Caffe Portofino/SHAPES sneak peak!

Had a show at Caffe Portofino in Northport, New York, my hometown on May 2nd. Lotta fun!!! The show will be hanging there through early June. Kinda came up out of the blue. Got in touch and became a member of the Northport Arts Coalition over the winter, wanting to re-connect with my roots. Found that that they were having an ArtWalk, an event where artists hang their work in local shops along Main Street. I was teamed up with Lisa Harris and her shop Caffe Portofino, a funky little coffee shop with delicious baked goods, located at 249 Main Street, across from the John W. Engeman Theater. Thank you Lisa and crew for all your hospitality! Wish I had taken more photos but these give you a good sense of it.

Original Artwork from Magical Tales of Enchanted Mysteriousness. Done with watercolors, acrylics and gouache on arches.

Original SHAPES from High School

Original SHAPES: The New Brethren

Here's Ray DeForest tickling the ivories, some prints of portraits I displayed and Steve Sallese saying Burbon Rumple the Clam Whisperer.

Art Show in Portofino from McQuade on Vimeo.

Ryan Connolly styles his Ibbits the Biscuit Sniffer T-shirt.

And his snazzy Jerry Chops the Skip stamp.

Framed photos of a mural did I back in 2002 on the Williamsburg Bridge.




Little Megan claps her hands, while Jerry Chops and Ramburger the Chancellor look on from above.

SHAPES Sneak Peak!

Frevil Books, Inc. will be releasing the book "SHAPES: The New Brethren" a collection of spacey creature-folk, fantastical beasts, shrill despots and shady individuals, by me and Steve Sallese , in early June, along with a updated, 8'' x 10''re-issue of MToEM V. 1 & 2, by me and Daria. A SHAPES & Frevil Books, Inc. website will be launched then as well, along with a shop for all related merchandise, along with a couple other surprises!! We'll be doing a book signing at Caffe Portofino Sat. June 5th 11am - 3pm and on Saturday June 12th will be at the New York Book Fair in Tompkins Square Park in the East Village of NYC.

Here's a preview of some the contents of the book, along with photos of me and Steve in our lab coats. SHAPES creation, after all, is a scientific process, started in chemistry class back in 1992. The book is a written and visual history of SHAPES, from its origins to the current crop.

Front cover

Back cover

A couple of SHAPES from High School. Roughly 337 were created.

1 - 8 of the 34 new "SHAPES: The New Brethren"

Stagg Willy and the Fronyon Man, Rooney Fruits the Angel Dancer, Fido Sharps the Protector, Jerry Chops the Skip, Ramburger the Chancellor, Queen Nadya of Pollen Nation, Colonel Wakefroth & MacFinyan the Brewster Magician.

From the root to the fruit. Steve provides an abstact "SHAPE", I design the character from the SHAPE, then Steve gives it/him/her a name.

Me and co-creator of SHAPES, Steve Sallese! I'm holding our original SHAPES album from High School.

The NAMER, Steve Sallese
""Don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming to have any special abilities. I'm just a guy
who calls it like I see it, and that's that."

Jake Milliken checks out the old SHAPES album

Musician Graz dons a Zapato T-shirt for his entire set!

SHAPES and Graz invade Northport from McQuade on Vimeo.

Video from outside Caffe Portofino on Main St. on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Check out more of his Graz's music at
www.myspace.com/dangrazianomusic.com

More to come concerning everything SHAPES and such - Stay tuned.
Thanks for stopping by!