Huntington Reno: Posts by: TWC

It has been a fortnight or three since we moved in and it is safe to say that we are pretty settled now.  At the end (does it really ever end?) of a process such as ours the immediate instinct was to rush into a bunch of small decisions like rugs, furniture, etc just to get it out of the way, start living in the house and not belabor setting it up.  We found that to be a mistake as most of the quick (cheap) decisions we made didn’t last long.  While we were not in need of myriad stuff there were a few items required to round out the new space and we didn’t allow ourselves anytime to take advantage of the borough which can obviously effect what you inevitably furnish with.  After being subjected to Westchester during the renovation I think both the wife and I forgot about how much really is at your fingertips when you live in an amazing place like Brooklyn, both what you know exists and what surprises you encounter.  Dino-Punch is the perfect example.

A month or so ago we finally made the trip over to Bushwick to give Roberta’s a try with another couple.  After a pretty dope meal we all headed to the Pine Box just around the corner on Grattan for a drink and fell in love.  As I am sure most would agree art is purely subjective and for the most part there is an immediate response to what you are beholding, regardless of the medium.  As we sat down on a bench in the back we looked up and saw Dino-Punch.  He was huge, menacing, a little violent but fun, playful, witty and charming at least in my humble opinion.  I was taken back as my wife was even more smitten than I was initially and trust me when I say that Dino is quite a diversion from our usual tastes but the attraction was immediate, intoxicating and we were not intoxicated either.  After sitting there admiring the craziness Mrs. TWC popped up, told me she wanted it and scurried off to get some info.  It just happens that a good bloke by the name of Chris D’Acunto happened to be sitting there when the Mrs. asked the barkeep what the scoop with art was.  The bartender pointed at Chris, the artist, who came over to give us the background on the piece and the rest of his work which was covering the walls at the Pine Box.  After a brief but very pleasant conversation it was easy to tell that this guy had his shit together.  I mean that in the most sincere way possible; he wasn’t full of himself whatsoever, had no pretentiousness, was genuine, didn’t seem to take himself or his art in that annoyingly-serious manner, seemed a bit nervous about hanging his work and was admirably humble as though this just happens to be what he loves to do, nothing more than that.

I gave him my business card on the way out, told him to email me so we can continue the conversation about Dino-Punch.  He got back to me later that weekend, gave me a price and sent me a link to his website.  It was painless reaching an agreement on a fair price for the piece and we planned to pick it up the following Monday.  After showing up in Zip Car SUV we learned the hard way that a piece of this size needed a pick-up.  Luckily it was nice out so we strapped the sucker to the roof with Chris’ assistance and took him home.  After a comedy of errors we ended up hanging Dino here…

This is in the kitchen, double-height space along the narrow mezzanine walkway.  Almost everyone that has met Dino has insisted that he live here, directly above the kitchen…

I have a feeling that we will end up making the switch as we continue to settle in but in the meantime we are just pleased to have him in our home.

Though we had moved-in and got the backyard looking spiffy the front facade still needed that stuff they call brownstone.  It took a few weeks between rain delays and the fact that it can be a laborious process but in the end we are quite pleased with the way it turned out.  There has obviously been much transformation since we bought the old gal but the brownstone made for one of the biggest aesthetic improvements overall, its hard to imagine the place with just the old scratch coat so lets take a trip down memory lane and see how far we have come, simply from the sidewalks point of view.