30 YEARS AFTER I DESIGNED VF'S FIRST HOLLYWOOD ISSUE, NAKED STILL SELLS

The 30th annual Vanity Fair Hollywood is pretty cheeky and it has a connection to the first one, which I designed in 1995.

The latest stars (in order below) Bradley Cooper, Natalie Portman, Pedro Pascal, Colman Domingo, Jodie Comer, Lily Gladstone, Greta Lee, Charles Melton, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Jenna Ortega, and Barry Keoghan.

It’s sort of a full circle moment, in that when I designed the issue for Art Director David Harris, the magazine had it’s first ever Vanity Fair party in LA, I created a billboard for Sunset Blvd which featured lingerie clad starlets and ended with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, in semi-drag in briefs and a slip. Barry Keoghan, infamous for his nude dance in Saltburn, has reprised his naked jig for a video shot for the magazine by Gordon Von Steiner. (Still above.)

All up-and-coming starlets at the time, the next year (which I also designed) featured all the young dudes, like Leo…

Will anyone else remember? 30 years ago was a long time. If I was looking back in ‘95 to 30 years prior, Sophia Loren and The Beatles would have been big. Fittingly, Loren is in that first Hollywood Issue (below).

I first worked for Vanity Fair under Leo Lerman and Tina Brown in the mid 80s. In the early 90s, I was a freelance art director and the magazine’s then art director, David Harris, asked me to come in and work on a special portfolio they called, “A Hollywood Portfolio. The Hollywood Issue was obviously not a thing yet, just another gig for me, but it was fun to be back at VF as many of my co-workers were still there.

Annie had shot most of the portfolio along with Herb Ritts. I knew her from when I was. first on staff at Vanity Fair and my roommate at the time, Carol Lefluffy was her studio manager for years. So what I remember most was just me and Annie in the planning room cropping pictures (mey blowing them up on the copier) and then figuring out a pairings and then an order. with David and Graydon. Not all of Conde Nast was on computer yet, although I did work for Allure before and after that, the first magazine at CNP not done entirely by hand in paste-up form.

I worked on the Hollywood cover too, which was a montage of groups of people shot together and then to advertise the issue. Annie shot all of the women in lingerie and she may have planned this idea but I think it was coincidence as Lemon & Curtis were reprising their Some Like It Hot roles for a ’94 update, which Annie Also shot.

I remember one moment when Annie was in a sort of foul mood and kept handing me stuff to copy and then jerking copies out of my hand. At one point she tried to grab a page cropper out of my hand and I held onto it, and looked her in the eye and said, “I’m on YOUR side. I’m here to help…” And she kinda stammered, “Yeah, I know… yeah.” After that we got along even better. I’ve found with people that have notorious tempers and can be short or keep pushing you, that it helps to draw a personal line in the sand. Never had another cross word between us.

The Sunset Blvd billboard up in the Spring of ‘95 was the fold-out cover plus Lemmon & Curtis

Graydon mentioned the first Hollywood issue cover in his farewell editor’s letter…

“After an exhilarating life at Spy and a giddy, shoestring year at The New York Observer, being given the editorship of Vanity Fair was truly like being given the keys to an almost fictional magazine kingdom. Back in the day we didn’t even have budgets. S. I. Newhouse, Jr., our legendary proprietor, just said to spend what you needed. In the late 90s, we were having lunch and I told him that I had some good news and some bad news. He said, ‘What’s the bad news?‘ I told him that the Hollywood Issue cover we had just shot might well be the most expensive magazine cover ever. Si thought for a moment, then asked, ‘Well, what’s the good news?‘ I said it looked like the most expensive magazine cover ever. Only Si would have smiled at such news.”

Graydon’s 1994 intro to the first Hollywood Issue…

That was a LONG time ago, Si is gone (along with those unlimited budgets) and Graydon is now doing his newsletter publication, Airmail which, to me, is more like Vanity Fair than what Conde Nast puts out. I left magazines almost 20 years ago (after being the art director and creative director for Us Weekly & OK!) Now, I’m a full-time artist/writer, upstate in my converted gas station/ painting studio/ gallery. I also have a place in Merida Mx, where I lately I’ve been dipping my big toe back into publishing as Creative Director for Yucatan Magazine. Our Destinations issue is out in 2 weeks.

Below I’ve included the entire portfolio of the first Hollywood Issue which really is a who’s who of the industry at the time going back to the old studio days and ending with a bit of a bummer, former actress/First Lady Nancy Reagan. We should have stopped with Lemmon and Curtis. You can see the new 30th anniversary issue here and in VF’s archive you can see every page of the 1995 issue plus every page of every issue since the very begining EVER, here.

Some things never change. Right, Barre-ry?

Presenting the 30th annual #VFHollywood Issue, our cheekiest yet, starring Bradley Cooper, Natalie Portman, Pedro Pascal, Colman Domingo, Jodie Comer, Lily Gladstone, Greta Lee, Charles Melton, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Jenna Ortega, and Barry Keoghan.

🔗: https://t.co/q98NkynQzU… pic.twitter.com/S5ID11nPag

— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) February 21, 2024

A SWEET GOODBYE TO LAMONTE

Our sweet Brussels Griffon, Lamonte died yesterday. He’d been in decline the last 6 months, deaf and blind, but still basically in good health. I say “ours” because I got Lamonte with my ex, Roswell Hamrick, and we split up when he was just six months old. So for the past 18+ years he has gone back and forth every two weeks between our homes in The Catskills in upstate New York. Roswell’s partner, John Pizzolato, round out Lamonte’s trio of caregivers. We are all “devastated”, as Johnny put it.

I have a place in Merida, Mexico and was there for 6 weeks over the holidays and returned for Lamonte’s 19th birthday last month which wasn’t so much of a celebration because it was becoming clear, he was nearing the end. I got to spend almost a month with him before I gave him to Roswell last week. He had a cold, which turned to pneumonia and he died at noon yesterday Feb 20, 2024 at 19 years old and one month.

Hundreds of people have sent their condolences as he was a real presence in a lot of lives, not a person, but up until recently he was always very aware. If you know anything about Brussels Griffons, they are bred to have almost human features. Sometimes called a “monkey face dog”, they were what George Lucas modeled his Wookies and Ewoks after.

George Lucas apparently owned the breed and was inspired by it to create Ewoks & Wookies

With best buddy Jasper, who belonged to my best buddy, Cary

I’ve been looking through lots of photos today. There are MANY and I’m sharing a lot here. Why not? My Instagram is 25% him since the first days it’s inception over 10 years ago @treynyc.

Lamonte had quite an interesting life, as he went pretty much everywhere with us. Roswell is a former art director for film and TV so he was on many sets. I worked at magazines like Radar, OK and Us Weekly when we first got him and later when I was a full-time artist, he was in the studio all the time. In the gallery he was there for hanging the show and he held court a lot of times during openings. At my the book signing for my YES: Transform Your Life with Color by Number he has right there a presence at every major event from 2007 to 2022.

He traveled to visit our families, to friend’s houses for parties and dinner parties, to countless openings in Chelsea. When I had a month-long exhibit on Governor’s Island in New York, he came on the ferry with me and hung out all day. Roswell & I lived close together in the city for years, in Chelsea and the Meatpacking District and when we walked him, we’d be constantly stopped by people who knew he was a Brussells or others asking what breed he was. He had multiple celebrity “ooh-ahh” street encounters with neighbors Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Joel Gray and more.

Kate O’Toole with Lamonte at The Barn, 2010

Johnny and Roswell are friends with Melissa Gilbert and husband Timothy Busfield, who live upstate and they once dressed as Johnny (Tim) & Roswell (Melissa) carrying a stuffed version of Lamonte. In August of ‘22, I helped stage a doggie fashion show at the Pump House, renamed for a day the PUP HOUSE and Melissa presented Lamonte with a style Lifetime Achievement award, even though his winning (drag) look was seemingly modeled on her Little House on the Prairie nemesis, Nellie Olsen.

Roswell & Johnny have several businesses upstate including Stickett Inn and Barryville Oasis where Lamonte is VERY well-known to friends and patrons. He had his 18th birthday party holding court in his 1940s baby pram barking through choruses of “Happy Birthday Dear Lamonte…” He’s been a model for many holiday cards and set-ups throughout the years, sitting with Marc Jacobs’ Santa on Bleeker Street, terrified. Posing and wearing stuff was not really his thing, but he indulged us.

Lamonte has been immortalized in art; by Scott Lifshutz in an oil portrait, by photographer Valerie Shaff, in a mural at Roswell & Johnny’s bar in NYC and even by an anonymous artist who painted him with Danny Devito for some reason? He’s appeared in Radar magazine in 2007 in the “Overrated Hall of Fame” representing “highly portable breeds”, and shot wearing Juicy Couture for Us Weekly.

He got the name Lamonte before we even met him. My ex journalism teacher, Diane Stafford, wrote a baby name book that she had sent me because the origin of my name was included in it. We had found a local breeder and had just seen a photo of a cute Brussels pup (first photo below) I had read the breed was “magnum in parvo”, latin for a big dog In a small package. Flipping through the book I saw the name Lamonte, and it stuck –The Mountain in French.

Everyone who has ever lost a beloved pet understands the intense grief. It’s not like losing a loved one, another human you love, it sometimes seems worse. We are often loved unconditionally but relationships with people are all complicated. They aren’t with a dog, they love us, we are their world, that’s it. We share everything with them and let them ALL THE WAY IN, like no one else in our lives. They are forever our babies. There’s nothing sadder than losing a baby.

We were lucky and had 19 years of pure joy with him. He was the perfect dog. We always looked forward to “getting Lamonte back”, the hand-off usually involved catching up and discussing how he was, especially later in life when he required care 24/7. Friends would always ask after him and his fans are literally scattered across the globe. He was the Dolly Parton of dogs – everyone loved him.

So, I after this period of mourning and sadness, I have to learn how to flip my grief to joy and be happy I lived in his world for as long as I did. They teach us a lot, our pets, including how to be better people.

Goodbye, sweet baby, see you in my dreams.

HOLA, CASA CISTERNA!

Artist TREY SPEEGLE and architect ERIK GONZÁLEZ fill in LEE STEELE on the brief that guided this brutalist retreat in the Jesús Carranza area of Merida, Mexico.

EVEN WHEN IT WAS half-finished, Casa Cisterna was cool and compelling enough to be considered ready for showtime.

It was still under construction when a popular Mexican YouTube channel, Cotaparedes Arquitectos, invited its Mérida architect, Erik González of González Estudio, to give a video tour of the house. It garnered 72,000 views in a year.

Cisterna is a part-time abode and income property for Trey Speegle, a New York artist and art director who joined Yucatán Maga- zine after being approached about featuring his new home in a spread.

In Trey’s words, the home rose over an “amazing property” in the often-overlooked Jesús Carranza neighborhood, bordered by Itzimná to the north and by La Plancha to the south.

What makes this lot amazing is both its size and its configuration. It’s over 50 feet wide on the main entrance side and 100 feet deep, with a separate street entrance around the corner. That’s where a 30-by-40-foot “bonus lot” ices the cake.

The original facade in 2021

The house was remodeled with a new façade, courtyard, and parking area. Out back, behind an 11-meter lap pool, is a guest casita that has three bedrooms, two baths, and its own compact kitchen. Breeze blocks on the casita terrace are actually corner cinder blocks turned sideways and painted dark gray. Cisterna’s wow moment appears in the form of a wide concrete spiral staircase which anchors the exterior and resembles a swirling ribbon alongside a pretty gift box.

The courtyard’s other showpiece is a refashioned cistern that recirculates water into the pool. The concept is not new, but the execution is extravagant. The cistern foun- tain offsets the chukum and stone archi- tectural elements, perched on a pedestal that contains the waterworks, a structure roughly the size of the water tank itself.

“The existing cistern was the main feature that we decided to highlight from the beginning. By drawing the pool from that starting point, we were able to divide the garden/terrace into a private smaller space for Trey’s bedroom and a larger social area that connects to the living room and kitchen, perfect for large gatherings. The round con- crete staircase references the water tower in shape and took one month to make by hand,” says Erik.

Trey and Erik worked on the layout and design for two years, and Erik remembers their agreed-upon philosophy.

“Casa Cisterna was a project where past and present were very important to our vision. Through references to the existing house, we brought elements of traditional Yucatecan architecture to the façade like mampostería, celosias, and concrete to suit Trey’s aesthetic needs and our vision for a contemporary house in a traditional Mérida neighborhood like Jesús Carranza,” says Erik. “The existing pasta tiles were rescued and polished to retain the essence of the original house.”

Brutalist architecture was a big influence. Every outside element — from daybeds to tables and benches — is exposed concrete, Erik says.

“All of the walls are polished concrete. Moisture is a problem here with paint, and if the concrete eventually does discolor with moisture, at least it won’t peel like paint. The proportion of the rooms in the original house were so welcoming. The inspiration for the palette and interiors was not just Mexico and the Yucatán, but Mediterranean interiors, Spanish revival in Southern California, Italian villas, all mixed together,” says Trey.

“The guest casita was originally one story and I then asked Erik what would we need to do now if I added on a second floor later. It grew from there. The staircase was added in metal at first then Erik suggested a concrete spiral, which sort of mirrored the water tower.”

At this point, Trey spends part of the year in New York and originally had planned to install cameras so he could monitor activity from long distance. But a better solution presented itself organically.

“I had shipped two Buddhas from New York and one fit perfectly atop the stairs and the other stone one was cemented on the cistern top like a finial. Both now watch over the house and garden.”

Text, Lee Steele Photographs, JASSON RODRIGUEZ for Yucatán Magazine

#ASSEMBLYNY: UPSTATE AN OLD BUS DEPOT GETS A NEW LIFE AS AN ART SPACE

The space was originally a bus depot for the town of Monticello.

Assembly is a contemporary art space featuring the work of 21st century artists. Created by Mexican artist Bosco Sodi and Lucia Corredor, it is sponsored by the non profit Foundation for the Mexican Art and Culture. 

The space is located in an old bus depot in Monticello, New York. It was restored by Mexican architect Alberto Kalach.

Seeing as there is an enormous glut of unused artworks stuck in art storage, Assembly 1: Unstored was conceived as a year-long exhibit and public warehousing.

The exhibition features a group of artists from Mexico (and based in Mexico) upstairs; Ugo Rondinone, Lorena Ancona, Alejandro Almanza Pereda, Adrian S. Bara, Tania Candiani, Yolanda Ceballos, Paula Cortazar, Jose Dávila, Ale de la Puente, Adeline de Monseignat,Galia Eibenschutz, Gabriela Galván, Mario García Torres, Cristóbal Gracia, Gonzalo Lebrija, Mario Navarro, Eduardo Sarabia, Bosco Sodi and Héctor Zamora.

I live nearby and have my own studio and gallery space and I am currently building a house, studio & gallery in Merida, Mexico. I was aware of the work of Bosco Sodi’s work and heard Assembly was opening. Coincidentally, I arrived Upstate from Mexico on the same day it opened to the public, but –long story– I was locked out of my own studio and missed it. But I managed to catch it last week.

Sodi also has an amazing compound call Casa Wabi in Puerto Escondido near Oaxaca, Mexico, which I just posted here.

Assembly 1: Unstored runs through May 2023. Visits require an an appointment. For more information go here.

Exhibition downstairs basement level; Izumi Kato, Shiro Tsujimura​ and Bosco Sodi

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#RIP: PHOTOGRAPHER, ROXANNE LOWIT

Beloved fashion photographer Roxanne Lowit has died.

Her Instagram account posted the message last night,

We are very sad to say we lost a remarkable woman today.

Roxanne Lowit was a legendary photographer who provided an intimate look into the world of fashion and showed us a side of nightlife that most people didn’t get to see. Roxanne was a woman who believed in magic. Roxanne was a bright,creative light. A great friend who enriched others’ lives in so many ways – she was loved by many and will be greatly missed.

Rest In Peace my love. You’re the best.

For over three decades, Lowit captured the faces, personalities, of the world of art, fashion, music and nightlife. The list goes on an on, a who’s who of pop culture; Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, Kate Moss, Yves Saint-Laurent, Johnny Depp, Madonna, Pamela Anderson, Naomi Campbell, George Clooney… you name them, she shot them.

A native New Yorker, Lowit was originally a textile designer. She went to F.I.T. but she found her true calling by taking her camera where nobody else thought to go at the time: backstage at fashion shows. Everyone else was fixated on the runway, Roxanne was behind-the-scenes where the real action was.

Lowit’s photography has appeared in every major fashion title in America, Italy, France, England, and Germany; Vogue, Allure, Vanity Fair, Tatler, GQ, W, and many others.

With Roxanne at the New Museum opening, where I showed my “Drink Up” painting, in 2014

Before becoming a painter and writer, I worked as an art director for several magazines and would hire Roxanne often. We became friends, but she knew EVERYONE and everyone knew Roxanne. Often while we were all having fun at a party, she was working –and playing– she mixed the two seamlessly. That’s how she got such great candid pictures like those below. She was nice and fun and gossipy and a real New Yorker.

Roxanne did four books; Moments (1990), People (2001), Backstage Dior (2009), and Roxanne Lowit Photograhs Yves Saint Laurent (2014).

Her work has been exhibited in many of the world’s major museums, including the Met, Whitney, the Victoria & Albert, and the Andy Warhol Museum. Check out her work here, you’ll be amazed.

Roxanne, you’ll be missed by many. I’ll see you backstage, honey…

QUEEN ELIZABETH VISITED NYC 3 TIMES DURING HER 70 YEAR REIGN, THE LAST TIME TO PAY HER RESPECTS TO 9/11 VICTIMS

Queen Elizabeth II passed away Thursday at the age of 96, prompting a wave of worldwide mourning.

Tributes to the monarch, who reigned during eight different decades, in two different centuries and millennia have been pouring out around the globe.

During the years as head of the British Royal Family, Queen Elizabeth traveled to New York City just three times, but they were all were a big deal, even for a queen.

At a luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria, the Queen speaks flanked by former President Herbert Hoover (who lived at the hotel) NYC Mayor Robert Wagner, Sen. Jacob Javits, former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Sen Irving Ives & Maj S.K. Anthony of Ghana

1957

The Queen visited New York City in 1957 –five years after her accession to the throne at just 25 years old. She was met with a motorcade and a ticker-tape parade as she traveled down Fifth Avenue and visited the top of the Empire State Building which was lit up in purple and silver in her honor that evening.

The Waldorf Astoria New York has hosted a long string of kings, queens, presidents and Hollywood stars over its 85 year run. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were among them, stayed at the hotel where a banquet was held in the Grand Ballroom in their honor (above).

The Queen’s uncle, The Duke of Windsor and his wife, Wallis Simpson, lived at the Waldorf for a time after he abdicated the throne, which was the reason that Princess Elizabeth came Queen after her father, King George, died suddenly.

Installation shot of Royal photos from the Waldorf Astoria at Gallery 52, June 2021

After the Waldorf was sold for $2 billion to the Chinese Insurance group Anbang in 2014, the contents of the hotel were auctioned off. I bought 25 photographs that hung in the hotel, including two of the Queen on her visits in ’57 and ’76. I staged an exhibit of those photographs at my Gallery 52 in upstate New York last summer, pictured here.

Queen Elizabeth arrives at The Waldorf Astoria, in Oct of ’76

1976

Queen Elizabeth made a brief trip to NYC as part of the celebration of the Bicentennial of the American Revolution, which was fought to escape rule of the British, btw.

Sailing into the harbor on board the royal yacht, Britannia, the queen was greeted by a 21-gun salute and later at Federal Hall, the queen was made an honorary citizen of New York City.

She once again stayed at the Waldorf Astoria and the Queen and Prince Philip visited the New York Stock Exchange and even managed to squeeze in a quick trip to Bloomingdale’s.  

On the night of Friday, July 9, 1976, the Queen set sail from New York to New Haven.

The New York Times published a story from the AP from July 11, 1976, that says 50,000 people lined the docks, streets and the airport in New Haven, Connecticut for a glimpse of the queen’s brief 40‐minute visit.

The Queen pays her respects at Ground Zero

2010

It would be 35 years before Queen Elizabeth returned to NYC. Her 2010 visit was the culmination of an 8-day tour of Canada. A day before heading back to England, the queen addressed the United Nations for the first time since 1957.

The trip was an emotional one, as the Queen visited Ground Zero and paid their respects to the lives lost during the 9/11 terrorist attacks and laid a wreath at the site of the World Trade Center.

The Queen and Prince Philip also visited The British Garden in Hanover Square located in the Financial District where there is a memorial to British citizens who died at the WTC on Sept. 11, 2001.

Two days after the attack on Sept 13, 2001, the Queen had broken a centuries-old tradition, directing the The Star-Spangled Banner to be played during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.

Watch.

(Photos, collection, Trey Speegle; via NBC News)

#REALESTATEPORN: I'M BUILDING A HOUSE IN MERIDA, MEXICO –FACADE, KITCHEN, POOL & VIDEO WALK-THRU (EP. 9)

As I’ve previously written about here, I’m currently building a house in Merida, Mexico on the Yucatan peninsula.

I haven’t posted in over three months, so there’s lots to catch up on…

Nearly two years ago, in the fall of 2020, after visiting Merida multiple times in the last several years, I found an amazing property online in the neighborhood of Jesus Carranza, just a few blocks from the city’s main thoroughfare, Paseo Montejo. It’s over 50 feet wide on the main entrance side, 100 feet deep with a separate street entrance around the corner, with a 30 x 40 foot “bonus lot”.

Over the past year two years I’ve been working long distance with my friend, architect Erik Gonzales of Gonzales Estudio on a plan for the main house remodel with an addition of a new facade, courtyard, parking area, office with a 3 bedroom, 2 bath guest “casita” (little house) with its own kitchen next to the 11 meter lap pool at the rear of the property.

When I was there for three months this spring, Erik told me a popular video channel on YouTube, Cotaparades Architectos, wanted to film the house.

I said,

But it’s only half finished…?”

He assured me they wanted to come back to shoot it when it was done. In the architectural world of Mexico it’s a pretty big deal. At the time they had half a million subscribers (today it’s over 600,000) and a loyal audience of followers. So, of course I said yes.

Three months later, here it is.

Watch.

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Since that taping, work has continued on the interior walls of the main house, adding the steel exterior doors, the front facade, the courtyard where I added a fountain, the kitchen laundry and pantry.

Work was begun about a month ago on the breeze block portion of the front facade which is all new. The center section is mamposteria, a local artisanal stonework technique originally used to build the walls of main structure. The facade is made of cinderblock and coated with a thin mamoposteria exterior to “blend” it with the existing structure.

We looked at many different designs of local breeze block and settled on the design below which I think is slightly Mayan/ Frank Lloyd Wright and a bit 50s Palm Springs.

The original facade when I found it in 2020. It had been uninhabited for years, maybe decades

Detail of new mamposteria on the front facade

The garage doors & front gate with be painted with dark teal automotive paint. The sun is brutal on paint & exposed wood in Merida

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You can see on the floorpan, the entry courtyard.

I’ve been working on this plan with Erik for nearly two years now and I kept thinking about adding a fountain in the entry courtyard.

Feng Shui is the practice of arranging the elements of living spaces to create balance. The goal is to establish harmony in your environment.

I don’t always follow Feng Shui guidelines to the letter, far from it. But I recently referred to the general guidelines and when applied to just the main house (where I will live and work) the entry courtyard needs some water!

So, I began to discuss the idea with Erik. The dividing wall between the entry courtyard and the motor court/ driveway wasn’t built yet but they were about to start on it. I mocked up the plan below and got them to estimate the cost of adding the fountain with planters, lights, drain pump, etc.

We’re putting in the fountain.

Red dots indicate Feng shui area for main house. Second floor of guest casita, lower right. Upper right, empty lot I own with side street access

The original wall design. Rendering by Gonzales Estudio

The revised design with fountain, lighting, planters and original front gates on either side

The final smooth coat of concrete on the gallery and living room are complete and the exterior steel casement doors have gone in.

They await the final coat of black paint and glass panes once the heavy construction starts to wind down in a month or so.

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The kitchen I knew would be a big job as the place had no real kitchen to start with.

It’s a pretty good size with lots of upper and lower shelving, a giant island, banquette seating area, separate coffee bar with mini fridge and purified water, as well as separate locking pantry and laundry/ prep area that is the service entrance from the driveway.

The custom pasta tile has been on order for 9 months and FINALLY arrived two weeks ago. There was a bit of a hiccup with the installation (too boring to describe) but the tile is now in and I love the look with the rust and cream original pasta tile floors.

Now the casona’s cocina just needs the chimney over the stove, plumbing and lighting fixtures, AC, ceiling fans, appliances and doors.

Before

Ceiling removed, lower walls sealed for moisture, channel dug for plumbing

Renderings by Gonzales Estudio

Red dots indicate glass block skylights

Final work has begun on the 11 meter lap pool which emanates from the cistern tower where @casacisernamerida gets its name.

After several coats of cement, it will get a final coat of Chukum, an ancient stucco technique made from Chukum trees that are native to the Yucatan. It’s sort of their gunite.

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Centro’s main square has one of the oldest churches in North America built over 500 years ago using stones from Mayan ruins

Merida was named the #6 Best Large City in the world by Condé Nast Traveler in their 2021 Reader’s Choice Awards. (1-5 were Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Singapore & Istanbul)

6. Mérida, Mexico

The streets of Mérida are bursting with the colorful facades of Spanish colonial architecture, but the capital of Mexico’s Yucatan state is also steeped in Mayanhistory. Centrally located on the Yucatan Peninsula, the city is an easy day trip to UNESCO World Heritage sites, such as the ancient cities of Uxmal and Chichen Itza, and the beaches on the Gulf shore in Progreso. Locals recommend visiting Fundación de Artistas, a nonprofit featuring art exhibits in a 19th-century home; Gran Museo del Mundo Maya, a modern cultural museum; and the traditional Yucatecan food at the super casual Manjar Blanco.

–Condé Nast Traveler, Reader’s Choice Awards, 2021

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And Vogue put Merida at the top of their “8 Places to Visit in 2022” list:

“Merida, Mexico still manages to fly under the radar, despite its proximity to incredible Mayan ruins and neon-blue cenotes. Plus, it has a unique culinary scene that runs the gamut from perfectly fried street cart churros to haute takes on traditional dishes by chefs like Pedro Evia, whose restaurant Kuuk is a critical darling. Look around for some excellent lodging options, including rooms in sprawling historic haciendas and sleek little city apartments.” 

–Laura Motta, Senior Director of Content at Lonely Planet

MELISSA GILBERT HOSTED AN UPSTATE CANINE FASHION CONTEST (& A NELLIE OLESON POOCH IN DRAG WON!)

Yesterday was #NationalDogDay, but in upstate New York we celebrated a week early…

My old pal Lynne O’Neill has a LOT of experience producing fashions –like 40 years worth. (She’s currently producing 12 for the upcoming New York Fashion Week.) Remember the Sex and the City episode where Carrie falls on the runway? Margaret Cho is the show’s producer –she’s playing Lynne.

Anyway, she asked me to help her with this Canine Fashion Show benefitting the Sullivan County SPCA, so I created the artwork, headed up the judging and helped with organizing and promoting it. Lynne did the bulk of the work getting lots of local press.

It was held at the Cochecton Pumphouse, which was renamed the Pup House just for the event.

Gilbert & Busfield with rescue Chicago a few years ago when he a pup…

Gilbert is an actress, author and lifelong dog lover…

Melissa Gilbert (Little House) and her husband Timothy Busfield (30 Something, West Wing) bought a house upstate just before COVID (it’s all detailed in her new book Back to the Prarie) and Melissa is a big dog lover. She generously agreed to host and was a dream. (The morning of the event she woke up with a severe rash, but she took Benadryl, rallied and showed up like the pro she is!)

The Emmy-nominated actress Becky Ann Baker (Girls) and her husband Dylan Baker (The Good Wife) are pals with Tim and Melissa and Becky agreed to on the judges panel. Tim and Dylan helped out making announcements and drawing raffle numbers. (It was so great to have such seasoned pros and good sports on the mic.)

The venue was packed with 50+ dogs and their owners entering, not counting those that came without entering. Lynne wrangled the pups (no small feat!) as Melissa announced each dog and their owner making their way through the crowd in front of a capacity crowd.

Becky Ann, Stickett Inn co-owner Johnny Pizzolato, 2 Queens coffee co-owner Charles Wilkin, Barnlab owner and Fox TV casting director Clint Alexander scored them. (I didn’t vote. Becky Ann quickly added the four scores and I wrote them down. Quickly!)

Canine Nellie Oleson, and Laura Engel’s original 70s TV nemesis played by Alison Arngrim

One pooch, Maggie, came dressed as Nellie Olson. A little backstory. As a young girl, Melissa famously starred on TV’s Little House on the Prarie and her nemesis on the show was a bratty girl named Nellie Oleson. When the dog-in-drag Nellie appeared, Melissa joked,

I should want to punch you in the face, but you’re too cute!“

I share a 17 and a half year old Brussels Griffon, Lamonte, with my ex Roswell Hamrick and his husband, fellow judge Johnny, who are friends with Gilbert. Melissa loves Lamonte. When Lamonte appeared with Roswell dressed in a blonde wig, pearls and flower print dress Melissa was torn as to whether he was another Nellie or if he was giving her Gertie dressed E.T. in drag vibes..?

Roswell with Lamonte in doggie drag; E.T. as dressed by Drew Barrymore’s Gertie

In the end the Nellie look-alike, Maggie and two other pups, Bun-Bun & Lua Mia snatched the three top trophies which were custom-made by Nonna Hall. Lilly Bear treats were provided for the winners as well as all of the dogs that entered.

Lamonte changed into his tux to receive his Lifetime Achievement Award as a style icon. (FYI, he would have also been a winner. Johnny could not vote for him but the three other judges gave him a perfect 10, something no other dog that day got!)

Local businesses donated prizes for the raffle and silent auction. There were so many great prizes including custom pet portraits, dog beds, bowls and a ton more.

People are SO generous when it comes to dogs and community outreach here.

Judge, actress Becky Ann Baker, myself & Gilbert with my print presented to her as a thank you…

Trey Speegle, ALL, 2019, archival pigment, pencil, house paint. Collection of Becky Ann & Dylan Baker

Becky Ann & Dylan bid on and won my maquette for ALL. It was created for a series I did in 2019 called Political Animals (I realized afterward that Dylan played the Vice President on the TV series Political Animals in 2012… synchronicity! He had no idea… still doesn’t unless he’s reading this.)

The event was a big success by all accounts. Thousands were raised for the local SPCA, plus doggies and their owners had a really fun afternoon.

Many have asked if it will happen again next year. I guess that remains to be seen. Two days before the event, the owners listed the Pumphouse for sale.

You can check out more pics of pups at @cochetonpuphouse on Instagram.

Winners, Bun Bun, Lua Mia & Maggie with Gilbert and their handlers

Melissa, Johnny, Lamonte, Roswell & me (I looked sloppy after 5 hours in the heat)

Custom loving cup made by Nonna Hall, commissioned by producer Lynne O’Neill

Ceramic artist Nonna Hall with husband Jeff & pups Zosya & Daphne

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#REALESTATEPORN: I'M BUILDING A HOUSE IN MERIDA, MEXICO –LIVING IN THE GUEST CASITA (Ep. 8)

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As I’ve previously written about here, I’m currently building a house in Merida, Mexico on the Yucatan peninsula.

I haven’t posted in three months so I’m sorry if this one is really long, lots to catch up on…

In the fall of 2020, after visiting Merida multiple times in the last several years, I found an amazing property online in the neighborhood of Jesus Carranza, just a few blocks from the city’s main thoroughfare, Paseo Montejo. It’s nearly 50 feet wide on the main entrance side, 100 feet deep with a separate street entrance around the corner, with a 30 x 40 foot “bonus lot”.

Over the past year two years I’ve been working long distance with my friend, architect Erik Gonzales of Gonzales Estudio on a plan for the main house remodel with an addition of a new facade, courtyard, parking area, office with a 3 bedroom, 2 bath guest “casita” (little house) with its own kitchen next to the 11 meter lap pool at the rear of the property.

Never so happy to sleep on the floor that first night…

First sunrise in Casa Cisterna, first cup of coffee…

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On February 28, I arrived in sunny Merida from frozen upstate New York to move into the casita. It was not quite ready to stay in that first night, so I stayed in an airbnb and moved in the next night, March 1. That felt like some sort of accomplishment.

It’s been a challenging and fun process, one that as an artist, former art director and sometimes interior, one that I have experience at –although not in another language and culture – but it requires diligence, constant recalibration and patience.

People continually ask me if I’m “excited”…

I am, really. But this is a job and I’m overseeing every aspect (as well as paying for it) from planning to final execution and if I take my eye off the ball, by getting too “excited” with any stage, that’s when something slips through the cracks.

So, I’ve been living in a construction site. Letting the workers in at 7, and locking the gate behind them. They work hard every day and the ethic is impressive. We say little except, “Hola”, “Buen dia” and “Hasta Luego”… god knows what they think of me, but I so appreciate their hard work. A dumb cliché, but true, it could never happen without their dedication to the craft.

Everything is made by hand, mixed by hand. If they don’t have something they need, they make it. When the wall dividing my property from a lot I own that has another street entrance, to build it 20 feet tall, they needed scaffolding, right? No. They punched holes in the cinder block, put wood slats in and built a scaffold out of the wall they were erecting.

I go up and down the concrete spiral staircase 20 times a day and marvel every step –smooth, cool, sculptural, functional and beautiful –I can’t believe such a thing is part of my property.

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The roof has been off the house since last June and it was finally put back on a month ago. 25 guys did it one day. (See Instagram @casacisternamerida)Since then, the work inside has moved quickly.

They finished half of my wing, more or less; my office, painting studio, bathroom and bedroom, minus the floors and wall finish, plumbing and built-ins.

On Saturdays, they work half a day and usually hang out for a few hours drinking beer and laughing. Yesterday their talented friend came and sang with his guitar, while windows and skylights were being installed. AND while another pile of my thing came over from my contractors storage.

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Ramses Stevens loaded up my stuff in upstate New York, the day of a blizzard & two months later, it’s in 100 degree heat…

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I am now a permanent resident of Mexico (which is different than being a Mexican citizen) It means I can stay in the country more than 180 days and I was allowed my one shipment from the states without paying duty. I can open a bank account, get license plates and get a PO Box. I remain a US Citizen and will divide my time more or less evenly between Merida & upstate New York.

Three weeks ago my shipment arrived from New York via Tucson and and was partially unloaded into the casita. So, I began a bit of unpacking and padded out my sparse living quarters with my king size bed, TV clothes, and tons of other household items.

This last Thursday was the one year anniversary (on Cinco de Mayo) of closing on the house when I pinched a nerve in my lower back (sweeping the floor!?) which was/ is still pretty painful. Now I need to move boxes, carry stuff and unpack, which I am doing in a bit of pain.

Anyway, such is life. I know. Shut up. I have a house in Mexico that someday (July? August?) will be finished.

In between construction, has been living in Merida, a city of a million people. The longest I stayed here before was 1 month and I’ll be here nearly 3 months before I go home to install a solo show at Catskill Arts Society that opens on Memorial Day.

I’ve met so many great people added to the ones I knew before. It’s a great community of like-minded individuals that are all smart, funny, fun and generous. I had my first cocktail party, celebrated my birthday at Salon Gallos, had a tequila tasting at the new La Botelleria, been to 5 dinner parties (the most in 3 years!) made lots of new friends, been to the beach in Progreso twice, but sadly have been without a pool. It was 104 today.

I know, shut up.

My friends Newell & Doug are restoring a grand manse in San Cristobal & were getting rid of an original gate they didn’t have use for so they very generously gave it to me. the 10 x 4′ gate will get scraped, painted black and installed on the wall at the end of the pool. It will be backlit & planted with vines.

The exterior gates & doors in the front & rear garden will be painted in the dark teal on the right which will be high-gloss automotive paint.

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My studio and office/art storage. Beginning to unpack after the balance of my belongings shipped from New York was delivered…

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Merida was named the #6 Best Large City in the world by Condé Nast Traveler in their 2021 Reader’s Choice Awards. (1-5 were Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Singapore & Istanbul)

6. Mérida, Mexico

The streets of Mérida are bursting with the colorful facades of Spanish colonial architecture, but the capital of Mexico’s Yucatan state is also steeped in Mayanhistory. Centrally located on the Yucatan Peninsula, the city is an easy day trip to UNESCO World Heritage sites, such as the ancient cities of Uxmal and Chichen Itza, and the beaches on the Gulf shore in Progreso. Locals recommend visiting Fundación de Artistas, a nonprofit featuring art exhibits in a 19th-century home; Gran Museo del Mundo Maya, a modern cultural museum; and the traditional Yucatecan food at the super casual Manjar Blanco. –Condé Nast Traveler, Reader’s Choice Awards, 2021

Vogue put Merida at the top of their “8 Places to Visit in 2022” list:

“Merida, Mexico still manages to fly under the radar, despite its proximity to incredible Mayan ruins and neon-blue cenotes. Plus, it has a unique culinary scene that runs the gamut from perfectly fried street cart churros to haute takes on traditional dishes by chefs like Pedro Evia, whose restaurant Kuuk is a critical darling. Look around for some excellent lodging options, including rooms in sprawling historic haciendas and sleek little city apartments.” –Laura Motta, Senior Director of Content at Lonely Planet

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MARK WAHLBERG SAYS HE KEPT HIS "BOOGIE NIGHTS" PROSTHETIC PENIS –”IT'S IN A SAFE LOCKED AWAY...”

Mark Wahlberg admits he took a particular prop from Boogie Nights…

Wahlberg played porn star Dirk Diggler in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1997 classic. It earned him his first Screen Actors Guild nomination as well as a LOT of attention, for one scene in particular.

Out promoting his new film, Father Stu, Wahlberg appeared on Ellen and answered a series of of rapid-fire questions. Ellen asked him if he still had the famous prosthetic,

Yes, yes. It’s in a safe locked away

It’s not something I could leave out. All of a sudden my kids are looking for a spare phone charger and pull that thing out and go, ‘

What the heck is this?!’ 

It wouldn’t be a good look.”

Though his kids have not seen “it”, Wahlberg said his daughter has watched the movie. 

She has not had the conversation with me. Thank god, she’s sparing me.”

Years ago I posted the #NSFW The Inside Story of Mark Wahlberg’s Gigantic Boogie Nights Penis on my personal blog and it still brings in 25-40,000 hits per years. (People must Googlethat phrase a LOT.)

Anyway, the prosthetic penis is apparently in a safe place inside Wahlberg’s home which is currently on the market for $87 million. 

Watch.