.

2010-02-05T10:10:00.000-08:00

Been in LA for 2 weeks now. Making progress as rewrite sessions are coming to a close. Still refining and every day I wake brings another line from life. Last night I spent 5 hours writing at MAISON 140. A beverly hills absinthe bar that does a special L'Heure Verte, the green hour, with tastings every night for just 5 bucks a glass from 5-7pm. Before I left New York, I took one last trip to MOMA with Bobby to see Starry Night. In front of the painting crowds clicked digital photos and tried to be the closest to the piece. When I ask people, what do you know about van Gogh, I get the ear thing and then the words Starry Night, some times they say it twice, Starry Starry Night, and they mention the song. I think Rosario, said it best when in Atlantic City over bubble gum Vodka and ice cubes he said, "I don't know what it is about that painting, but if I had that on my wall I would just feel good every time I looked at it." That's art.

letter to van gogh.

2010-01-27T17:05:00.000-08:00

if van gogh was alive today he would listen to elliot smith and the pixies and sleep in the afternoon. he would look at women in the supermarket and in passing cars and fall for all of them. he would drink chocolate shakes and would still not brush his teeth and listen to his stomach as he painted lost in the perfect dreams of color and honor and good where he always aimed to be. maybe a tattoo, maybe not, but an art splashed in his heart where his path would lead to pouring himself in pages of letters and paint on canvas where the essence of him is there. if van gogh was alive today he would hug his best friends and cry for past lovers, he would not have cell phone but he would have a mac. he would give away all his clothes and his bed. if van gogh was alive today many of us would probably want to invite him over for dinner and ask to look at his ear and say, why did you do it man? if van gogh was alive today i would give him the hug and go for a ride with him in a convertible porsche and show him the sunset on pacific coast highway and show him that i am trying to find all the good things up ahead on the road. all the loss, all the no's, all the mistakes, they're okay. but lets just ride on vinny until this car is out of gas or until we drive it straight into the ocean and float off to stars and paint and colors and kiss the mouth of the salt foam sea again, become the young man i knew ten years ago. oh the dreams i had. i the dreams i made. ahhh to keep dreaming. the sight stars make you dream vin, well just know the sight of you, makes my dreams true.

ever yours, with handshakes and hugs hard enough to feel my father's arms in the sky, i salute you,

greg siff

i shall stand.

2010-01-20T09:40:00.000-08:00

"Though I fall ninety-nine times, the hundredth time I shall stand." - van Gogh

Letter 160

the power of self.

2010-01-14T11:22:00.000-08:00

artists submit, this is your moment to be discovered.

MY PORTFOLIO

THE POWER OF SELF

"One must work and dare if one really wants to live." -van Gogh

you can.

2009-12-28T14:14:00.000-08:00

If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced. -van Gogh

locations, nyc.

2009-12-28T13:59:00.000-08:00

nyc location scout. metropolitan museum of art, blue, red, and yellow banners ready to go. washington square park, lets paint it till purplepink sundown. the yellow house, now the green apartment a.k.a dackson's, caffe reggio on macdougal. and edgar allen poe says it best on a sign that has been up in there for at least 13 years.

this is my buddy.

2009-12-20T17:02:00.000-08:00

there was a time in 2005 when i was going through a breakup with a beautiful woman and mysterious muse. i had a broken heart before this one so the cuts weren't deep but they still triggered a rattling in the heart that made me want to get a fire started, i dove into art. some of the rawest paintings i made were after this breakup and i showed them to the standard hotel in hollywood. i proposed that i would like to have my first art show at their hotel and turn their pool/patio and lobby into a full on art gallery on Feb 13th 2006, theheartfirebreathemanifesto, and i would donate all the proceeds from the sales of the paintings to the charity J.U.I.C.E. Justice by Uniting in Creative Energy, a great charity that gives inner-city youth a place to rap, paint, breakdance, express themselves. I sold every painting. I gave them over a thousand dollars and I felt it was worth it to have a heart break for this. It hurt to say goodbye to someone you would hold and smell and bite and love but it felt good to know that something i could express in paint could be used to help people, especially kids. give give give. it's a good way to live. it was after this breakup or just at the peak of where the damn thing began to crumble that my buddy, popped out from behind a car on that beverly hills block, palm dr., with this mask on and scared the shit out of me. like the kind of scary shit that happens when you're only in your basement and it's pure dark and you can't see and you feel your breath run down your upper lip and hit your chest warmth and it feels like maybe, just maybe somebody else is down there staring at you and waiting to eliminate your whole being. buddy pops out, pulls off his mask, laughs like the clown prince, and says "you did shit your pants though didn't you? this is for you." he gives me the mask and the rest is the life to be lived on screen. thank you buddy. for entering stage left and bringing forth the play of things, for encapsulating these moments as they happened, dreamlike storybook images in a haze of what i remember and love about a path that looks so much like the one you wished for. an adventure of a lifetime. you art machine.

photographs by Stephen Dackson, Beverly Hills Buddy, 2005

thank you for the photos and for encapsulating the moment so well, just as i remember it and just as it was lived.

DACKSON/MASKED MAN –36, A mischievous artist with the thickest New York accent you have ever heard. The guiding example for Vinny. He has already become a successful painter on the NY art scene. Discovered by Scotty Vinny's brother, he backs and sells Dackson's work. Dackson leads Vinny to finding his voice as an artist. The closest friend to Vinny and harshfully honest when it comes to art. He has a penchant for big tits, cake, and the F word. When Vinny finds out that the only reason they've been hanging out together is because Scotty supports Dackson's work, their friendship ends in a bitter altercation at razor point. Character based on the artist Paul Gauguin.LEAD.

to you.

2009-12-16T12:18:00.000-08:00

to you. to all the artists eating crackers with butter and looking out windows wondering if it is ever going to get any easier, keep fighting. to all the actors about to go on stage tonight and who are saying their whispered prayers to the ones who left them, or the ones who are in them, or the air in the blackness blanket backstage, keep singing. to the writers who lose days and posture like seconds staring at the same phrase and crying at the same part again and again, to the butter on my pen, to the paper that's this plate, to the coffee in my cup, from the love in my heart, to all of you in your art, keep fighting. keep kissing. keep dreaming. keep living. i'll meet you there.-GS kitchen table 3:23 P.M., Rockaway Beach, NY 31 years old.

keep this object carefully.

2009-12-16T06:31:00.000-08:00

the recipient.

RACHEL – 19, Italian, Brooklyn accent, tiny diamond nose ring, and a face more breathtaking than her waist. An innocent cocktail waitress at Wiggles Strip Club. Sunflowers tattooed on her side. In love with Vinny and he doesn’t even know it.

18. The ‘Chronique locale’ in Le Forum Républicain of Sunday, 30 December 1888 reported that in the night of 23 December Van Gogh had offered his severed ear to ‘a certainRachel’ (la nommée Rachel) at ‘brothel No. 1’ (maison de tolérance No. 1) in rue du Bout d’Arles. Nothing else is known about this prostitute.

painT the town.

2009-12-14T13:48:00.000-08:00

as i walked home from work the other day i saw a white canvas on the wall. it was calling. i dreamt that night and woke up buzzing to get to work the next day. i held a black oil crayon in my teeth while the abstract of the 3 colors formed and then made the first teaser poster to the movie. i could not stop thinking about the paint on the wall as i watched the hours tick away. was it still there? did it dry? did it leak? did someone stop at canal and thompson and grab their heart or laugh or say, "that's dope." wow. the next morning i saw another wall the size of four movie posters. i had one of the last cartridges of polaroid film left, now that they are extinct, and shot the other one at the corner of west broadway and grand. i do love this poster and it is a wish and a promise and a dream come true on a wall today.

"I dream of painting, and then I paint my dream." - van Gogh

your calling.

2009-12-12T15:36:00.000-08:00

your profession is not what brings home your weekly paycheck, your profession is what you're put here on earth to do with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.-Vincent van Gogh

i think of heroes. i think of vincent. i think of my father.

the table read.

2009-12-09T12:44:00.000-08:00

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.

- van Gogh

Last night 15 actors got into it at SIMPLE STUDIOS

NYC and sat

in a round of chairs and read painT. After pizza and introductions, it was on. i am sitting there with actors, artists, writers, a powerhouse opera singer, and one cool accountant and thinking that all the words that were in my head are being held in their hands and coming out their mouth and making the world that was dreamt now ALIVE. i did not know how to react to the movie taking place in front of my face. i waited so long for this and it was here! it was insane and beautiful and scary and real and raw and all i could think was, are they feeling this? when THE END was said and i looked around the room, I saw open eyes,

acknowledgment and clapping. Everyone stayed and shared their words. I received feedback that opened up so much and begin writing fluidly on pages of anything I could find, the words were true, and the letters and texts that came later that evening gave me a new confidence

i wish can share with van Gogh. I cannot ask for better friends and better colleagues. It hit home. Truth, Hard Work, and Faith, will see this movie off the page, onto the screen, into the hearts, and into forever. THANK YOU BIG TO LEE SEBASTIANY, JOHN TORMEY, KIM MATULOVA, JOANNA BOWZER, JERRY STILIANESSIS, NICK JOB, LARRY SHEA, LAUREN KELSTON, CHRIS GENTILE, ANNA BEILEN, BOBBY HICKS, MEGAN ARDIZONI, PENNI DANIELLE TINSLEY, and BRUCE GREENBERG. I love actors. I love saying things and doing them. I love living. i love painT. the snow came down like stars in the atmosphere. i walked outside of the bar in a tee shirt. I shut my eyes and remembered the moment forever. head tilted back slightly, chill and wet flakes of star on my skin and cool wind in through the nostrils.

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? - van Gogh

perfect day.

2009-12-06T22:01:00.000-08:00

i have been serving lou reed breakfast for a year now at my job. we don't say much to each other but words like egg white and coffee. today i told him i wrote a modern day movie about the life of van gogh and i am going to play him. he says to me, "that's ambitious." damn right. thanks lou for the perfect day.

from letters, to lust, to brothers, to power, to painT.

2009-12-06T21:48:00.000-08:00

"playing the part." an vivid assessment of what came first and what hits the heart. thanks bob.

click here: ART BLOG BY BOB

electricity in the feet and neck.

2009-12-03T19:06:00.000-08:00

the metropolitan museum of art is real. it is on 5th ave. and 82nd st. and if you are looking for reasons to be magic and see miracles, go in there and see jackson pollock's autumn rhythm (number 30) or put your face so close to van Gogh heavy brushstrokes that the alarms go off and they tell you to back away from the painting like you are uncovering too much about the artist. Also Gaugain's tahitian women are easy on the eyes! i also say go with people who you admire and make you laugh. i took a night trip with jade and a day trip bobby and laura. bobby introduced me to autumn rhythm and how among the raw canvas of black and grey and white and tan gestural strokes was a small drip of color. i stared at it and smiled when it was revealed. the met is a key location for painT because it is where our hero will visit on his first trip to NY(Arles) and he will see the masters, stare them in the face. Bobby reinacts this as he stares at one of his fav's Velazquez's Moor. Vinny will see Warhol's self portrait, autumn rhythm, and Basquiat's skull (not at the met). The museum's exterior will be the where the finale of this tale takes place. going there twice and standing in the exact locations where we will shoot one day soon give a rush of electricity from my feet into my neck. my heart beats even fast now as i type this to you. please do well to make the best of your evening tonight. go to the met. give yourself a gift. with a handshake and a smile, greg

great things.

2009-11-25T12:31:00.000-08:00

"Great things are not accidental but they certainly must be willed."

- van Gogh

painT drunk.

2009-11-24T21:01:00.000-08:00

i showed my mom these photos and asked what she thought. she said i looked like a monster. perfect. that's exactly what i'm becoming. i love you ma. this was an experiment for the movie. there is a scene in painT where vinny attempts to poison himself by drinking paint while he's in the asylum. it comes from a true moment in van Gogh's life. i went to my favorite B&W photobooth in NYC at the ACE Hotel on 29th st. I highly recommend all of you to go there and see what you look like in old time splendor. I carried my bag of three colors with me and this group of 2 girls and a guy, M & M & M, saw me pass the booth 3 times. One of the girls said, you really should go try it, it seems like you really want to! She could tell that I was itching to just go in there and go wild. I went in and came out with a mouth full of paint. They loved it. Moneer and her friends are from Wash. DC and were down in the city for a couple days. I told them all about painT and that i am an actor/writer/artist, they knew J2K and ZGames. I laughed, they laughed. this feels good when you meet strangers with the greatest smiles and curiosity for adventure. M told me that van Gogh's letters had been at the MORGAN Library & Musuem. i was happy to smile in a time of nutso. happy to be thinking about what painT will taste like on the day. after it's all said and done i shoulda brought a tooth brush. but the way the day tasted to me was like nothing i ever had.

thanks for the boost into the machine m&m&m.

go love NY to the marrow. bite into it.

self portrait with a bandaged heart, ACE Hotel, NYC.

2009-11-24T18:25:00.001-08:00

self portrait with a bandaged ear, van Gogh 1889,

Courtauld Institute Galleries, London.

"i will keep this object carefully.", rachel says to vinny.

self portrait with a bandaged heart , siff, 2009

buy the ticket.

2009-11-23T20:12:00.001-08:00

When my father passed in 2007 an arrow shot into my head that said, Stop waiting. Do the things you want to do. DO THEM NOW. Through my love I met an interesting individual over the computer who's artwork and poetry found a way into my blood. We had written letters, shared art, poems for over a year and at that point I knew I always wanted shake his hand in person. I said EFF it. I'm going to LONDON. Bought the ticket and stayed with one of the coolest people I ever met in my life. You ever meet someone that just bounces on the wind and you just honor in awe the way they live their life, like living is an art form? For me it was DAVID SHILLINGLAW, a free artist and free spirit. I had the pleasure of living with him and his bro Robs in their false-teeth factory art gallery club house calledNOWHERE NORTH. There I painted with David and learned about stencils, found objects, drinking strong coffee, smoking cigarettes in night clubs under tunnels and drinking real old absinthe, an ode to the green fairy that Vincent indulged in with Paul Gauguin. I mentioned the drink to him and David was like, "Oh yea man, I think I got some of that shite right here!" Dusted off the bottle, We had two shots and hit the tube train to london and that was the fastest 1 hour train ride ever. David told the story that absinthe back in the old days was made with "wormwood" real worms and if you drank enough of the stuff it would make your ears go deaf and ring. Such is the case with van Gogh who drank much of so much of the "green fairy" that in a mad rage one night he cut off the lobe of his ear. There is a lot more to that story, Paul Gauguin. David also subscribed to the philosophy of DO IT NOW and suggested I see more than just London when I was this close. I took a train to Paris and spent the night with strangers drinking champagne and dancing till morning. I also flew to Amsterdam, met up with a great friend from Dublin, Keith who is a collector of of my paintings. We walked up and down red light drew on marshmallos, drank chocolate drink and guinness and photographed every light bulb that streaked. Amsterdam is where I got see The van Gogh musuem, the ultimate collection of his work. I showed up with not a piece of food in my stomach and spent the day there. At the end i had a meal of chocolate bars. Below are some drawings I did in front of the canvases, skull and gauguin. They did not allow photography but I was able to snap one shot. I had an experience of catching up with my father, just days after he passed away. This happened in the form of a butterfly on Rockaway Beach. A neighbor complimented my physique and I said, "Oh this, my dad this!" punching my stomach hard, as soon as I said those words a butterfly flew down and attached himself to my stomach. It stayed there for at least 4 minutes. When the conversation ended he crawled onto my hand, sat on my pointer and middle finger and then flew towards our house. My Mom and our neighbor Regina was witness to this. From then on, the butterfly became the guide for me in this game of chutes and latters we call life. Actually make the game CandyLand. As I went through the tremendous amount of work at the musuem I saw a painting of a butterfly that I never even knew of. The path is lined with love. I cannot imagine myself without this trip. I can say that life so far is so up to you. You can buy the ticket or you can wait till it's over. I say BUY THE TICKET. Bro I'll see you when I get there.

this modern love.

2009-11-22T18:44:00.000-08:00

"One may have a blazing hearth in one’s soul and yet no one ever comes to sit by it. Passerby see only a wisp of smoke rising from the chimney and continue on their way."- Vincent van Gogh

power in the painT.

2009-11-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

I like to ask the different people i meet, strangers, persons with cigarettes, friends, human beings, what do you know about van Gogh? who is he? have you ever seen one of his paintings in real life? most of the time I hear that he was crazy and he cut his ear off. other times i hear stories like this. Laura, my good friend from work is an elegantly poised beauty who visited the van Gogh musuem in Amsterdam. She explained that she had never seen anyone have a reaction like this to any other form quite like it in her life. Not a song, not a movie, not a live performance. "There was this pleasant man with his eyes shut, just standing in front of van Gogh's painting of the Sunflowers like the sun was actually shining on him at that moment. Like he was being warmed by it. It was like his soul was free. It was this grand appreciation like he was honored to be there in front of this piece of work. It was really something to see." i just watched her lips tell this story and almost cried. People mesmorize me.

van gogh's sunflowers here in amsterdam at the van Gogh museum.

the three colors.

2009-11-18T18:52:00.000-08:00

it is all in your mind.

day one.

2009-11-18T18:12:00.000-08:00

i wrote a movie called painT 3 years ago. I put it away and forgot all about it. i wrote it because i felt a connection with another artists decision to go forward with a life in the arts. this artist is Vincent van Gogh. a life in the arts is the most wonderful for me. i have been an actor for more than half my life and found painting along the way. Through the rejection I felt as an actor in the span of 20 years it must have been over ten thousand "no's" to hear "YES" a few great times. I began to read all I could find about van Gogh and his story. I couldn't believe that someone with such passion could be ignored for so long. The suffering he went through physically and mentally in order to create to the full capacity that his being could withstand is remarkable. We do what we do as a way to breathe. He painted for 8 years and only sold one painting, according to the books. His talent and grace were never fully realized until after his death. I began writing a modern day tale that would blend the life of this artist with the life I am living. The product is a movie that I am going to use all my facilities and heart in order to make this dream a truth. i finished a Sam Shepard play at Underground St. Marks and down the block from the theater was the DE LA VEGA Museum. In between rehearsals I would walk into this cove of poetry and heartlift. This was no accident but a reminder from artist De La Vega that "suffering has taught nothing but great lessons." and now is the time to BECOME YOUR DREAM. Thank you for the inspiration and here it is just as you asked, painT the recorded journey of making a movie with nothing more than a heart, a dream, and faith. BIG FAITH. ever yours, greg