I had the distinct pleasure of running into John Long at Naples Notional. All the old timers know John, who did art fairs for over 30 years with his 2D illustrations. He claims to have shown Norm Darwish, Connie Mettler's husband, how to hand color photographs when they started doing art fairs. Some of you may know John from his syndicated cartoons "Long Overdue" and "Lumpy Gravy." Three years ago, after John's first wife Janet died, he quit the art fair scene and moved to Naples. John started creating sculpture and 18 months ago he opened the Up Art and Design Gallery, to display and sell his new work. John's work is edgy, complex, and, humorous, incorporating paint, wood, and found objects into his pieces. There is nothing like this in conservative Naples. I was totally bowled over by John's new direction. His new work is light years advanced from his art fair days. If you are in Naples go visit the gallery. It's at 340 Eighth St. South.
Barry-his work is wonderful. I went to his website and it makes me want to visit the gallery tomorrow. Not familiar with his former work but I love his work now. Thanks for sharing.
Many greetings to our old friend John. Sorry to say he didn't teach Norm how to handcolor, but he did lend much encouragement and many tips on the art fair business to Norm before he even started doing art fairs. Yes, he was a bit of a mentor -- and an inspiration to us when we saw him selling photos hand over fist "back in the day". Many, many thanks to John for his gracious help and best wishes on his latest incarnation.
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