Small Matters

"LIC Courthouse-Fountain"
Oil on canvas
5 x 5 in.

These two small studies of the Long Island City courthouse will be on exhibit in the 15th Annual Small Matters of Great Importance exhibit at the Hopper House Art Center in Nyack, New York. I really like the fact that my work will be hanging in what was once the boyhood home of artist Edward Hopper, one of my favorite painters.


"LIC Courthouse-Flag"
Oil on panel
5 x 5 in.

Certain of my paintings have been described as "Hopperesque", so being part of this exhibit is somehow fitting. The exhibition runs from September 27 through October 29, with the opening reception on Sunday, September 28th, 2-5 pm. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by.

True Colors

Some work featured on on the PaintingsDirect.com website

"Lafayette"
Oil on canvas
8 x 10 in.

Several of my paintings have been on the PaintingsDirect.com website for several years and are occasionally featured on the home page and in the True Colors Newsletter. This small scale painting of some lovely architectural details on a Lafayette Street building is just one of the paintings featured in the current True Colors newsletter, Vol. 10 #11. If you'd like to read the article click here

Go Yankees

Well, a 7-0 loss isn't exactly a great game but...

Photo taken 9/13/08

With only 10 games left to go before "The House That Ruth Built" is closed down for good, I thought it would be a nice idea to take my brother, a Yankee fan since childhood, to a final game, perhaps to relive some memories. My friend "Yankee Fran", a season ticketholder, was kind enough to give me 2 tickets to the game, what a pal! The place was packed. My brother had lots of stories to tell such attending the first ever Bat Day, being present for Mickey Mantle Day, his boyhood hero, and then there was the time a fly ball zoomed into the stands and landed smack into the mouth of his friend Eddie - not exactly the way to catch a ball.

The game wasn't anything to write home about, the Yanks losing 7-0 with few hits, but since I've only been to about 3 games in my life, I enjoyed sitting in the crowd, watching the action on the field and taking lots of photos with the idea, of course, of doing a painting or two of an historic building that will soon be disappearing from the NYC landscape - my specialty it seems. Here's a painting I did in 1989 of the famous frieze surrounding the topmost section of the stadium.


"Yankee Stadium"
Oil on canvas
10 x 8 iinches

An artist friend, Andy Jurinko, is a master at painting the golden era of baseball and has done many paintings of baseball stadiums, players and historic moments in the game, someone worth checking out if you enjoy this subject.

I did get a photo of the new stadium currently under construction and it's looking pretty spiffy. I just might have to go to a game, if I can afford a ticket, when it opens next year.


Photo taken 9/13/08

9/11 seven years down the road...

Thinking about then and now

"Union Square Memorial #3"
Oil on canvas
30 x 36 inches

Thinking a lot about the events of 9/11 this week and I'm finding it hard to believe that 7 years have passed. New York is a different city today, it's a different world. Many people around the globe joined in our mourning and I did this painting with the idea of community.


Photograph taken Fall, 2007

The area where the towers once stood is a huge construction site and the latest word is that the "bathtub", the structure keeping out the river, is still leaking and building progress is slow going. Tourists continue to flock downtown to see the site where the "Twins" once stood.




"New York Harbor"
Oil on canvas
36 x 46 inches
Sold

I did this painting in 1985 and it was purchased by a company with offices in the World Trade Center. As far as I know, this painting perished along with so many other works of art that day.


Art and politics don't mix, at least for me, and I generally keep my opinions to myself. This 9/11 anniversary though, brings home the fact that it's a troubled world we're living in. This artist is an apolitical person, throwing in the towel when McGovern lost the race back in the day. These last few years though, I find I can't help but be very, very concerned and the upcoming election is bringing home how many important issues need to be addressed. A lot is riding on the outcome and I hope the candidate who wins will be the right person for the seemingly impossible job of getting us out of the mess the last eight years have put us in. I'll be casting my ballot and keeping my fingers crossed that my vote will really count this time around.

Kicking off the Fall Season

Several juried shows coming up

"Holiday Bait"
Oil on canvas
18 x 24 inches

This Fall will find several of my paintings on view in various juried/group exhibits. Yesterday I delivered "Holiday Bait", a painting of a holiday-themed restaurant window on 23rd Street, to the Audubon Artists 66th Annual Exhibition. The exhibit is held at the Salmagundi Club in a nice old brownstone on Fifth Avenue and the quality of work is usually pretty good. The show is open to the public September 8 -26.

Last week I received a letter from the National Association of Women Artists informing me that my painting "Holiday at Carmine's" had won an award in their 119th Annual Exhibition, always nice news to hear. That exhibition is on view at GoggleWorks in Reading, Pennsylvania from August 24 - September 29.

More shows are coming up and I'll keep you posted!

Empire City Iron Works

LIC continued

LIC/ Empire City Iron Works
Oil on canvas
8 x 10 inches
Sold

Still busy painting Long Island City scenes and I now have over 20 paintings completed with more ready to be worked on for the upcoming show in December. So many new high-rise developments are taking over the neighborhood these days, but vestiges of the light manufacturing area LIC is can still be found. Empire City Iron Works has several buildings in the area and this sign really pops out of the landscape. Decided to do a painting of this site as it is part of the history of LIC and lends a sense of what a mixed-use community this still is.