Brian Clarke in the ’80s, Lower Left (All Photos By Gail)
The art world mourns the loss of Sir Brian Clarke, the visionary British stained-glass artist and painter, who passed away from cancer on July 1, 2025 — just one day shy of his 72nd birthday. Born in Oldham, Lancashire, Clarke transformed stained glass from ecclesiastical embellishment into a breathtaking architectural medium.
Clarke’s artistic journey began as a scholarship student at age 13. Over the decades, he pioneered works that blurred art and space —from majestic church windows to public installations and freestanding glass screens. Continue reading Farewell Sir Brian Clarke: Master of Light and Line→
Many of you already know that we lost comic actor Joe Flaherty on April 1, 2024 at the age of 82. Flaherty was a prolific actor with a long career, but the role that most endeared him to me was that of Count Floyd, vampire host of Monster Chiller Horror Theatre, a parody of horror movie shows on the Canadian sketch comedy television show SCTV (Second City Television). Continue reading Monster Chiller Horror Theatre T-Shirt – Very Scary!→
There are not many philanthropists like Eli Broad, who died on April 30th, 2021 at the age 87. In his lifetime, Broad and his wife Edith amassed a personal collection of over 2,000 works of contemporary art, which they then donated to the city of Los Angeles (and the world), building a namesake museum to house them all for your enjoyment. Who does that? Amazing. You can read more about Eli Broad’s life of service in his obituary from the NY Times at This Link. Read all about my super fun visit to The Broad Museum shortly after it opened in 2015, and see some choice pieces of the collection, at This Link. RIP.
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Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lester Bangs in Almost Famous (with Patrick Fugit)
By now, everyone with an Internet connection knows that American Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died early this morning, February 2nd, 2014 of an apparent Heroin Overdose in his NYC apartment. He was just 46 years old. I am currently inconsolable over this tragic news. Hoffman was certainly among my favorite actors and I don’t think I ever saw film he was in where he didn’t blow me away with his ability to transform into his character. He was comparable to a male version of Meryl Streep when it came to his versatility. What a huge loss. Continue reading Eight Favorite Roles by Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman→
Fourteen time Grammy winning record producer Phil Ramone passed away in New York today, March 30th, 2013. The cause of death has not yet been disclosed. Ramone was 72 years old (though I have seen two sources cite his age as 79, not sure where that is coming from as his year of birth is given as 1941). A brief list of artists Ramone worked with includes Burt Bacharach, Bono, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder. CNN has more information and celebrity remembrances in a nice obit at This Link. RIP, Phil!
