BORBAY

At the inset of 2009, my name was Jason Borbet, and I was working as business director (see above) for an interactive advertising firm. My days were filled with Statements of Work, Capabilities Presentations, Phone Calls and Emails. In May, Erin and me embarked upon a two week vacation to Maui – my first fortnight away from work in six years. There, I read books, watched the NHL playoffs, soaked in the rays and enjoyed the wonderful homegrown produce.

Upon my return, everything fell into place and I made the decision to take the plunge. Now, with a new name (Borbay), career (see below) and my debut art exhibit on the way, I am chasing the dragon – after the jump, my year in painting.

In late 2008, I set-up my easel to paint on the roof of my building. While I was painting the water tower above, someone in my building inquired about a commission.

The client requested a painting of the beach, where he was married. So, 2009 began with a paid painting project – which took some time to complete, largely due to my busy work schedule.

Nothing beats a day at the museum, especially with my good friend Paul Ryan. After an inspiring day, we stopped by the art store and I left with three 4′X4′ canvases (canvi?) And a two picture series of “stuff I like on a canvas” began with my retired powder blue man purse.

Back when I was recruiting, I decided to become a closer, and thus needed one thing: Gold Shoes – “The Closers“. These shoes were too special to throw away, so I decided to strap them to a canvas to immortalize them (fortunately, they don’t smell, therefore the picture is bedroom friendly.)

Next up was a wedding-related project. My good friend Carl Kinney proposed to his beautiful now wife in Central Park, and wanted to capture the moment in paint. After searching for two hours for the exact tree where he popped the question, I set up my easel and got to work. I then used the painting to create their wedding invitation (below.)

I unfortunately couldn’t make the wedding, but I heard it was a beautiful affair.

I’ve been inspired by many people in my life, and one of them is Justin Schantz. He was managing director at the ad firm I worked for, and took excellent care of myself and the employees. A Chelsea man at heart, I wanted to thank him for his professional help with a painting of the Flatiron – my first on-location painting of the year.

Every now and again, miracles occur. The “Miracle on the Hudson” experience was major for New Yorkers, and I decided to capture this event for posterity. This painting now belongs to a private art collector in Milan, Italy.

If you want to imagine paradise, place yourself on a beach in Maui, with a beautiful woman, a six pack, an easel and an iPod.

While in Maui, Erin’s family introduced me to artist Jimmy Hanlon – a regular on the Max’s Kansas City scene, we swapped storied and painted together in his studio.

Our good friends Jim and Liza invited Erin and I to Pennsylvania along with Alyson and Lowell, for a relaxing weekend on Lake Wallenpaupack, of The Office fame. In between shooting guns and drinking beer, I managed to squeeze in a shore-side boat painting.

Never one to shy away from a commercial piece of art, I decided to pair up Barack Obama and Red Bull – a piece which is now in the Red Bull corporate collection.

2009 was a big year for yours truly, and a huge year for my beautiful lady Erin. She graduated with her Masters from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, and founded her Acupuncture and Herbal practice in Midtown. One of the many charming facts about Erin is her extensive travel experience, something I wanted to capture for her in a painting.

The Guggenheim has become a significant building for me. Besides having this painting sold to a private collector in Milan, this is where my good friend and fellow artist Ari Lankin works when he isn’t creating. On our way home from a hockey game, Ari asked me what I wanted to do with my life. After saying I was going to quit advertising at 40 to be a full-time artist, he asked me what I was waiting for. Thank you Ari for the inspiration and friendship.

The Woody Allen New York I love is always down the road at Elaine’s. There is something about the energy pulsating from these windows at night that I had to capture. Erin, her Mom and me had one helluva night here, during a driving rain, when our nightcap turned into three rounds, the last courtesy of Elaine herself.

How does Twitter relate to Cigars? Twitter and artist Tony Black helped me connect with the brothers Fakih, proprietors of the excellent Cigar Inn. The gentlemen allowed me to set-up shop in their lounge to capture the ambiance.

Further using Twitter to connect, I put out a call to my friends for a 24-hour art challenge. The results were inspiring, and it was quite an experience to work simultaneously with talented people across the globe.

The New York Post is my favorite piece of daily reading material, and their logo has become a fixation in much of my studio work. This particular piece was inspired by the devastating Taconic car crash.

When I heard Bravo was making an art star reality show, I decided to post a nude portrait and open letter to the casting agency to get my fair crack. I was fast-tracked to the second round of auditions, but was informed my character type had already been cast in the final round. The process wasn’t for naught, as I created a one-day, 4′X4′ painting – captured in a time lapse by photographer extraordinaire Greg McMahon.

Quickly becoming my third home, Erin and I took a trip to visit her family in Minnetonka. On a bright sunny day, I set-up shop in the Hessel garden to capture some flowers.

Before our visit, I contacted the Walker Art Museum for permission to paint in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Ever since my first visit, I had my sights set on painting Oldenburg’s magnificent Spoonbridge and Cherry. Remember, size does matter.

While painting Elaine’s, the Marketing Director for ESPN Zone inquired if I would be interested in painting the ESPN Zone facade in Times Square for their ten year anniversary. Spending a week painting in the center of the universe was an experience I won’t soon forget.

This painting was supposed to be the MOMA, but I couldn’t find any good angles to paint so I decided to capture the big orange box on Madison Avenue. This temporary facade will make way for the new Hermés Men’s store this February.

I’m not a big portrait guy, nor am I political – but I am fascinated with the workings of Charlie Rangel.

This painting wasn’t supposed to look like this, but, it captures my feelings about Plymouth Massachusetts accurately. Only a few people caught the nerdy title reference to the four-color printing process.

A mantra must be said over and over again. The nexus of this particular canvas will remain unsaid, since this is a family oriented blog – but, feel free to let your imagination run wild, barefoot, through an expansive field of mossy grass.

Before Tiger Woods was up to no good, Serena was making death threats.

And of course, Kanye decided he is in fact going to let you finish.

I am not the only person who is in love with the Chrysler Building. This fine art deco masterpiece lights up the NYC skyline, and my heart.

BUtterfield8 was a random drop-in during a walk to meet Erin at her office, and became a location for a painting. This piece was painted in dim lighting, and the actual colors were difficult to ascertain, so I had to take the picture outside from time-to-time to understand where I was.

LOUIS VUITTON and football, the typical male combination.

Answering my call for a location to paint, my friend from high school Theresa Notartomaso offered-up the office of Headroom Digital. I received an added creative bonus, when TJ Dumser created a time lapse video of my process.

My good friend Vicki Harte put me in touch with the gentlemen of ad agency SS+K. The next day, I found myself painting from the 30th floor of their Water Street office. This picture is featured in the poster for Urbania, my first art exhibition scheduled for January 20th.

Thanks to my hockey buddy Dave Wender, I had all the view I could handle from Whentech’s 7 World Trade Center office. My second night-time painting, I spent dozens of hours staring into the darkness, trying to make sense of reality without the use of black.

I figured, if my work is going to make the trip to Milan, why shouldn’t I? While there, I made a painting a day, for four straight days.

Mmmm…. Brera.

The narrow, romantic streets of Milan were captivating. Since I was there without Erin, I had to focus my romantic energy on colorful stippling of the streets.

Cathedrals in Europe are like McDonald’s in Europe, they are everywhere.

Painting from reality is my passion, but sometimes it is enjoyable to set up a canvas and simply paint, without any particular direction. To enhance the experience, it is all about creating distractions and allowing the medium to move itself.

In my former life (below), I helped finance the Trump International Hotel & Tower, Chicago. So, as you can imagine, it was a thrill to paint from the building I helped create. The trip itself was amazing, thanks to our good friends Crystal and Conor, Chicago’s finest hosts.

The Donald and Me at the Apprentice after-party.

One of the greatest side-benefits of my new career is meeting some cool people, and the guys over at Freedom+Partners fit the bill. They let me set-up in their office, and gave me 24-hour access to paint - very cool. They even hosted a figure drawing session in their studio, it was boss (paintings below.)

My High School Figure Drawing teacher Jeff Fisher taught us, recreating the human form is like trying to stuff ten pounds of salami into an eight pound bag.

Not surprisingly, this is not a smart piece of wisdom to share directly with a nude model.

Art as happening, this is ARTPROV. Back in the day, my friend Rory Scholl and I spent our days and mostly nights hitting up the NYC stand-up comedy circuit. ARTPROV was our first show together in years, and it was a blast.

For my brother Tim’s 21st birthday, I created a painting of his favorite building – it was also the first piece I did with my newly broken leg.

I’ve been collaging my entire life, and this piece was done on Christmas Day. Inspired by my many sketchbooks, I am currently working on a series of these bad boys.

There were a few unfinished pieces this year, but I am going to let them rest for now. It is only when you hit an impasse with a piece, that you can understand how the dates on a painting in a museum can span multiple years. Sometimes the brush just doesn’t want to move, and I don’t think you should fight that. All-in, 2009 was a year of transition. My goal for 2010 is to find myself on New Years eve, one year from today, still doing what I am doing. If I happen to be rich from my work simultaneously, you won’t find me sobbing.

Thank you to everyone in my life for helping me realize my dream. Have an amazing and safe New Years eve, and here is to an epic 2010.