Hi, and thank you for visiting my homepage. This is a rare shot, me in both a church and a suit at the same time! I'm trying to write a little introduction here... I'll start by saying I'm a painter/printmaker/woodworker/photographer, graduate of Cooper Union in New York and Villa Schifanoia in Florence. I've lived most of my life in the NY metropolitan area, but for six years lived in Florence/Tuscany. I'm fluent in Italian and still love to speak it. Right now I'm involved in two big projects: preparing new work for a show in New York, and the other: starting to build a house and a whole series of other structures (studio, woodshop, hermitage, treehouse, guest house) in the mountains outside Woodstock NY. It's always been my dream to build a retreat in the woods, and what better place to do that than Woodstock, where the artisan tradition is so strong and nature so exquisite? Over the years I've gained a lot of experience in construction, buying and restoring old, neglected houses as a way to support myself. ( I wanted my art to be free of commercial pressures ). My first project was in the mountains outside Florence, a four hundred year old stone house, which I still own. Then I renovated two multifamily frame houses in New Jersey, ( both from turn of the LAST century ) and finally a Victorian farmhouse in a small and historic New Jersey town where I live and operate my studio.

For fun I collect antiques and memorabilia (both high end and tacky/kitche, and I enjoy juxtaposing them), play the flute, listen to music ( Beth Orton, Bryan Ferry, Battiato, Jobim, Coltrane, Hendrix, Francesco De Gregori, Tom Ze', Big Bill Broonzy, Ma Rainey, Satie, Chopin, Scriabin, Simple Minds, Djavan, Buena Vista Social Club, Nina Hagen, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Pat Metheny, Stan Getz, Robbie Robertson, Zazie, Miles Davis, Catie Curtis, Natalie Merchant, Guiseppe di Stefano, Roberto Muralo, Canzoniere Internazionale, Carlo Buti, Victor Jara, among others ), collect 78rpms (remember those?) and vintage audio equipment to play them on ( Victrolas, tube amplifiers, etc. ), collect books (on art, cuisine, history, philosophy, esoterica, sociology, folk tales, health, martial arts, etc.), cook (I'm good - I learned in Italy!), savor delicious meals, lose myself in the fireplace, guzzle wine with my buddies, walk in the mountains, pretend to study aikido, surf the net, talk endlessly on the phone with my friends, drink tons of coffee in the morning, hang at the local used book store/cafe', watch CNN, Court TV, Nightline and The History Channel, go to the movies ( some favorites: Pulp Fiction, La Strada, La Notte di Uno e Mille, Cinema Paradiso, La Vita E' Bella, Leolo, My Life As A Dog, Secrets and Lies, Mona Lisa, Seven Samurai, American Beauty, The Red Violin, Big Top Pee Wee, Matador, Law of Desire, Saving Private Ryan, Blue Velvet, La Dolce Vita, Ran, Querelle, Weekend, Il Postino... ), tell jokes, learn new ones, laugh my butt off, sing like Caruso, stare into space and watch the world go by, etc.

Hope to hear from you!
DrewKnapp@aol.com
( check out my house in Tuscany, as well as other restorations, with the links below )

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