SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023
UP FRONT
I hope you are all doing well.
Architecture has always fascinated me. I even studied architectural drawing when I was younger
and seriously considered making it my vocation. For me, however, being tied (figuratively
speaking) to a drafting table was not very appealing to my energetic teenage way of thinking.
I find it ironic that I spend just as much time today as an artist working at my computer on various
writing and photography projects. Life is funny. You just never know!
Because my fascination with architecture has remained with me throughout the years, I wanted
to do a SPOTLIGHT featuring the subject. Not just another examination of the art form, but
something with a creative twist. With Halloween approaching, I thought it would be interesting to
show how certain houses or buildings evoke a sense of uneasiness or foreboding. This issue's
SPOTLIGHT entitled, Architectural Fear, is the result.
Architecture has always fascinated me. I even studied architectural drawing when I was younger
and seriously considered making it my vocation. For me, however, being tied (figuratively
speaking) to a drafting table was not very appealing to my energetic teenage way of thinking.
I find it ironic that I spend just as much time today as an artist working at my computer on various
writing and photography projects. Life is funny. You just never know!
Because my fascination with architecture has remained with me throughout the years, I wanted
to do a SPOTLIGHT featuring the subject. Not just another examination of the art form, but
something with a creative twist. With Halloween approaching, I thought it would be interesting to
show how certain houses or buildings evoke a sense of uneasiness or foreboding. This issue's
SPOTLIGHT entitled, Architectural Fear, is the result.
Finally, if you read the SPOTLIGHT in the May/June issue, you may recall that I mentioned
listening to the music of the 1960s on my transistor radio. Well...something strange happened
shortly after that issue was published which I would like to share with you.
While going through some old boxes, I came across that radio (I save just about everything!)
that my parents had given to me for Christmas, 1964. Not thinking it would still play after all
these years, I put a 9V battery in it and...lo and behold...it worked! I couldn't believe my ears!
They really made things to last back then! Keep in mind that I hadn't seen this radio in decades.
Discovering it was cool enough, but to hear music coming out of the tiny speaker was amazing
and a bit eerie for me as well! For a minute, I even thought I heard it play news and music from
the 1960s, as if it were somehow trapped in time...like the old radio in the episode of The
Twilight Zone entitled, Static. Just my creative imagination, I suppose.
Have a fun, safe and slightly spooky Halloween!
Until we connect again...
Douglas Schwartz, Publisher and Editor
listening to the music of the 1960s on my transistor radio. Well...something strange happened
shortly after that issue was published which I would like to share with you.
While going through some old boxes, I came across that radio (I save just about everything!)
that my parents had given to me for Christmas, 1964. Not thinking it would still play after all
these years, I put a 9V battery in it and...lo and behold...it worked! I couldn't believe my ears!
They really made things to last back then! Keep in mind that I hadn't seen this radio in decades.
Discovering it was cool enough, but to hear music coming out of the tiny speaker was amazing
and a bit eerie for me as well! For a minute, I even thought I heard it play news and music from
the 1960s, as if it were somehow trapped in time...like the old radio in the episode of The
Twilight Zone entitled, Static. Just my creative imagination, I suppose.
Have a fun, safe and slightly spooky Halloween!
Until we connect again...
Douglas Schwartz, Publisher and Editor
The painting featured on THE FRONT PAGE compliments this subject very well. So much so, in fact, that the house portrayed
in it is reported to have influenced the frightening look of the Bates' home in the film, Psycho, and The Addams Family home
in the television series. How's that for architectural inspiration!
I always try to present something in each SPOTLIGHT that is different and enlightening. To be honest with you, I was a bit
apprehensive about publishing the July/August SPOTLIGHT...The Art of War Films...because the subject of war is so
depressing. Judging by the response from many readers, however, I am pleased to report that my apprehension was uncalled
for. A few of your comments are included on the FEEDBACK page.
in it is reported to have influenced the frightening look of the Bates' home in the film, Psycho, and The Addams Family home
in the television series. How's that for architectural inspiration!
I always try to present something in each SPOTLIGHT that is different and enlightening. To be honest with you, I was a bit
apprehensive about publishing the July/August SPOTLIGHT...The Art of War Films...because the subject of war is so
depressing. Judging by the response from many readers, however, I am pleased to report that my apprehension was uncalled
for. A few of your comments are included on the FEEDBACK page.
My 1960s GE transistor radio.
