Tag: artwork

Categories
ARMY Art/Design Capitaland Personal presidential_portraits

General Washington

I have finally completed my first of the Presidential Portrait series. After about six weeks of working on a painting, I begin to worry that I have over-done it and thus ruined the painting. I had a drawing teacher at Pratt who used to tell us to stop at 96% and leave a touch for the viewer to fill in with their imagination. If someone works a piece of art even past the threshold of 101%, it destroys that remarkable quality.

detail of the cherries – hands and an object are a common way to add a personal vibe to a portrait

It is so nice to have so many resources to study to try to learn about a person who you are trying to paint in a way that captures more than just a physical description of the person. It is essential to capture the “essence” of a person, and I thought the story of young Washington admitting he cropped down the cherry tree to his father would be interesting. The cherries also have a sexual reference that speaks to our nation’s birth in blood and war through Washington’s deeds.

My uncle, John Szal, was a captain in the Marine Corps. and he asks me not to join the Marines. I thought joining the Army would be a perfect solution as a loophole to get around this. I can enlist at a higher rank with ASE tests and hopefully work on vehicles and/or helicopters. However, several things might disqualify me or limit my options in the military from my past. Also, in the Army, you do not get to pick what you do and are obliged to follow your orders, so I could do graphic design again.

He who lives by the pen shall die by the pen – no force of arms can resist my ink…

Capitaland has a policy of letting people leave for military service. Yet, I do not expect them to have a job waiting for me in four years, so I will be leaving Capitaland. I will miss my new manager, Brian Hansbury, and his dog Bandit (my favorite part of Capitaland). I will no longer be around to receive any commission from someone purchasing a car, so no more pressure on anyone to buy a vehicle to help me.

Brian Hansbury of Capitaland
Categories
Capitaland Personal The American Game

Back with Brissette

After several stressful weeks dealing with my court cases in Texas, I have been able to smooth things over with my lawyer, Miles Brissette. I wrote some things about Miles when I was frustrated with the court, yet he is an excellent lawyer and I would recommend him to anyone.

I ordered a new batch of my cards, which will be for sale again on my website on the Ides of March (3/15). I have been busy with my GMC training, so I have not yet been able to finish my George Washington portrait. I plan to finish by next week so I can start working on John Adams’ portrait earnestly.

New Suit of Clubs
Categories
Capitaland Personal

House of GMC and why my House fell… 

My first week at Capitaland was excellent and I was very happy to be placed as a GMC mechanic. I had initially wanted to work on Subarus, yet Capitaland offers the chance for a person to master both with time. My first car was a ‘98 Subaru Impreza that I bought with money saved by working as a lifeguard at Caroll Aquatics Center (my high school pool). However, my second car was a ‘03 Buick Century(in the GM family), like Chevy and GMC(my current focus).  

A year later, the plot of my life started to thicken when my personage felt it necessary to relocate to South Carolina. Columbia was tough to adjust and yet I met a rich heiress (15 years my senior) named Leigh Ellen Kersting. Her dad owned a chain of grocery stores called Mr. K’s and we fell in love.

Leigh Ellen and I together at Mass
Categories
ADTPR blog Capitaland Magick Mechanic Mechanic PR Professional

Captured by Capitaland

I have evolved from a tire shop mechanic into a dealership mechanic. I was very sad to leave Larry O’Shea, yet Capitaland made me such a good offer that I could not refuse. I have also decided to stay on probation here in New York and not pursue a trial by jury for the cases in Texas. I have wanted to focus on improving my mechanic skills and Subaru/GMC are both brands that I really enjoy servicing.

My grandfather died before I was born, yet he fought in the war with Japan and so I like to work on Japanese cars. I was also named after him and the original “Matthew Szal” grew up in Brooklyn. This is another reason I wanted to go to Pratt so much was on account of him. I also like GMC vehicles, which are really good American family vehicles, and utility cars/trucks.

I may still do graphic design work for Adirondack Tire, yet I may have to stop working for them entirely and stop running Magick Mechanic. I hope to start a family soon now that I can support one and I have never been more hopefully for the future.

Buy your next vehicle @ Capitaland Subaru/GMC!
Categories
ADTPR Personal

Back to Texas for a court battle…

After a year of lousy treatment on probation, I have decided to return to Texas to take the charges from the case with Timothy Szal to trial. I will take a bus to Texas at the end of the month. It is clear now that I need to clear up these criminal charges in Texas if I want to get a decent job or decent treatment anywhere. I have taken a leave of absence from Adirondack Tire until this matter is resolved. Larry O’Shea, Sean O’Shea and Eric Steele have been unbelievably supportive during this difficult time.

Categories
Art/Design oil portraits Studio Videos

1st Presidential Portrait: G. Washington

I have been working on a new series of oil paintings of the Presidents of the United States. I read the books The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency and The Imperial Presidency to gain some background insight into the topic.

Greg Dow of Dow Art Gallery in Fort Worth, Texas

My old boss and mentor, Greg Dow, instilled my love of America inside my character. His father collected Lincoln pictures and memorabilia, some of which I helped restore when I worked for him at Dow Art Gallery (the oldest art gallery in Texas). I will likely dedicate my Lincoln picture to them both since, after Pratt, it was Mr. Dow that really taught me how to paint on a professional level. He gave me a job in 2011 when Roman was born and I thought my life was over since I had to leave New York City. Thankfully, he helped me realize it was only the beginning. I would never have been able to have my first big show at Fringe Art Gallery without his help/connections.

Video of my oil painting process

This is a video with some process footage of my painting the first picture. George Washington was in the British Army before the Revolutionary War, so I painted him in a younger version and then painted over in the older version. All the pictures are in oil paint on canvas boards, which are 12 inches by 12 inches. I added a hand to the portrait holding some cherries since George Washington could not lie to his father about chopping down the cherry tree. Yet, I have not taken any pictures of this latest stage.

Categories
ADTPR Magick Mechanic Mechanic Professional

Friday Fun at the Office and why I left Warren Tire

After a long week, some office humor can boost morale. My boss (Adirondack Tire DM/ Corporate Ops. Manager), Eric S., asked me to reach out to my old friends at Warren Tire and see who might want a job as a mechanic with our company. I worked at the Latham and the Schenectady stores, so I have quite a long list of friends at both locations. I even filled in at East Greenbush at the request of the District Manager of Warren Tire, who is also named Eric – Eric Filimon. I asked him to stop by and drop off his resume as a Friday prank to embarrass my friend at work.
I thought this would be a good time to discuss why I left Warren Tire and how insulting the manager of the Schenectady store was to my ex-girlfriend, Stephanie. She visited me on my lunch break, and a customer saw me talking to her. He made an insulting remark about her, not realizing who she was, and I told him that was my girlfriend. I could not work for the company anymore after how insulted I felt even though the district manager wanted me to consider another store. Luckily, I was able to use the two months between Warren Tire and Adirondack Tire to grow Magick Mechanic and complete my deck of cards, which I redesigned without the text this month.
Magick Mechanic shut down for the winter since it is too cold to operate in Upstate New York from December to March. The company has an offer to be bought by Adirondack Tire. I told Larry I did not want to sell my small business, yet he is a very hard person to refuse if he wants something a certain way. I always make sure to go the extra mile with vehicles for his friends (and he has a lot of important friends who are always visiting our corporate headquarters).

my toolbox with my new stickers and Hebrew calligraphy @ Adirondack Tire HQ