The mid-Hudson is my creative studio. Albany. Troy. Waterford. Cohoes. Coeymans. New Baltimore. The Hudson River. It's my 100-mile home.

 

A friend once told me boxers get good because they practice in small squares. It's about boundaries. It made perfect sense. So I dove into the region and went deeper and deeper and discovered both an unparalleled history and a world-class landscape right here in my own backyard, much of it overlooked, neglected. Incredible things happened here, but most of the region's stories - good and bad - have been forgotten. What remains? Blue and yellow historic markers scattered about like a patchwork with no narrative.

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So I bring back to you the wonders that I've found walking down a country road or a forgotten footpath, heading into the hills at dawn, or dilating the perimeter of Peebles Island at dusk. Mudlarking the Hudson at low tide, discovering bits of our natural, human, and industrial stories. Exploring Flight Lock Road, or watching tendrils of fog lift from a tributary at sunrise as an eagle calls out. The footprint of a brick factory. Shipping lanes, dredge spoils, mudflats. Our local language, in the industrial edgelands. Finding a reason to pull over now as others speed past to get to somewhere else.

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This project has allowed me to continue the wonders of a free-ranging childhood. Which is a fantastic thing to be able to do.