His pieces appear in front of you like incarnations of ancient animal spirits, resurrected via modern image making. Their animal eyes follow you through the room, and a few of them you’d love to adopt for your own. All have been channeled by the eyes and hands of one artist, the one and only, Marshall Arisman.

It was my pleasure to have met Marshall Arisman through his involvement with Art on a Grand Scale. Friday evening Richard and I dropped by an open studio hosted by the artist, where a number of his recent pieces were on display and for sale.

Of particular interest to this fan were the Sacred Monkey sculptures (left), each face a personality out of time, although every large painting and drawing was an intriguing experience of its own. The scope of pieces such as “Rainbow Runners” (top left), a piece made of four large sheets of handmade paper, made me feel like a minor fleck in the continuum, similar I’m sure to how I would feel if I ever had the opportunity to see the ancient cave paintings they remind me of.

At one time, pre-crane, we had a large Marshall Arisman piece hanging in our office. It’s subject was a figure, solid and earthly, but deified with wings and a holy glow about it. We had hopes that something that so resembled a phoenix would survive the crash and find a home in our new office, but we were not so lucky, and unfortunately that irreplaceable piece was destroyed.

Walking through his studio, I considered what a true testament it was to Arisman’s vision that every piece he’s created is just as unique and irreplaceable.

I just want you all to understand how utterly grateful I am that fate dealt its deathly blow on a Saturday. I know each of you has emotionally dealt with, and are most likely still dealing with, the enormity of the catastrophe of March 15. Ironically, I was standing in line at my local Post Office sending a Priority Envelope to Scott with some scans of new artwork, at, most likely, the very minute the address it was being sent to, ceased to exist.

The tragedy for all the families and friends of the dead, cannot be minimalized, and there is no joy in the understanding of the great loss of time, energy , and history, in the offices of Richard Solomon Artists Representative. But after living through a very long Saturday afternoon, waiting to hear from Greg that all of you had been accounted for (Scott called Greg, so he was clear… Krista confirmed OK, Bryan next , a VERY long hour before Richard , and an excruciating many hours before Meredith in the clear) and gaining a more complete comprehension of the focused devastation, I must admit to having a sense of joy. Joy that can only come from realizing , how, placed so directly in the path of fate, you all are safe, and full of the exact same vigor and energy that you have always had.

I look at the pictures, I see “Krista’s window” standing as a lone reminder of what was… I see the black and yellow trimmed Mini in the street that Wendy and Julie laughed at me for stopping and looking at, parked at the curb opposite 305 on that wonderful Sunday morning as we walked to the Beekman for brunch. On Saturday afternoon, I watched live, on CNN and FOX, as the NYFD walked over familiar places where desks were, and where, for all I knew, the darkest possibilities lay.

We all suffer personal tragedies in our lives, as that is as much a part of life as are the great pleasures of it all. But this event brought greater and very special meaning to common words like friend, colleague, business associate, and representative. You are all so much more, and the joyful ache in the center of my chest is exact proof of that to me. Thank you, for all you are, and continue to be, in our lives.

Rick Farrell

Previous articles called the accident a scene of total destruction. “On Sunday, city officials released a detailed description of the collapse at 303 East 51st Street, saying that workers were “jumping” the crane — intricately adding sections to raise the crane — when a steel collar used to secure the crane to the building fell. That piece sheared off a lower collar, and the entire structure toppled,” the Times reported. Read the full article here.