After the rain comes this…view from my window, April 1, 2022. I will remember this for a long long time!

three things we love

Many of the images above and below are clickable and lead to further information…

Prince Mapp

Meet Prince Mapp. I got to know him through my daughter, who works alongside him for the crime reporting app Citizen. Growing up poor in South Jamaica Queens, Prince started "hustling" in the street when he was eleven. He made one very bad decision as a teenager that cost him big time (as well as someone else's life). He spent 18 years doing time in various upstate prisons including SingSing and Clinton. This is his compelling story, told by him through this youtube video, as he walks us through his life. Prince credits Harry Belafonte and Hudson Link for his college degree--an organization that provides higher education opportunities to incarcerated people in New York State as well as reentry and support resources upon their release. If ever there is an argument for rehabilitation, it is here. Prince spends most of his time now spreading love and speaking to young men like him, in hopes of preventing them from making the same mistakes he did. I was so struck by his story, which in a way is the story of so many people growing up poor and black in America, struggling to make ends meet and to belong, wherever they might find it. It compelled me to paint a portrait of him and write this piece for my blog.

Eagle's Nest

Thanks to my friend, nature lover par excellence Tina Carro, I am cancelling Netflix, shutting down Hulu, unsubscribing from HBOMax. Who needs it since she has turned me on to a site with webcams, a myriad of webcams. There you can watch bald eagles feathering their nests, feeding their babies, standing up, sitting down, flying in, flying out. This is armchair science at its best. Check out this camera from Pennsylvania Farm Country and if you get sick of that one, click here to see other bird nests and other animal webcams across the country. Makes me want to become a biologist and it certainly puts our human superiority complex in major doubt to see them so up close and personal...

Peter Ralston Photography

Peter and Terri Ralston in their gallery in Rockport, Maine

I had the good fortune of spending an hour and a half with the photographer Peter Ralston in his gallery in Rockport, Maine the other day. I sought him out because his photography is outstanding and I have long been an admirer, ever since I discovered his work many years ago in Rockport Harbor. You may recognize his name and work as his photos often show up in Heather Cox Richardson's Letters from an American newsletter.
What a wonderful spirit the man has--Ralston is a true storyteller in his photos and in his writing--and it reminds me again and again that if you live your passion, it comes through loud and clear to those around you and is contagious. He has Maine is in his bones, ever since he was introduced to the state by his Pennsylvania next door neighbors, Betsy and Andy Wyeth, who encouraged him "go deeper" with his work and spend the summer with them in Cushing, Maine. Forty years later, here he remains, one of the most celebrated Maine photographers, documenting his adopted state and the people, animals, nature and light that inhabit it.

Like me, Peter likes to share the things he loves--contact him through the gallery if you want to see and read his weekly newsletter called "Images from Maine." And better yet, visit his gallery in person in Rockport, Maine, or check out the myriad of wonderful photos available for viewing and purchase on his website . There are so many images that I love that are not included here...

Peter considers himself blessed-he survived a death defying illness and is here to live life to the fullest. He considers himself one of the .01 percent and that has nothing to do with economics: 1) Make a living at what you love 2) Have it contain a meaningful aspect that contributes something to the world 3) Do it in a place where you feel that you belong and 4) surround yourself with people you love and who love you. He then cited to me JM Barrie, author of Peter Pan: "Nothing is really work unless you'd rather be doing something else."

Charity of the Week:
HudsonLink.Org

Painting of the Week

Pam Smilow Untitled (Floating House Series) mixed media on acrylic 50” x 80” approx. $8500

About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow. And by the way, let me know in the comment section what you think of the new haircut...