Author Archives: JNUrbanski

Catskills Conversations: Gary Mayer

© Jenny Neal – Usage prohibited without consent

“Are you coming to the drawing tonight?” Gary Mayer asks me. I’m honored to be part of a Catskills figure drawing group with local artists such as Steve Burnett, Gary, Peter Mayer, and Sandy Finkenberg.

“No,” I say. “I’m going to a potluck dinner”.

“Well, you won’t find potluck in here,” he says as he steps up into his studio. “More like shit out of luck,” he laughs, highlighting a disparity between the lightness of his personality and the intensity of his work. He’s quick to laugh, good company and chatty, but this magnanimity belies the intensity of his imagery. “I have a wild imagination,” he frowns, nodding gravely. “I didn’t sleep a lot as a kid”. We have something in common. “Me, too,” I say. It’s a little exhausting. But I’m keen to keep him laughing because all the profile pictures I see of him make him look flummoxed, for want of a better word.

His general demeanor is nonchalance, however, like his image: hey, look at this shit I did. I don’t get it either. *Shrugs* The ad for his new gallery in Margaretville named Art Up is photo of a handwritten note, for example. I get the sense that his reward comes from expressing himself, while painting, rather than the final work being appreciated.

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Daily Catskills: 05/11/23

Baking in the sun with a high of 78F and an empty sky, save for the odd wisp of stray cloud, and throngs of dandelions taking flight in the light breeze like the tutus of tiny ballet dancers. The sky becoming more crowded late afternoon. A pre-summer scorcher.

© J.N. Urbanski 5.30pm – Usage prohibited without consent

Daily Catskills: 05/04/23

“Empty your mind. Be formless, be shapeless, be water. You put water in the cup. It becomes the cup. Put water in the teapot. It becomes the teapot. Water can flow, drip creep or crash. Be like water, my friend.” Bruce Lee (who never labelled Tree Juice Maple Syrup). Yet more water falling from the sky causing impatience, and a high of 55F.

© J.N. Urbanski 3pm – Usage prohibited without consent

Daily Catskills: 05/01/23

Rainy, overcast and chilly for most of the day with a high of 54F, but you would hardly believe that on the peaks at sunset, under a shining sky layered with milky blue whipped cloud. A glorious end to an unremarkable day.

© J.N. Urbanski 6.30pm – Usage prohibited without consent

Daily Catskills 04/27/23

More gloom with brief flashes of sunshine, and a chilly breeze for a high of 57F. Late afternoon, a giant, gray, spaceship-sized cloud moves in that sprinkles very little rain, and moves on quickly leaving a few scattered remnants of itself behind to bask in a blazing, fiery sunset. A remarkable evening.

© J.N. Urbanski 7.30pm – Usage prohibited without consent

Daily Catskills: 04/25/23

Cold, with a high of 48F and a chilly wind. A mostly gloomy day with the sun emerging late afternoon like it had spent all day a work. A beautiful evening.

© J.N. Urbanski 6pm – Usage prohibited without consent

Daily Catskills: 04/22/23

A blazing sunny day. A high of 66F, but seemed much hotter, with fine cloud like a shroud until after 4pm when a thick pack of wadding rolled in and brought rain that got heavier in the evening, thunder, lightning, and a surprise tornado. Rain for the rest of the evening.

© J.N. Urbanski 4pm – Usage prohibited without consent

Daily Catskills: 04/21/23

A scorcher: boiling hot, sunburnt arms, some interesting scanty cloud mid-afternoon that made the sky look like it’s going bald, and a high of 81F. Feels like summer, but the foliage is saying early spring. Daytime photo shoots for work, and soccer in Fleischmanns Park until sunset. (Dinner at Sam’s).

© J.N. Urbanski 7pm – Usage prohibited without consent

Daily Catskills: 04/16/23

A bright, dewy morning with last night’s rain steaming into the sun. A warm, muggy day, with partial cloud cover and a high of 72F. A mass of clouds appeared just before sunset like a circus troupe had rolled into town for the evening, and tumbled around in the sky until sunset.

© J.N. Urbanski 6.40pm – Usage prohibited without consent