It was nice to talk to you. I look forward to passing through this particular challenge, but being as productive as possible. Sorry the video is grainy. P.S I did see the moon, misty and cloudy not red yet but ever beautiful.

Below is Peter Cullen, a very fine man, the voice of Optimus Prime, who passed away today at 85. And beneath is a work by the beautiful Palestine artist Sliman Mansour who passed away at 79.

The world mourns the wondrous Dolly Parton who was as great as philanthropist s a singer songwriter. So we lost three very kind, humanistic souls this week. How lucky we were to have them.

Read more

Read more

Hello everyone,

I am home rebuilding strength and hopefully finish my book and send more messages. My daughter Jesse Paris is taking good care of me and I am happy to be back in New York. Here are a few pictures of our last days in Rome and Milan.

Our tour ended in Milan on July 29th, my father’s birthday. Jesse shot the full moon overhead. The people were filled with happy energy that was infectious.

I made this video a couple days ago but hesitated to send it. But I thought it may be helpful to anyone suffering the shingles virus. I also am only sending to my Subscribers. I am doing better every day. I am lucky to have such a small though hard working and loyal team. Everyone has stepped up to make things easier and Jesse had flow…

Read more

I’m on the Eurostar with the fellows en route to Paris. Last night we had a great job at the Ghent jazz festival. Much improvising as it was the jazz festival. An impromptu version of Footnote to Howl celebrating Allen Ginsberg’s 100th year, A story about a stolen panel: The Judgement, from the great Altarpiece, and a take on our fireflies.

I am including some snapshots traveling to Ghent, and revisiting places I love.

I will write again from Paris, still have pictures from Arles. A time of continual motion, for sure…

The audio above represents some of the audio work I do with Soundwalk. In the next couple days I will send pictures from the exhibition.

Below is an excerpt from my first post on Substack. I was writing about Andrei Tarkovsky’s masterpiece Andrei Rublev. I am including it as July 4th is one of the great icon painters feast day. It also marks the opening of the Exhibition that I collaborated with Soundwalk Collective for the Hoffman Foundation. Ten short films are part of the exhibition. It includes our homage to Tarkovsky and Rublev; the entire soundtrack which I improvised is above. I am sending it on Independence Day as it addresses the duality of the Artist’s blessed burden, and considers his dilemma. What does it mean to be free….

Excerpt:

The film opens with a breathtaking prologue wherein a visionary peasant with the heart of Leonardo successfully flies in a makeshift air balloon, beholding a panorama from a perspective that none have seen before, save the birds, or perhaps Icarus and ascending saints. The sequence closes with a dark horse rolling on his back then slowly rising by a glistening pond. Andrei Rublev appears in the first part called The Jester Summer 1400. We see him from above, reluctantly leaving his monastery, questioning the validity of his artistic path. As he tramped through heavy rains I felt his shivering body beneath his coarse robes. Pelted by a sad splendor, I was thinking.

The seasons change, the years go by. The music is holy, the rituals frozen and sad. The wanderings of the icon painter continue as a silvery dust seems to settle on every frame. A long film, the most perfect I had ever seen, so perfect it made me sick. I was struck with the sense of watching a documentary, shot in the onset of the 15th century. A black and white pageant of poetic realism.

I was transfixed by the overexposed Russian landscape where ice and smoke brutally unite. Winter expanses invaded and corrupted. Blood spattering nature’s canvas, echoed by a rage of paint smeared on chapel walls. Andrei endlessly tramps tumultuous Russia, confounded by nightingales, images of Jesus in the snow, and the crushed neck of a swan. He sacrifices his brush and speech, seeking unattainable peace, while turning his back on his God given gift.

Please drink a lot of water and considering these lines of the Declaration we so cherish. I hope you find the audio inspiring…

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Happy Independence Day.

I am pretty much on my way to Arles. A few loose ends and off I go. I’m feeling very much like Uncle Wiggily embarking on a lone roadtrip. Jesse is indeed on a roadtrip. She left for Nashville after our small but loving birthday celebration, including a ride on the ferry and a visit to the ocean in Rockaway Beach.

It was a perfect day to be together and a perfect day to fly.

I hope everyone stays healthy, does good work, and considers the plight of others. Our prayers and donations for the people of Venezuela. The fact that our government struck without provocation and left the country in a state of administrative chaos only adds to their terrible challenges. We must do what we can, there are no small efforts. Every positive effort is indeed meaningful.

I will send a message soon. Good wishes to all…

The photograph was taken on Seabrook Island, South Carolina in 1987 by t.e. denton. Pictured are Jackson Smith, Jesse yet to be born and my brother Todd’s daughter Simone. Have a good day everyone.

Below is one of several depictions of the young John the Baptist by Caravaggio. Often with shepherds staff in hand, always wearing a blood red cloak..

Good night all…..

https://www.raiplay.it/video/2026/06/Patti-Smith-canta-Because-the-Night---Campioni-del-mondo-Italia-loves-Unesco-05062026-6d6603cc-504c-4d4e-b7db-51c5d803786f.html

Our journey ended with fields of dandelions my most beloved wild flower….

Happiness in Istanbul. Shot by Jackson Smith. May you all feel a bit of joy today!!!