I finally met the artist Simon Dinnerstein the other day. I’ve been aware of him for a long time: seeing his book at Barnes and Noble, and the signs advertising his classes that are posted around the Slope.

The other morning, we sat in the light-filled parlor of his Park Slope brownstone talking about his artwork, his career, and his penchant for making portraits of interesting-looking people in the neighborhood.

Currently, Simon has a drawing in a show at the Tabla Rasa Gallery in Sunset Park. It is a striking portrait of Thomas Parker (left), who works as a barista at Connecticut Muffin on Seventh Avenue. A few years ago, Simon asked him to pose for one of his classes. He was so taken with his face, "the movement and the lines and the way that his personality comes through," that he wanted to make his own drawing.   

The portrait, in black and white, captures Thomas’s aura, which is, says Simon, "regal and dignified."  Simon tried to follow what he calls "the external and internal map" that is his face. "He is a man who doesn’t ask too much and seems to have a real acceptance of people, of life," says Simon. "The lines on his face reveal his journey" and the portrait projects density and force.

Simon has also done a remarkable painting of Wajih Salem, the tall man with the beard who is one of the sibling-owners of D’Vine Taste. Pictured with a gigantic cactus plant that Simon bought from Zuzu’s Petals, Simon wanted to  juxtapose the complex lines of the plant with Rajiv’s long angularity. "He has a strong sense of form," says Simon, "and a strong internal presence."

Looking through Simon’s book, I see that much of Simon’s work reveals an engagement with Brooklyn, its people and Simon’s personal history in this borough.  This close understanding of the urban life of the community reveals Simon’s ability to look deeply at the internal and external lives of the people around him.

Simon told me about the studio he used to have in Sunset Park where he worked on a painting called "Fullbright Triptich." In the early 1970’s, a Madison Avenue art dealer came "all the way out" to Brooklyn, which was unusual at the time, to have a look at the half-finished work.  "I think that’s a great picture," he told Simon. "I’d like to own it." A week later, the dealer called and offered buy the large (79" x 168") painting over the two years it would take to finish it, a gesture which supported Simon and his family during a difficult financial time. "It was a first class rescue operation and it set everything in motion after that." says Simon referring to his  Rome Prize Fellowship to the American Academy in Rome in 1976-1978.

Simon, who is a bit of Luddite,  was motivated to check out this blog, at the suggestion of a  good friend of mine, who is  taking life drawing classes with him on
Wednesdays; an experience she treasures — a chance to learn drawing
from a master. He knew immediately that
"Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn" was a reference to the short story "Only the Dead Know Brooklyn" by the great Thomas Wolfe, a favorite story of his.

On the day Simon looked at OTBKB, the "Postcard from the Slope" was about Wajid Salam and D’Vine Taste. Simon was delighted to read about the man he’d made drawings and a painting of. We spoke about coincidence and fate; the way unexpected things present themselves in unexpected ways.

After leaving Simon’s house, I walked down Seventh Avenue and noticed a homeless man staring at something in the window of Su Casa, the fabric store on the corner of Berkeley Place. I was intrigued and wondered what the man was looking at so intently. As I passed I saw that it was one of Simon’s class advertisements, which showed a painting from 1983 called "January Light" of a black woman in an orange gown. I kept looking back for a few minutes and the man was still standing there seemingly mesmerized by the painting Simon had just shown me in his book.

Unexpected things. Unexpected ways.

Now all these years later, Simon, who is represented by the ACA Galleries in Chelsea, returns to Sunset Park, not far from the studio where he used to paint. His drawing of Thomas Parker is part of a show called "Past and Present" at the Tabla Rasa Gallery, located at 224 48th Street in Brooklyn. The gallery is open on Friday and Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m. If you would like information about Simon’s classes call: (718) 788-4387.