This is a special landscape painting I gifted to the lovely Nomad Cafe in Ridgewood! I go there almost daily for my favorite drink to start the morning: a large iced coffee with two extra espresso shots, oat milk and coffee ice cubes. Oh yeahhh, give me that caffeine, babay!
The painting, proudly hung on the cafe walls.
They have always been so kind to me, and to my mother when she visits, so I decided to give something back. I surprised them with one of my ol' landscapes, and they absolutely loved it! They told me how they head Upstate to get away from the city and enjoy nature's tranquil calm. This painting gives them a window to that whenever they feel gloomy. They mounted it on the cafe walls, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it up there. No matter how old I get or how skilled I become, nothing beats a good old-fashioned smile from someone whose heart you've just warmed.
Oh, and good grief, you must try their food and pastries! They are some of the best I've had anywhere in Ridgewood. I like the name “Nomad,” too. Kind of like me, a wanderer...
May you enjoy this for years and years to come, guys! Thank you.
Somewhere between the fragments of memory and the rivers of reality lies Mister Rainbow. Mister Rainbow is the moniker of artist Ramon Trif, driven by his passion for colour, variety and the freedom that infinity gifts. We are always changing, yet always the same. In this, the spirit of Mister Rainbow lives in all of us.
We are all “Rainbow” in some fashion: an unstoppable phoenix burning the embers of eternity inside each of us. Every moment we die and rise again, to live. We are the immortal, singing the song of forgetfulness. Each in our own flavor. Our own colour. We fashion duality, as Light and Dark dance the Waltz of Possibility. Choice rises from the ashes of forgetting.
Mister Rainbow is the intertwined denomination of The All. You and I, he and she, they and we: All One. Mister Rainbow uses the powers of Dark and Light, Colour and Transparency to weave his masterful collections. There is a story in each of his works, if you look deeply enough. Within you. Within the mirror.
Wrestling is one of my most enjoyed pastimes. Yes, I know it's rehearsed, staged, and not genuine in its emotion. It's an act. A superbly executed one. Wrestling fans roll their eyes when you point out the obvious, because it's no different from a scripted movie presented as real at the cinema. It's all fantasy, and everyone knows it. Suspension of disbelief comes with any well-told story, that's all.
What makes me realize the simplicity of many a mind is that far more important things happen in reality, presented as real, that are nothing more than deception. Politics is notorious for this. We all laugh and know better than “to trust a politician,” but wisdom be damned, we still feign interest like stringed puppets dancing to their tune. That's the punchline in all of this. We're duped on a daily basis, and we yell for honesty, demanding it at all costs. What a crock. We are a species of illusion and denial.
Art is no different. The artist merely smears paint upon thread so deceivingly well that it invokes a reaction out of you. It may bring you to tears or put a wide smile on your face. But in the end, it's nothing more than an acrylic concoction guided by my mind's hand. It's purposeful. It plays upon the initial trust that every human must give, in some form, in order to move forward.
The Art of Role-Playing at Its Finest
Vincent Kennedy McMahon, Chairman and CEO of the once-WWF, now WWE, is the kingpin of wrestling, or “sports entertainment” as he coined it. Many fans scoff at that term, but that's exactly what it is: a show. Yes, supreme athleticism and real danger are involved, on the level of a stuntman, but it's still a produced and scripted show. I feel it's a far grander achievement to merge the physical capabilities of an athlete with the focused emotion of a storyline than to simply “shoot wrestle.” That gets kind of boring after a while if there's no drama.
At a deep level, isn't that how life itself becomes more entertaining? Don't you need a villain and a hero, a “good guy” and a “bad guy,” to enjoy the story? It's the same with WWE's “heels” and “babyfaces,” the roles wrestlers are given within the plot. What you're essentially watching is a mirror of life imitating itself. There are heels and babyfaces all over the world, and you're one of them!
To go even further, at times you swap roles. You go from heel to babyface and back again. Constantly. Some people flip to serve their needs. Others play their role for “deeper” reasons. Whatever the case, the fact remains that we're all acting on some level. So, what are you, really? That's for you, and only you, to figure out and remember. Until then, just enjoy the show!
Each row of this piece holds a different part of who I am.
“Tower of Babel” by Ramon Trif
1st Row. Friendship and relationships in general. The acrylic swirls are circular in stroke, because life is a circle. It comes back around each time, regardless of circumstance.
2nd Row. Dedicated to love and romance: the happiness and the regret one's heart feels along the way. The paint flows up and down, as we “fall” in love.
3rd Row. Reserved for the memories of losing someone precious. It honours death, its mirror of life, and the reasons we give it. The strokes run from left to right, mimicking the unfolding of a story.
4th and Final Row. What I personally cherish: fun pastimes, animals, nature and myself. If you don't love yourself, then you're a sucker for life's illusion. The energy of the colours bursts from the center, like a soul.
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