Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:03 The
Speaker 2 00:00:24 All right. So, you know, fortunate enough to, uh, you know, have a lot of artists walking through this place. And, uh, today we got Mike sleeper. Who's agreed to come on and, uh, talk a little bit with us. Uh, he's here picking up a piece. What was the piece you're picking up today? Mike
Speaker 3 00:00:39 It's titled Duxbury number one, and it's finished out to about 64 or 65 inches wide or something, and it's going into a house in Duxbury, of course.
Speaker 2 00:00:49 Yep.
Speaker 3 00:00:50 And it's, um, filling a, a big space over a mantle. So
Speaker 2 00:00:54 Yeah, I see. Yeah. This is one of the larger ones, right? About the largest reframe, uh, you know, for you the other ones, when we get bigger that you're going on to die bond and like really large pieces are really large canvases. Like the ones we just recently had the pleasure hanging down at the marshal senior center. Right. Is that, is that what that place is
Speaker 3 00:01:15 Referred to as, yeah. It's the marshal senior center and the, um, and I think, you know, they came out so well, I'm, that's a direction I'm gonna head in now.
Speaker 2 00:01:23 Well, with the canvases,
Speaker 3 00:01:24 With the canvases, cuz it, it, you know, I, it, I get to move past the constraints of, um, traditional framing materials. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:01:31 Yeah. Glass,
Speaker 3 00:01:32 The glass glass maxes out and then, um, 60 inches essentially. And then, um, but you know, we did a 90 by 30 canvas and a, and a 60 by 60 canvas. And, uh, the, the impact is really, really profound.
Speaker 2 00:01:46 Yeah. Well, I mean, when something gets that big, I know when we were down there hanging them, you know, people were, yeah, it was a show stopper. You've been getting good, uh, good feedback from,
Speaker 3 00:01:56 I get a ton of feedback from it. And uh, and there's all these people that go in there. It's the fun thing about hanging in a place like that is, is you never know who's gonna see it. Yep. And, um, it's the marshal senior center, but it's not just for, um, it's well, it's, it's set up for seniors. Yeah. But the amount of people, younger people that go in and out there is really amazing either they're, they're bringing someone in or, or, or going in with, uh, someone they're a caretaker for, or, um, they, um, or they're working there and I'm finding a lot of people, uh, are, um, contacting me and, you know, it's like, wow, I just never occurred me. You'd be going into the senior center. Yeah. And it turns out they volunteer there or something.
Speaker 2 00:02:35 So, yeah, it's funny too. Cuz when we were there, Scott, the, you know, people are, were hanging the stuff and they're like, oh, who one? There was like, I think someone was almost wanted to argue with you that it was a, they thought it was a painting. And then the two, like the people are just like, who's, you know, oh my God, who, who's the, you know, who's the artist. Yeah. And oh, he's standing right over there, right there. Yeah. Which you know, is always amusing.
Speaker 4 00:02:59 So plus I believe you got a few, uh, criticisms on where to hang it. Right?
Speaker 2 00:03:04 Oh yeah. Yeah. I told you
Speaker 4 00:03:05 Too high too, too high, too
Speaker 2 00:03:06 Low. Yeah. That, I think that shook, uh, that shook, uh, what was the what's the Julie. Julie. Yeah. Ericsson J yeah. So yeah, I think that like the first one, everyone, you know, especially a spot like that, everyone's getting pivoted. Uh, yeah.
Speaker 3 00:03:20 Well, it was the only spot that we were, we had to figure out. Exactly. Yeah. Cause this is a rule of thumb to hanging. Yeah. And um, and that one, we, there were some constraints. So we, we were, that was the only one we were making decisions on and it was the first ones we did. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:03:33 The pivotal one, the
Speaker 3 00:03:34 Pivotal one and immediately someone strolls by and it makes a comment and that goes out the door. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:03:40 You know, you need to hang those a little bit higher. Meanwhile, like, meanwhile, we're we intentionally hung it higher than you would hang it because, you know, because of a, uh, the,
Speaker 4 00:03:52 Uh, like the chair rail of the
Speaker 2 00:03:53 Show. Yeah. Yeah. And the people are, you know,
Speaker 4 00:03:57 Oh yeah. For any, uh,
Speaker 2 00:03:59 So people wouldn't like crash into, so it's hard. I mean, I, you know, it'd be interesting to see how, you know, his pictures are hanging in, hung in this house. Yeah. They're all like, just like T under the
Speaker 4 00:04:08 Ceiling nature in the ceiling. Yeah. You know, no crown molded, well, he
Speaker 3 00:04:11 Was taller,
Speaker 2 00:04:12 So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 00:04:13 Yeah. Oh like that was it. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:04:14 You know? Yeah. It was just, it was kind of funny. I mean, I mean the rule rule of thumb is, I mean, which real thumb in the design stuff is usually it's 60 to center, which I tend to find is like being re like actually kinda low mm-hmm <affirmative>. Yeah. And, you know, again, like, oh, with all those rules, I think that you, you like, you have to account for the space. I mean, ceilings are so high in some places now, especially
Speaker 4 00:04:37 Now. Yeah. Yeah. They've opened,
Speaker 2 00:04:39 'em all up and things, you know, things that are surrounding and you know, you go into somebody's house and they're like, oh, everyone's like 6, 2, 6, 3 that lives in the home. Yeah. I mean, what are you, you're gonna hang it for, you
Speaker 4 00:04:49 Know? Yeah. They went from eight to 10 ceilings to 10 to twelves now. So now you gotta add those extra two feet in there somewhere. So
Speaker 2 00:04:54 Yeah. So that's always interesting, but that, that was, you know, fun experience hanging it down there, that the end, we also had to cut into the, uh, what kind of game, what were they playing, uh, spades or something,
Speaker 3 00:05:06 Although either playing Marge on
Speaker 2 00:05:08 <laugh>,
Speaker 3 00:05:09 Which I only know, I've only heard of it. Yeah. I know. It's a thing. And, uh, uh, yeah, they were all in there playing it and intently playing it. Yeah. And, uh,
Speaker 2 00:05:18 I tried to try, I wanted to ask him for opinion, but yeah. They, you know, see if they were happy with where heading,
Speaker 4 00:05:24 You don't break, you don't break concentration in Majong. No, it is.
Speaker 2 00:05:28 Fortunately we were lucky that, but yeah. So, uh, you know, nice to have Mike here and, uh, you know, he's in here probably every week, maybe, you know, some weeks, a couple times a week. Mm-hmm <affirmative> cause you know, he's
Speaker 3 00:05:40 One of sometimes, twice a day. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:05:42 Yeah. Busy man. <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:05:44 One of the, uh, one of the south shores. Uh, uh, probably I, I would say, you know, you're probably one of the better known, uh, photographers on the south shore for certain. Um, you know, I don't know, who's the competition or the, um, some other photographers around here that you, uh,
Speaker 3 00:06:00 Enjoy seeing. I frankly don't think of it as competition, but yep. Um, but you know, of course there's Kel Mahoney. Yep. And, um,
Speaker 2 00:06:07 Yeah, Kels definitely got a name for himself.
Speaker 3 00:06:09 Yeah. And Kel is, he's, he's, he's a big name these days. And, and then, um, and then there's, there's, there's people are flying under the radar, do amazing work. Yep. You know, Michael Sullivan of course. Yep. And, um, but you know, there's a lot of names, but then, you know, I, I consider myself an artist, so I, I think of the other artists and, and uh, yeah,
Speaker 2 00:06:28 Yeah. I don't mean to throw it as they copy competition. I, yeah. But, you know, I think that a lot of times people are interested, you know, people that admire your work, um, are kind of interested to hear like who you, you know, you know, who, you know, who you, whose, whose stuff you have hanging, or, you know, whose work you're interested in. Cuz you know, I mean I'm sure that not everything hanging at your house is, uh, works of your own. Right.
Speaker 3 00:06:55 I have mostly, um, I have mostly oil paintings in the house that were inherited mm-hmm <affirmative> I, we have some of, of my photography, some of my wife's Lori, Lori, she's very talented. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and we have, some of her were hanging and, and then it's a Schor board of, of all these artists across the south shore. We have a, we have a, um, we have a, we have a lot of Julie jewelers. Mm-hmm <affirmative> we have a lot, we have a, a big carry O'Donnell IIT, uh, painting oil painting, you, you come in the front door and um, you know, just, it, it, it, it goes on and on and on. And
Speaker 2 00:07:35 Uh, do you have a, uh, do you have a break it too, right?
Speaker 3 00:07:37 I have a Bragga
Speaker 2 00:07:38 Yeah. I think I heard the story behind that one. That, that was, uh, from your days as a wedding photographer.
Speaker 3 00:07:45 Yeah. My, and it may have been the last wedding I had photographed and, um, not cause I didn't enjoy it, which I did. And uh, when you get a famous artist being the art director during it, during a, uh, a wedding, you know, during a wedding, that's fantastic. Yeah. But, um, yeah, so, so I ended up, um, I ended up doing the wedding forum in exchange for the painting and, um, nice. But all of these, all of these works of art, uh, the, the thing I, I love about it is, is I think about all of the people who did them actually. Yeah. You know, and I, I look at Carrie's painting, which is quite large. Mm-hmm <affirmative> I think of Carrie and, um, I, um, you know, I have a, we have a Jody, uh, Jody, um,
Speaker 2 00:08:24 Reagan,
Speaker 3 00:08:25 Uh, sorry. Yeah. Jody Regan. Mm-hmm <affirmative> I was mixing myself up with another Jody. I have a, we have a Jody Regan, I think of, you know, every time I think of it, I'd love the artwork. And I think about her too, when I'm looking at it. Yep. And, um, but yeah, but, but, but then of course is I forget a bunch of my work.
Speaker 2 00:08:40 Well, I think that, you know, I think that that's nice too. And a lot of times, like, you know, having the story behind the artwork I think is so important. Yep. Um, you know, like that Bragga and I like, like that's, I mean, yeah. I mean, one, he's a fence, he's an unbelievable painter. Right. But like too, like what, you know, what a kind of, you know, you told me the story about how, you know, how he gave it to you and like that stuck in my mind. And it's kind of, you know, it's such a cool story behind the painting too. Like as to why you're ha you know,
Speaker 4 00:09:09 That's the difference between buying local and buying from something, you know, that you just see online or something you see that way you make the connection to the artist or to a story that you, you know, told, and it makes you think of it every single time you see the piece. That's, that's the great thing about it. So, you know,
Speaker 2 00:09:24 Yeah. I know, I know part for me too, especially with, uh, you know, from my, my perspective when, when I buy local art, you know, other than a lot of times, I kind of a favor towards, you know, customers that, you know, that come in here, cuz it's also a nice way to give back. Um, and to also pick up, uh, you know, some nice work, I just actually picked up a piece of Nancy ellas from, uh, the, the social art art center show. We have
Speaker 3 00:09:49 Four, we have four
Speaker 2 00:09:51 Nancys. Yeah. <laugh> yeah. This is the first one of hers that I have. And I'm like, you know, you know, pretty excited about it. I got a couple of, I, I think I have a, I think I have the Mike sleeper canoe, uh, hanging at my house. Right? Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:10:06 The staple. The
Speaker 2 00:10:07 Talk
Speaker 4 00:10:08 About the well known
Speaker 3 00:10:08 Talk about history.
Speaker 4 00:10:09 Yeah. Yeah. But I tell you though, it's the thing, everybody who comes in like, cuz I'm at the table downstairs, greeting customers when they come in, they walk in and they see like the, one of, uh, the boat behind Mr. Rogers house. So had a crooked house there and they go, is that Mike sleepers? I'm like, your name's hanging right next to it, but it's like, yeah, no, they recognize your name, recognize your style of artwork. You know? And I think that's a great thing, you know, especially around here.
Speaker 3 00:10:33 Yeah. I really, I, I have just, uh, excuse me, a distinctive style in, in a couple of different ways and that, you know, so know primarily the shape
Speaker 4 00:10:42 And that's, important's what, that's a great identifier right there having that almost nearly panoramic shot is great, but even your squares are yeah. You know, which is, which actually threw me when those canvas came in. I'm like, is that Mike's, I'm like he doesn't do canvas. He does his photography. This is, but it, it, it really looked great on those, especially that square profile with that nice, you know, kind of foggy day, you know, or, um, foggy morning with, uh, the boats, it looked great, you know,
Speaker 3 00:11:08 And that, that camera I use for that is a year older than me. Oh really? Yeah. It's a, um, it's a hassle blade and um, I was born in 64 and on the camber days in 1963, geez. You know, still using it. And,
Speaker 2 00:11:23 Um, is that specifically that that type of camera, is that specifically for a panoramic shot or is that something
Speaker 3 00:11:30 Is for the squares? The square.
Speaker 2 00:11:32 Okay. So we're talking about a
Speaker 3 00:11:33 Different yeah. And, um, square format photography was really big in the, in the commercial business for, for decades cuz they would, they would um, they would, you could crop it either way, so
Speaker 4 00:11:44 Oh, I got you. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:11:45 Yeah. So they would, they would, you would run a photo shoot with the idea that you'd cropping a vertical or a horizontal lot of it and generally a traditional traditional shape
Speaker 4 00:11:54 That saves time too. So that way you don't have to shoot from two different cameras or do multiple changes and things. Oh, that makes sense. That's funny how the trend comes back around now with everything being popular in square again. Yeah. You know, so,
Speaker 3 00:12:05 But I, I don't, you know, I, I see Panora right. I always have, even as a kid, I would take 35 millimeter images and I would crop it as a panoramic and it just, and I just, this way of looking at it. And then if, if an image, if I can't get a panoramic image out of a scene, I see, I, I, I start seeing details in it and then the detail needs to be square <laugh> I, I, I have this aversion to standard, you know, standard format for some reason. Mm-hmm <affirmative> I don't know why I may maybe versions a bad word, but I don't think that way. Yeah. And like eight by 10, 11 by 14 or whatever
Speaker 4 00:12:41 It's yeah. The two by three formats. You
Speaker 3 00:12:43 The two by three format. Yeah. It's either gonna be one to one or one to three. Huh. And, um,
Speaker 2 00:12:48 Is that a, is that the, you know, when you, when you're like, you know, learning as a photographer, is the, is that something that is taught? I mean like the, that format or those sizes, or is there like a standard, uh, pan? Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:13:04 Well, in terms of artwork, well, photography, certainly it's, you know, there's just standard, you know, standard formats, which mostly arose out 35 millimeter. So yep. You know, back in the day when Kodak was developing cameras, they were a lot of different lot of different formats. Yep. And, um,
Speaker 2 00:13:22 So it's the equipment that's kind of dictating the sizes in a lot of
Speaker 3 00:13:25 Sense. 35 millimeter turned out to be sort of the real, uh, populist, um, the real sort of populist format that, you know, would all came down to the camera is what it was. They started, you know, they were built in Germany I think. And I can't remember who would, would've been like a and a liker lights and, and, um, they started making pocket cameras and a 35 millimeter you'd you could run, you know, 24 or 36 images on a roll of film mm-hmm and then that popularized and that sort of, and that just transcended into art mm-hmm <affirmative>. And, um, so that's always been sort of the standard format. And then once you got into, you know, well, press photographers prior to that, or actually at the same time, those, you know, back in the, the twenties and thirties, those big giant box cameras lighten
Speaker 4 00:14:13 The bulb on the side, the accordion. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:14:15 <laugh> yeah. That sort of thing. And, and, um, and those were much bigger pieces of film mm-hmm <affirmative>, but that, that was, um, that was directed towards that industry. Hmm. Um, but for some reason, you know, and I believe me, I've got a lot of 35 millimeter I've got, I don't know, um, I probably have at least a million images at this point.
Speaker 4 00:14:33 I was gonna say with all the traveling you did, I follow you on Facebook. So I see all your, your posts from, you know, back in the day when you were like Japan and all this other plays and I'm like, you know, like, wow, yeah, he's been all over, but you know, like
Speaker 3 00:14:47 I'm closing in on, well, not quite I'm, I'm, I'm closing in on about 45 years of taking photographs.
Speaker 2 00:14:54 That's, that's a long time, but again,
Speaker 3 00:14:56 Experienced
Speaker 2 00:14:57 Shows
Speaker 3 00:14:57 Though. I have every single one. I dunno if it's a million, but like right now I have a hundred thousand hundred, a hundred thousand images in just in my basement, going back to when I was 13 years old. So
Speaker 2 00:15:08 Do now, do you go back and, and reference 'em or some of those just gonna be, somebody's gonna find them someday and, uh, I's
Speaker 3 00:15:16 Gonna find em, throw 'em out if they're gonna,
Speaker 2 00:15:18 Hopefully not
Speaker 3 00:15:19 The first, the first 80,000 of 'em are awful, but
Speaker 2 00:15:23 So, you know, so there's not there's no, you don't have to go back and review it at any point and try to find like a, a hidden gem in there.
Speaker 3 00:15:31 No, what I do though is I, I, when I go back through my files to, to, to find something in, cuz they're not very well organized, I'll, I'll find images and, and then I'll, you know, I'll print 'em up and I'll put 'em on Facebook or I'll send the people who written 'em and you know, pictures from high school. Get that. So it's a lot of fun. I documented everything soon as I got a camera it's, you know, my friends are sick and tired. It's like, yeah, now they're not, they
Speaker 2 00:15:57 Love it. Right. But back then it was like, oh, so even, even at high, because I, so even at the, the beginning stages in Al high school, you were, uh, taken, uh, taking photos of everything
Speaker 3 00:16:08 I had. I've got pictures from, in the patients, from inside the classrooms, I've got pictures from the sports fields, pictures of people hanging out and that's just revolving around school. Yeah. That I've got all of my personal personal stuff. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:16:22 And, um, you know, in the small world, uh, of this, the art on the south shore too, another, you know, one of your teachers was one of, uh, another artist of that comes in here on a regular basis. So one of who's one of the, uh, the social artists that I particularly like his style, Steve ow.
Speaker 3 00:16:40 Steve Baranowski. Yeah. <laugh> yeah. He was my first teacher and, well, he was my first photography teacher's right. You know, we had another guy before him, couple of people for art and, um, but he, he was the only one that knew how to manage us back the day in high school.
Speaker 2 00:16:55 <laugh> I think it, there was a darker room in the, uh, back in high school too, I think.
Speaker 3 00:16:59 Yeah. There was a dark room back in high school and
Speaker 2 00:17:02 Yeah, I think I heard some stories of what Steve banging on the door, trying to get you guys out there.
Speaker 3 00:17:06 Yeah. People are in there, we got the door locked and can't open the door, Steve, you know, we got the film out, you know, he's gonna ruin the film and
Speaker 2 00:17:13 That's funny. Yeah. You're familiar with Steve's work too.
Speaker 3 00:17:16 Oh yeah. He's he's, he's, he's great. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:17:18 Yeah. I, I think really nice work. I think he's one of the, you know, it's funny. I, I just don't, I don't think his, his style or, you know, the way he paints appreciated enough. Cause I think he's one of the, actually one of the really, um, you know, one of the better, or one of the better painters around, uh, on the south shore, Andy's, you know, it's funny he's he probably has his hands in, uh, as a teacher to so many of, uh, the, the south shores. Oh, absolutely. Artists that can, especially a lot of the ones that came outta Marshall cuz he was such
Speaker 3 00:17:51 A, he doesn't me. Yeah. You know? And uh, so yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 00:17:56 Yeah. And, but you know,
Speaker 3 00:17:57 He was there for decades.
Speaker 2 00:17:58 Yeah. So I'm sure that I'm sure that he, you know, he's, you know, had his hand in, in a sense of teaching yeah. Or, you know, teaching styles and you know, all sorts of things, but you know, interesting. You know, and just a small, you know, small world too, so. Right, exactly. <laugh> and uh, you know, so I don't know if a lot of people know that you, your start in marshmallow, you're kind of a fixture there, but then you were at BC and I was telling the story earlier to Michael coin about, you know, you, you, you had told me that, you know, taking pictures of like Doug floaty was one, one that was one of the geez. One of your,
Speaker 3 00:18:34 I had a termed life. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:18:36 <laugh> I mean, that's a
Speaker 3 00:18:37 Just fell into place and you know, I happen to be all these places at, you know, at the right time,
Speaker 2 00:18:42 Right time for forest Gump kind of Hey yeah. Spelling story <laugh> yeah. I mean, I don't know if a lot, a lot of people even know that, but that, that was what your, your gig was in the, at, at BC.
Speaker 3 00:18:55 Yeah. I always wanted to be a photographer. Yeah. And then, um, you know, obviously I talking about going back to my, you know, about 12 years old, but I, um, you, I graduated from Marshall high and I did a, I did a year in boarding school, out in Western mass at, at Northfield Mount Herman school. Okay. And I showed up there and you know, I got on my camera gear and I started taking sports pictures. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and I started taking football pictures and I, you know, and I, I got some, I got some decent stuff and you figured out, you know, there's a formula to every sport. Yeah. It's like where you're supposed to stand and mm-hmm <affirmative>. And um, so then I ended up going to Boston college and I roll in there and it's like, so the first thing I did is join the student newspaper as a, you know, as a photo journalist mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Speaker 3 00:19:38 And there was a lot of really interesting stories revolving around that. So I got there and they said, oh, so we don't have anyone, the staff and knows how to take football pictures. So, oh, go. Okay. Great. And I, I mean, I knew who Doug flew he was, but I wasn't, you know, I didn't quite know yet. Right. And, uh, and so this is, um, this is 1980, this is 1983. So this is, this is his, um, this was his second year. This is the year when he, when he really took off mm-hmm <affirmative>. And, um, so I, next thing, you know, I ended up traveling with a football team and that lasted for five years. <laugh> every game. Yeah. Every game home in a way, including, you know, I was there for the Miami game
Speaker 2 00:20:17 And the bowl game. So the hail and the hail Mary, the hail Mary, no kidding.
Speaker 3 00:20:20 And, you know, and I was on the field. So I was, I was one of those guys that you see this running yeah. Running back and forth down the sideline with that big giant lens. And mm-hmm, and um,
Speaker 2 00:20:30 Now those images, all the BC hang out to all those, or is, do you have some, all of 'em you have all
Speaker 3 00:20:36 Those too. And, um, and so anyway, they started paying me. Yep. And, um, so I was making money at it, um, which was crazy. And, um, it's always nice, which is always nice when you're in college. Yeah. Wait for something fun like that.
Speaker 2 00:20:50 You got this you're on the sideline. Yeah. There's probably a lot of people that were paying to go to those games and didn't get to, are paying a lot of money to travel with the team too. Right.
Speaker 3 00:21:01 And, uh, yep. And, uh, and I, I never get hit with a ball and I never got, I never got knocked down. I almost did it a bunch of times.
Speaker 2 00:21:08 Oh yeah. Yeah. I've seen those. Yeah. You see those yeah. Feel, oh
Speaker 3 00:21:12 Yeah. I was a couple of times it
Speaker 2 00:21:13 Was pretty good. Probably lose a couple cameras that way. So,
Speaker 3 00:21:16 Yeah. And, uh, but yeah. The other thing, some
Speaker 2 00:21:18 Shoulder pad, your cell phone
Speaker 3 00:21:19 There. Yeah. So anyway, I made a lit I made some money, so it was like, well, okay. Yeah. So I always wanted be photographer and I was like, okay, well, this is how I can make money. Yep. And then, um, and then, then once I graduated, I ended up, um, I ended up shooting a lot of sports for boarding schools and colleges. Yep. And, but at the same time, you know, stepping back to the student newspaper thing and they were having me take portraits of people for mm-hmm <affirmative> newspaper articles, mm-hmm <affirmative> and people would come to campus to speak and, you know, then they wanted me to take photographs of them, like press conference photos. Yeah. So I photographed, you know, Abby Hoffman and, and um, oh, I mean, there's a whole slew of, you know, whoever would speak at college campus back in the, back in the day.
Speaker 3 00:22:02 Yeah. So then I got out of that and then, um, immediately upon graduation got a job as a photographer's assistant in Boston at a giant studio and pretty much the hottest photographer going and then, um, and then left there and worked for another photographer who was an annual report photographer back when everyone did a big glossy magazine yep. Or corporation. And I traveled around the world for five years and like I did two circum navigations. It was, you know, it was like Boston, LA, LA, Tokyo, Tokyo, Singapore, Singapore, Bangkok, <laugh>, you know, then back down to Australia and then over to Switzerland. Geez. But I was young enough that I could handle it. Right. So it was in, you know, it would be like, you know, almost a month. Yeah. And then you'd get home, be home for three days. We're like, oh, you know, we gotta go to London now. It's like, all right.
Speaker 2 00:22:53 And when you were, and that was the annual report type
Speaker 3 00:22:56 Of photograph, that was the annual report sort of stuff. And then, so then I got out of that and I, um, well, I, I became, you know, a, a, a corporate photographer. I ended up working for John Hancock in Boston. We met Lori and, um,
Speaker 2 00:23:11 And you guys were both, she was she's also.
Speaker 3 00:23:14 And she, she had been there for a number of years before me mm-hmm <affirmative>. And, um, as I did all of the, the PR photography work, and it was a huge, it was a huge department, there were four full-time photographers, there was a TV studio, videographers, the whole thing, and they would, they would send us all over the world as well. That's so we'd travel all around doing that. And, um, and, but those were fun because they'd send you on a, you know, they'd send you on all these junkets. So these, you know, these sales, you know, these sales people would sell a certain amount of insurance. So they'd, you know, they'd send you to, you know, down to the Caribbean for a week or Palm Springs. And it was always in, it was always in January, February. Oh. You know, in, into the spring. So I would,
Speaker 4 00:23:56 Um, darn the worst time to go to a tropical location
Speaker 3 00:23:59 And somebody, and I was in St. Thomas for two weeks at 1.0, that's nice. And then they became sponsors of the Olympics and major league baseball mm-hmm <affirmative>. So they ended up sending us to Olympics, you know, I went to little hammer for, for two weeks. And
Speaker 2 00:24:12 So when you were doing that, were you focusing more on doing portraits of the athletes or were you shooting the actual sport? Were you shooting sports that were actually
Speaker 3 00:24:20 A little bit of both games so that the company used that sort of work to, you know, sprinkle in, into all their PR stuff. Okay. And then, but a lot of the photographs were, um, photographing these agents, um, you know, while they're out doing their stuff and they they'd send 'em out. And
Speaker 2 00:24:36 So it was more like
Speaker 3 00:24:37 A lot of golf photographs.
Speaker 4 00:24:38 Oh, location, and then where you're out.
Speaker 2 00:24:39 Yeah. So kind of documenting the, the agents and like what was going
Speaker 3 00:24:43 On with them. So, so you do the, the stuff in the ballroom with the speakers and all that sort of thing, and then would go into the, the company newsletters, but then they'd have you go out to the golf course and, and photograph these guys playing golf and yucking it up and they'd give, you know, they'd give those photographs to 'em, but, but I actually photographed a guy hitting a ball, uh, hole in one once. Okay. And, and, um, from the approaching the balls of the swing. Yeah. And then walked down, took a picture of the ball and the, and then, so then he ended up getting all those pictures mounted in his office.
Speaker 2 00:25:12 Yeah. Oh, I'm sure.
Speaker 3 00:25:14 <laugh> so, uh,
Speaker 2 00:25:15 I mean, one of the odd, the odds of hitting a hole and wonder are pretty, uh, pretty slim. Right. And then the odds of having someone odds of documenting it
Speaker 4 00:25:22 There, keeping on camera. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:25:24 Personal photographer. <laugh> I mean, there's like three images just with the swing. No shit. You know, da, da, da, da, no shit wild. Yeah. So I, he was a great guy. I, I really, I love being able to, you know, sort of witness that and, and be there and be able to give him the pictures afterwards. And
Speaker 4 00:25:40 That's, that's
Speaker 3 00:25:41 Too.
Speaker 2 00:25:42 That's wild. Yeah. I know that. Yeah. That think there's a lot of, uh, a lot of stories. I mean, I know that you've, you know, you've, I've had the pleasure of knowing you for, for quite a while and doing a lot of work with you. So I've heard a, a number of the number of the stories. Um, but I think that, I mean, that's amazing, amazing stuff that could, that can SAYO stories sticks out at me. That that was a yeah. A funny,
Speaker 3 00:26:03 Oh yeah. So I, yeah, well, this is what I talk about a charmed life. So I, I was working as an assistant for this photographer and he got the job of taking all the photographs for the red Sox, yearbook. Yeah. Which entail us going to Fenway for at least a day, maybe two days. And we set up a minister studio down, outside the locker room and, you know, was in the, in the spring mm-hmm <affirmative> and the players came in one by one and we had to take portraits of, and then we did group pictures. Yeah. And then there was a cover picture. And that was when Jose can say, was played for the red Sox and the art director came in and, you know, we're, you know, we're going through all this stuff. And he says, oh, by the way, doing something really important, you know, you have to remember this. Don't say anything about Madonna. Yeah. When Jose comes in, cuz he just had some like public fling with her. Oh boy. <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:26:50 And uh, you haven't heard this one too. No, I haven't heard this story. And
Speaker 3 00:26:53 Um, so we're in there. So he comes in and you know, we take this picture and then he comes back in. He does, is he a decent guy or yeah, he was a really nice guy. Yeah. You know, they're all, they're all coming to cycling back and forth and it's like, oh, let's get a picture of him. And I guess it was MoveOn right at the time picture of him MoveOn instead other, and then we had to do one more picture of him, which is like, I think it was his actually his portrait. Yeah. And he came in and he sat down and we reached to him and he is used to us and it was just chatting away and snapping pictures and um, an intern for the, uh, for the ad agency came walking and would like, I don't know, like beer or something and walked in the door and he hadn't gotten the memo <laugh> oh no. So he walked in the door and just like stepped right up and looked at Jose and said, Hey Jose, what about Madonna? <laugh> it was like, it was scripted. It was hilarious.
Speaker 2 00:27:43 <laugh>
Speaker 3 00:27:44 And uh, that was if a yeah, yeah. He just stood right up. He was out the door. Oh. And uh, we had gotten our picture thankfully at that point. But at the point he was like, what, what did I do? <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:27:55 No limited. He didn't have to take too many pictures and wasn't, wasn't too many to choose from.
Speaker 3 00:28:00 He hadn't yeah. He hadn't gotten the memo, so
Speaker 2 00:28:02 Yeah. But that's every wild. I know that you, that you got a, a ton of stories. I mean that Hancock was that for Hancock or was that as an assistant?
Speaker 3 00:28:11 That was just as an assistant. Okay. And, uh, so you, yes. This stuff would crop up. I, you know, I, I, um, I got hired once. I had a friend who worked at Harvard. He still does. And, um, he worked for this doing books or something for this think tank there. And the other people that were part of the think tank, they would come in yearly were representatives of industry and, you know, armed forces and in this, and I don't know what they were all discussing economics to public policy or whatever mm-hmm <affirmative>. And, uh, I went over to visit him one day and he's talking to him and, and uh, this guy was there for the Navy and he said, oh no, we're going down to Norfolk tomorrow to take a tour of the, of the, uh, the Naval base. And, um, and I said, uh, do you need a photography?
Speaker 3 00:29:02 He said, well, yeah, actually we do need a photographer. <laugh> so, um, funny, you should ask, this was the next day. So I, so I ended up going down to Norfolk and we toured four or five ships and went through a submarine, went through a destroyer, you know, guided missile deal and all that. And then, um, and then the next day we got up and got a helicopter and, um, and flew out to an aircraft carrier for the day. That's cool. And, um, and that was bizarre because, you know, you're, you just go and you go and you go and you go. And there's like, it's the seed of the rise and yeah. And all of a sudden, there's this little speck <laugh> and the door's open. Right. So I'm leaning out the door and I'm looking out the, you know, you know, kidding, you know, MI in the air or whatever is I don't just, and, um, and then we just, and then we land on this thing and, and then the helicopter takes off. And then, you know, it's just photograph the jets flying in and out. Yep. It was, was nuts, but that's, that's the, I, you know, that was the whole thing that, that photography, you know, just having the sort of skill set. Yep. And, and, and then getting into the industry on any level mm-hmm, <affirmative>, you know, whether it was an assistant or actually being the photographer. Right. You get to go to and see these things that are just yeah. You know, it just, it literally falls into your lap
Speaker 4 00:30:15 And yeah. Like I love the Fenway shots. The one is the inside, the, uh, the green monster is like one of my favorites that are just seeing all that. Yeah. You know, that was
Speaker 3 00:30:22 A, uh, that was, that was cool too. And I, I was there for a complete, I was there for the Jimmy fund. Oh,
Speaker 4 00:30:27 Was it? Oh, Jimmy fund.
Speaker 3 00:30:28 Nice. Yeah. And I got there, you know, first thing in the morning and, and, uh, like early, yeah. Seven o'clock in the morning. And then in, in, in August, when the light come, when the light comes up over Fenway, when the sun rises, it, it streaks down the, it streaks down the monster mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so it Gras it. So all of the detailing,
Speaker 4 00:30:46 All the denting, all the little things from the balls hit
Speaker 3 00:30:49 In. Yeah. Cause I've been looking, I've been looking at that wall since I was, you know, since I was a toddler. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, and then all of a sudden you see there, why would you you'd never see the wall at seven o'clock in the morning. Yeah. So you'd never see what it does. Yeah. And then every den, every ball den. Yeah. And this is the old ball.
Speaker 4 00:31:06 It just looks like flat green when it's on screen and
Speaker 3 00:31:08 TV and then it's dimpled like a golf ball. Yeah. And, um, it's astounding. And so I gotta get a picture of this and <laugh>, and, uh, and I, you know, I asked them and they were like able to take you over there cause we weren't supposed to go on the field <affirmative> oh, sure. And I actually, we, we could, we were, we, we couldn't, they didn't want us going on the grass. We were right. We'd spend all day working on the warning track mm-hmm mm-hmm <affirmative> and um, and then, and then I made connections with someone. Then I was able to go back and shoot the inside of the, the, of the scoreboard a couple years later,
Speaker 4 00:31:36 Because now what you expect on the inside, when you see that, I was like, oh, I was like, just didn't expect all these numbered panels hanging on the wall with all these covered dust things. And
Speaker 3 00:31:44 Is that Georgia clay? Is that what that is that, that red
Speaker 4 00:31:46 Clay, the stuff they use for the, the field.
Speaker 3 00:31:48 Yeah. It all comes from someplace in Georgia, I think. Yeah. For all the ball fields or something. Yeah. And, um, so yeah, so a lot of that dust is all over the inside of the
Speaker 4 00:31:56 Oh, I can imagine. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:31:58 Yeah. Those are some, you know, some great shots, the, no, the, uh, the other, the other one of that collection, I, I like kind of, I'm still the, uh, the footage marker, when you can kind of like, see it, like, it was like, you, you can see it was painted over and adjusted after was, was the story behind that somebody, uh,
Speaker 3 00:32:17 Yeah. Dan Shawney, uh, complained Dan Jonathan Luther it one day, he says that, you know, I don't think that's numbers. Right. Yeah. And they were like, you mind you in business. Yeah. It is. It's <laugh> and, uh, you know, and, um, and I, is, it, it is like 94.5 yards or something. Yeah. And, um, he, that's what it says now. Yeah. And I have to look at it or remember. Yep. And, um, and then he's, he was in the park all the time. So he showed up one day with one of those. Yeah. One
Speaker 2 00:32:45 Of those things, he,
Speaker 3 00:32:45 The rolling, you know, one of the, one of those things that, that rolling rollers <laugh>. Yeah. And, uh, and he, and he, and he measured it out. He was, he was right. <laugh> so they, so they painted over it and he can, and then, and then they, and then they changed it. Yeah. And, um, that's his, that's his, uh, I don't know his mark, one of his marks, one of his claimed a fame, but, uh, but, uh, so, so I, the close friend of mine in Marshfield, he's very close friends with Dan Shawney. Yeah. And, and he's and, um, Stan, um,
Speaker 2 00:33:16 Does he own that? Does he have one of those images of
Speaker 3 00:33:19 Yours? Yeah. Um, my friend, uh, my friend gave it to him. Yeah. And Stan gross fell is that, you know, they're pus are photographer as well. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so he's friends with both of those guys and they get together like, like once a week. And, um, so those, those Fenway pictures ended up, um, they get accepted into the hall of fame. Yeah. In Cooper's town is part of the collection. And, um, not Dan, not the one that of the number was changed, but the one of the inside of the scoreboard and then, and then the green monster mm-hmm <affirmative> and we were at, um, so I, I can't remember how many years ago that was. And then I was at this holiday party about five years ago or something. Right. When Dan Shawney got, um, accepted into the, into the Halling himself and he wasn't at the party, but, um, Stan gross Feld was, and at the end of the night, you know, you know, we'd be yucking it up all night and, and, uh, and I'd had a couple of drinks as usual. Right. <laugh> and, uh, and just joking around and then Stan left and he's walking up the driveway and, um, and I yelled out the door. Hey, Stan, make sure you tell Dan welcome to the club. Yeah. It's great. Being in the
Speaker 2 00:34:32 Hall of fame. No, no shit.
Speaker 3 00:34:35 I didn't think he thought it was too
Speaker 2 00:34:36 Funny. No, no, he didn't.
Speaker 3 00:34:38 I know Dan wouldn't think it was funny. Yeah. I mean, obviously his, his contribution is, is real. Mine's just sort of, you know, kind of fun. Right. And, uh, so yeah,
Speaker 2 00:34:48 He's still, it is not how you get there. Right. It's you, you got there, it's a, yeah. Yeah. Fun. Those you, we, so, you know, I think that those are unbelievable images and, you know, I, I was a big fan of them for a while, but I think I seen too many of them. Do you have those ones hanging at home?
Speaker 3 00:35:06 No, no, no. Uh, those my most, my in volume and there was an unnumbered edition. Yeah. And, um, and I'm glad I did it unnumbered cuz it, and, but I priced it, you know, they were priced very low.
Speaker 2 00:35:19 Now, do you, do you think those ones aren't moving as much now? Cuz the, the you've you've cornered the, you know, cuz everybody has one or do you feel like it's
Speaker 3 00:35:27 Tom Brady, Tom Brady ruined my business.
Speaker 2 00:35:29 You think that's what it was? Yeah. The shift in sports and the, uh, and
Speaker 3 00:35:33 Uh, it was like literally Tom Brady destroyed my business. <laugh> my, my Fenway park
Speaker 4 00:35:38 Went from me,
Speaker 3 00:35:39 Photographs business. I, it, it was, yeah. So I, then I made a bunch of merchandise and went along with it as you know yes. And I drink coasters and coffee mugs and, and I was selling 'em in all these shops all over new England mm-hmm <affirmative> and that went really well for two or three years. And um, just people, you know,
Speaker 2 00:35:56 More and more, no, I feel like we used to, we would be framing them like, you know,
Speaker 3 00:36:01 It's crazy.
Speaker 2 00:36:01 Yeah. Dozens a week. And then like, you know, it kinda dried up. So I wasn't sure. But yeah, I never really made that connection that the timing kind
Speaker 3 00:36:11 And all of a sudden, you know, you know, so, you know, of course the peaks of Christmas time or
Speaker 4 00:36:16 Whatever. And I remember selling cases of those mugs at Christmas
Speaker 3 00:36:19 Before
Speaker 4 00:36:19 Pack and then people, I want three of those. I'm like, all right.
Speaker 3 00:36:22 And, um, so anyway, that, so that, that fall, whatever that fall was and the, when the Patriots won the, the super bowl that year, you know, I, and, uh, and they, and they sold really well right up into Christmas. Yeah. And then the next spring I, I called around to the shops, you know, so you'd get springtime orders in, you know, opening day. Pretty soon they were like, what do you have with the Patriots? <laugh> yeah, literally they all said, and uh, I was like, oh, I don't have anything. <laugh>. Yeah. And, uh, and, but so anyway, that, and that was it, it just, it, it literally stopped dead, which is fine. I mean, it was a great run, was a lot of fun. And, and, uh, so I, you know, my biggest year I, I sold a thousand prints and then, um, of, of just of the green monster, let alone the inside. Yeah. And, um, and I think I'm down to maybe one a year now. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:37:10 So it's
Speaker 3 00:37:11 But yeah, maybe it is saturated. I don't,
Speaker 2 00:37:13 Yeah. I mean, you did sell a lot of,
Speaker 4 00:37:15 But Tom's gone now. So all we need is a world series to get you back.
Speaker 3 00:37:18 Yeah. Well, that's, that's the thing, but, and, but it show, but yes, UBI, it shows up everywhere. Yeah. And I have a, uh, I have an accountant who, um, is doing my retirement stuff and, and, uh, when I went over to his office for the first time for a meet and greet mm-hmm <affirmative> and we sat down, I was like, well, he's like, so, but exactly is the nature of your work. And, you know, the photography, weddings and stuff has in know, I, I do landscapes. I said, but I also have a Fenway series. And, uh, as a matter of fact, that picture over your head is <laugh> you no idea. And, um,
Speaker 2 00:37:51 Well that goes back to that. Uh, you know, I think we've had this conversation, your signature needs to improve so that oh, so people can read it.
Speaker 3 00:37:58 Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. Well back then, um, yeah, so it looked like a Seagul and now I, now I block print it. Yeah. And, um, cuz, and I would show my work at the north river arts festival and my um, my grade school teacher and Natalie Loomis would come by and um, and we talk every year and she was always with a group of people and every year she would turn to everyone to say, she says, I did not teach him to write like that
Speaker 2 00:38:24 <laugh>
Speaker 3 00:38:24 It was really funny.
Speaker 4 00:38:26 Well, you know, they say about signatures, you're an artist, an actor or a doctor if you have a signature like that. So <laugh> right. Yeah. So,
Speaker 3 00:38:33 But every once in a while I love someone contact me and say, you know, I've had this print for 15 years and I think I want a bigger one. And you know, we spent eight years trying to figure out who it was <laugh> and um, because I couldn't read your
Speaker 2 00:38:48 Thing. Yeah, yeah. You know, that's, that's an important part. Yeah. Important aspect.
Speaker 4 00:38:53 That is, that is a good note to, to, to pick up on that there. Yeah. Uh, but like we get people in like your, your, uh, the one that's downstairs currently the, um, um, like I said, the one, uh, for Mr. Rogers has crook house. Yes. Um, what was that one called?
Speaker 3 00:39:08 Uh, uh, mad autumn, right?
Speaker 4 00:39:11 Yep. And people just love that one, the frame on it, the picture, the whole thing, the whole color palette on that one. And didn't you have a story, like you went and shot it and it was a crappy day.
Speaker 3 00:39:20 Yeah. I went, I went and shot. It was an overcast day and um, I had never been there before. Right. And Lori and I were down there for our anniversary weekend in November and it was the end of the day. It was overcast anyway. And it was in November mm-hmm <affirmative> and um, early December, I, I, anyway it was, it was late in the season and, um, or after the season. So anyway, we drove out there and I, I had my gear with me this trip and, um, we drove out there as end of the dance, like, oh, wow. Look at that. This that's amazing. I think I like about it is it's it's it's, you know, I think one of the biggest parts about Nantucket is, is that is the houses and juxtaposition to, to, to, to nature. Right. And that's what I, but even downtown it's the architecture is amazing. Mm-hmm <affirmative> but when you get out to the outer parts of, of, um, of Nantucket and you see these weathered buildings and, um, and they're, they're just beautiful and
Speaker 4 00:40:15 Yeah, that gray shingling, that's only this
Speaker 3 00:40:17 Gray shingling and white trim and
Speaker 2 00:40:19 That one feels like a Y paint. It painted to me,
Speaker 3 00:40:22 It looked like a wife
Speaker 2 00:40:23 Painted when you pulled up, like,
Speaker 3 00:40:25 Yeah. Yeah. It's like, wow, look at this. Cuz it wasn't just, the building was the boat too. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:40:29 The whole pallet, the sky to the
Speaker 3 00:40:31 Grass and then color in the boat, the boat doesn't have some crazy red hole or no,
Speaker 4 00:40:36 You know, it's a really soft yellow, but it becomes electric against everything else that's there, which, which is great. Which,
Speaker 3 00:40:42 And, and the light was I, at the time I thought it was really terrible and it's like, well, I gotta shoot this anyway. And cuz I dunno if I'm gonna get back out here tomorrow. And um, and I don't what the light's gonna be like tomorrow, but I'll just wind on I'm here. And, and I shot and I shot, I don't know. I shot quite a bit of film. I shot about, I don't know, 10 rolls of film or something and um, and you know, with a light fading mm-hmm <affirmative> and then, um, and then the next day, you know, we did go back and the, and, and the sun was out the next day <laugh> and it went back at the same time and I shot it the next day, you know, another 10 rolls of film or whatever. And, um, cuz I, I, I, if I see a scene that I think is gonna be like, great, like really iconic, you know, it'll just, you know
Speaker 2 00:41:34 Yeah. That one's
Speaker 3 00:41:35 Fantastic. Just shoot film <laugh> and uh, just keep shooting and cuz I've got no feedback until it comes back from the line. Exactly. Yeah. So I shot it anyway. I shot it. And then the, um,
Speaker 2 00:41:44 And you had a feel for which day would be the, would produce better
Speaker 3 00:41:47 Image it the second day, you know, the light, it was a nice, it was a nice, it was a soft light and it was streaking down the side of the boat. And this that I got the film back, I was like, I was like, boy, was I wrong? <laugh> and um, it was the first day. And, and um, and that's one of the things I really like about shooting film is, you know, sometimes you don't, you know, you get something better than you expected. I'm really good at predicting. I, I never blow exposure anymore. I never blow up focus cuz I can't, I can't focus my camera. Mm-hmm <affirmative> I have to focus it by, you know, gauging the distance. Right. And um, you know, I can't look through it like you would any other normal camera to and then, and then focus it, looking through it.
Speaker 3 00:42:29 And so I, I, I, I've gotta to the point now where I really never ever miss up, you know, that, that sort of stuff mm-hmm <affirmative> and the exposure and the focus and, and whatnot. And then, um, but sometimes, sometimes film will react differently. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and um, and it reacted really well in the really dim light. And then the next day, you know, this is a film I use all the time, the next day. It didn't, um, it just, it didn't, I mean, I think it was fine if I'd been there only the next day, it would've been like, oh, this is the greatest thing ever. Yeah. Right. But I much preferred the first, the first one. Yeah. And then I, so I got the film process, then I got, you know, I got the test prints done and I got a big print and I, I put it up online and um, friend of mine from the neighbor goes, oh, that's that's that's um, what's his name?
Speaker 3 00:43:17 Mr. Rogers. What's his first name? Fred Rogers. Yeah. He says that's Fred Roger's boat. And I was like, oh great. Cuz this friend of mine's got a place on, you know, and his, his in-laws live in a tuck. And so he's down there all the time and I'm like, oh, okay, great. And I'm thinking to myself who, the hell's Fred Rogers. Right. <laugh> and uh, oh yeah, because he knows everyone in Uck. Yeah. So he knows this guy named Fred Rogers and then it was like, now Mr. Rogers, it's like, oh, okay. And, and yeah. So I guess it's his boat and that cottage there is, or the cottage across or something. I don't know. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so, so that boat now lives there permanently in the marsh mm-hmm <affirmative> and, and they upkeep it a little bit. It's not like the JFK boat behind the library in Boston where they're constantly maintaining it, keep it perfect. It sits there and, and it, and it, it, you know, the paint fades a little bit and I guess they, they, they keep it up a certain extent. Right. But it looks perfect because it's weathered, right? Yeah. It's gonna it's
Speaker 4 00:44:11 Out in the elements. It's not just putting the, putting a boathouse each year.
Speaker 3 00:44:15 <laugh> so then, so the next summer I did a show on Nantucket and I, and I, and I was displaying that cause I, this collection from Nantucket at that point and this guy walked up and said, oh, my father built that boat.
Speaker 4 00:44:27 What? Geez.
Speaker 3 00:44:29 And as, and we had a nice long conversation and his father only built a, like two boats a year or one boat a year. So I had a very big boat. Yeah. And I think he just essentially did it the side. Yeah. And he said, yeah, I remember when he built it and he delivered it.
Speaker 4 00:44:42 Yeah. It was like a hobbyist kind of thing. Like a, yeah. And then once it was built, sell it and then make the next
Speaker 3 00:44:47 One. That's when he built it for Fred Rogers. And that's funny. Um, so whatever
Speaker 4 00:44:51 I know. Yeah. But I get so many stories from people. The exact same thing you said I was, when it first went up, one of the people I had goes, oh, you got Roger's boat up there. I'm like, Roger's boat. He's like, I'm like, sure. Yeah, I got Roger's boat. I'm like, I haven't talked to Mike about this yet. I don't know anything about it. He goes, yeah. You know, I'm right. I'm like, no, I don't know him. He goes, of course, you know him as your neighbor. I'm like, what do you mean? He's like, that's hilarious. He just singing the theme song. I'm like, oh that Mr. Rogers. Oh, okay. I'm like, so, but it's funny, just a little thing like that. Somebody recognized it right away and it's it it's, to me, that's a great sign that, you know, it's, it's highly recognizable. It means something to somebody which, which
Speaker 3 00:45:32 Is great. I, I guess it's an iconic scene and I had no idea. Yeah. I'd been in Manica before, but I had never been out this road. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and um, or maybe I've been out there in the middle of the day and the way to the beach and just drove by it.
Speaker 4 00:45:45 Notice it another house out in the, yeah.
Speaker 3 00:45:48 Another house, another boat, whatever. So
Speaker 2 00:45:50 <laugh> yep. That one ends up at my house. Eventually, if it does, it's downstairs for
Speaker 4 00:45:54 Event's theme of things on the wall downstairs that seem to want to end up at your house.
Speaker 2 00:45:58 That's that's kind of,
Speaker 4 00:45:59 Yeah. I think we had the same conversation with Sean was here.
Speaker 2 00:46:01 Exactly. Well, I mean, that's the benefit of, you know, owning or operating a frame star, you know, you get stuff on the wall
Speaker 3 00:46:08 Here. Well, you that's what I was gonna say, cuz you brought that up earlier. So, so you get the first pick of stuff that comes through
Speaker 2 00:46:15 Sold. I mean, unfortunately I have to pay bills too. So
Speaker 3 00:46:18 If somebody,
Speaker 2 00:46:19 If, if somebody wants to pay for it first. Yeah. Uh, it does, you know, because I know I have the option of, you know, another one coming, you know, coming across and uh, you know, being able to, to replicate it again. But yeah, no first, first, first, uh, first ride of refusal, guess a lot of, a lot of cases I did for a number of years at north river when I was like hanging that show too, like, you know, I was just pick, you know, Hey, I'm done hanging it. It's almost ready for the, uh, the general public to see, but, you know, guess what mark that one sold, cuz I want that. Yeah. Yep. So I've got a number of pieces at home that are, uh, you know,
Speaker 3 00:46:57 And then there's things that probably got away from you too.
Speaker 2 00:47:01 <laugh>, you know, I've, you know, collecting artwork and, you know, I mean, for me, like I said, a big part of collecting artwork is, you know, people, you know, the stories behind some of the stuff and, you know, I, like I said, I have your canoe at home, which, you know, it fits in of this perfect space, you know, my, you know, uh, you know, somebody else that lives there, my wife, you know, loves that image too, and it fits perfectly. And then that one downstairs will end up, uh, you know, the image will, I don't know if it'll be that particular one if someday, but it, you know, having those stories behind and the connections I think is so important, mm-hmm, <affirmative>, you know, and I gotta, you know, I'm, you know, slowly have begun to collect a, you know, uh who's who of this south shore art scene. Uh, so which is pretty cool. Um, but you know, having those regrets of like some, a couple pieces of artwork that I didn't buy, I'm like, oh shit, you know, like, you know, years later it's like, oh, I was thinking about, you know, I, you know, like I, I remember one piece that I got got away from me. Like I wanted to pull the trigger on it and I never did. And it's like, yeah, that, that image is like, now, now it's probably 10 times better than it even was <laugh>. But
Speaker 3 00:48:12 Yeah, there's a Nancy Ella piece that, uh, I just, I just want it so bad. It's like 15 years old or something. Yeah. And, uh, a friend of her owns it. Yeah. And I was like, I gotta someday I gotta work a deal trade. I was
Speaker 2 00:48:27 Gonna say, you and David trade, trade,
Speaker 3 00:48:30 Trade, or buy, I don't know, love a piece
Speaker 2 00:48:32 Here. I have a, a funny one with that. Um, so there was a piece of Brooks Kelly, you remember Brook Kelly yes. That he brought in, in and, uh, to frame. Cause you know, so again, like I've seen all these pieces before they actually hit galleries, cuz people are finishing him off and it was a piece he did after, uh, Bobby Kennedy was killed and it's just the words, assassins. Yeah. Assassin and it's uh, you know, in a Capal wow. It's nothing like Brooks's. And I had told him that, you know, I, I wanted it, you know? Right. And you know, it kind of got away from me. And then when he passed and his, uh, his wife put the stuff together, she reached out to me cuz she knew that I, you know, really. Yeah. It, she, she was aware that in that's a great story and I have that hanging in my house and that's one of my favorite pieces.
Speaker 2 00:49:23 Right. Um, and it, it was very different from his style mm-hmm <affirmative> because, um, you know, he painted with very like very colorful palette and a lot of his stuff and this one was just very dark and it was, uh, but it was, you could still see his style and it right. Yeah. And it, and it's an, you know, an awesome piece. And then that, that other part of the story too, that like, you know, she kind of reached out to me to see if I wanted to buy, you know, to see if I wanted it. You know's a personal history to this amazing. You know? And he was, you know, I mean, he was coming in here when I was a kid, you know? Yep. You know, he's, which is funny to me. And like, when I think of like a lot of these super talented, like unbelievable artists that I know, and I'm like, you know, you know, yourself included like, you know, but they're not, um, that, that, that amazing, you know, they're, they're who they are for our city.
Speaker 2 00:50:18 We just like, oh, Mike's sleep with the, the, you know, that photo, the photographer. Oh yeah. It's Mike's sleep. It's Mike. Yeah. We know Mike, I had, I, the other day, me and Mike, uh, coined, I don't know if I told you this one, Scott, I, you know, you know, Mike, uh, we hung a couple pieces at a, uh, place in, in a financial Institute over in, uh, in Hangam and I had to go back and make an adjustment on one of the pieces cuz uh, the photographer, the H it was a Triptic and the, the, one of the pieces just didn't line up properly. Yeah. So we hung it and uh, we're like, well, I'll, you know, we'll get the new image printed and we'll, you know, so I dropped it off and that was, you know, I didn't realize until after you guys left it, that was Michael co just wanted you. I'm like, yeah. Yeah. Hilarious.
Speaker 4 00:51:06 He's your hanging guy.
Speaker 2 00:51:09 He helps you hang pains. He's just so funny, you know? Yeah. I don't think anything of it. It's just it's Mike, you know, it was like another, uh, you
Speaker 4 00:51:18 Know, I didn't know he was a painter first cause he used to hang around and help you around with so many projects. I thought he was just somebody you knew that was coming in. And I was like, oh, that's him. Same, same thing. It's like, you know, everybody just becomes, so, you know, familiar here. Yeah. After being here for so long it's it's uh, it's nice. It's it's when everybody get that kind of shock value of like, and everybody's like, oh, I love that picture. That's on the wall. And I'm like, well, that was him. He just walked by. He just went out the door. Yeah. And they're like, that was him. I'm like, yeah, yeah. He just come right. And goes out back. That's what he used to do. And, and we don't even have to think we got all this stuff, you know, the sizes, we know everything. It just, you know, it comes in and gets it done and gets just go right on his way. So it, it, it gets nice.
Speaker 3 00:51:58 Well, there's a great vibe here too. I love coming in. And, um, and, and running into these other artists. Yeah. It's like a reunion all the time.
Speaker 2 00:52:06 Yeah. Mm-hmm
Speaker 3 00:52:07 <affirmative> and, um, and, uh, you know, I come and see Donna once in a while. Yep. Uh, Don Rosetti. Bailey.
Speaker 2 00:52:13 Yeah. Yep.
Speaker 3 00:52:14 She's Nancy, Nancy CLA every once in a while. And, and, uh, it's just really cool.
Speaker 4 00:52:19 And maybe we can get them on the show too. That'd be nice too.
Speaker 2 00:52:21 Right? Why not? For the next I, I, you know, I think that, uh, you know, having Mike in is fantastic. This is, I don't mean to cut it short, but
Speaker 4 00:52:28 No,
Speaker 2 00:52:29 No. I mean, I'm gonna have to run up, but I think we're gonna have, have you back on for and
Speaker 4 00:52:32 Realize it's almost been an hour already. <laugh> and see, that's a good sign, you know, and you don't even realize it's been
Speaker 2 00:52:37 That long, but I, you know, I mean, I, you know, much like when we were talking with Sean, I think it's just, you know, great conversation. I think that, you know, having some of this stuff out there is I think enhances, uh, you know, you, you know, I don't know, maybe there's a better, maybe there's an in between of, you know, this, you know, people looking to you as a, this amazing artist and like finding, hearing some of the other stories behind you too. Yeah. Mm-hmm <affirmative> but it's a pleasure having you in. I hope you, I hope we can have you a lot of fun hope we actually jump you back on's blast.
Speaker 3 00:53:05 Yeah. Anytime, you know, you know, like I like to run my mouth.
Speaker 2 00:53:09 Yeah, no, I think you have a ton of great stories.
Speaker 4 00:53:11 The personal attachment that people can add to the artwork with that kind of stuff is always a great, great thing. Like you knows it's, again, some people can't ever get to meet an artist cuz again, a photographer. I think they're not on, it's not like an actor or anybody else where you can see their works to find interviews. It's hard to find that kind of stuff. So have an outlet, like this will be a great way to get people to introduce to you. You'll
Speaker 3 00:53:30 Absolutely. You know, and um, just, you know, just a guy from Marshfield and
Speaker 2 00:53:36 Yeah. He just happens to be a unbelievable photographer.
Speaker 4 00:53:38 Exactly. Thank
Speaker 2 00:53:39 You very much.
Speaker 4 00:53:40 Oh no, thank you for joining us. So that's great. Super
Speaker 2 00:53:43 Right. Well, we're gonna have to looking forward to
Speaker 3 00:53:45 The next one.
Speaker 2 00:53:45 Yeah. Mike's sleeper part one. Yep. Part one. We'll uh, we'll have to jump into Mike's sleeper part two. I, you know, I know you got, I know just from the years of knowing you that there's a, there's a lot more stories. Yeah. Some more stories. Yeah. Probably, uh, pull a couple of them out you.
Speaker 3 00:54:00 I, I, I forget them and, and uh, I'll, it'll like be, it'll be any particular image and you know, and uh, and then I forget about it and the stories look, the stories would just come outta my head. I say, oh yeah, I'd hear what happened at that shoot. And
Speaker 2 00:54:14 Yeah, maybe, maybe you can tell the John
Speaker 3 00:54:15 Da chased by RCU.
Speaker 2 00:54:17 Tell maybe what you can get you back on. You can tell the John da story, the John da story,
Speaker 4 00:54:22 A couple like weird
Speaker 2 00:54:23 Somewhere's
Speaker 4 00:54:24 Trigger some memories. Well, put the picture up so people can visually reference it when we do the yeah. You know, then do it that way. And it'd be a great way to
Speaker 3 00:54:31 Do a whole episode just on the canoe.
Speaker 2 00:54:32 So yeah. Yeah. I think we certainly, we certainly
Speaker 4 00:54:34 Could. It's on your business card, man. I mean, <laugh> that artist card you have that's again, definitely something. I, I go, oh, do you have his card? I'm like, yeah, I got one out back. Hold on. I come back and I get this, you know, like yeah. Giant fold out with I'm like, and there's this one and then's this one and this one, it was a great card. And having the canoe right in the front, it's definitely the thing people recognize you by. So
Speaker 3 00:54:54 It was big deal. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:54:55 So.
Speaker 2 00:54:55 Awesome. Excellent. Well, thanks Mike. And uh, you know, I think we'll, uh,
Speaker 4 00:55:00 You we'll cut it there and we'll see everybody next time. Awesome.
Speaker 3 00:55:03 The next one. Thanks.
Speaker 4 00:55:04 Thanks.
Speaker 5 00:55:16 See.
