The Flatiron District

A bird's eye view from 23rd Street

"Flatiron District #1"
Oil on canvas
24 x 18 inches

A new painting to share with you today. I've been keeping busy with several projects and commissions of late and hope to be sharing some new paintings in the coming weeks. Here's one fresh off the easel.

One of the projects I'm working on is creating a new series of the Flatiron and Gramercy Park areas of Manhattan along with two other artists whose subject matter is similar to my own. We three live and/or work in these areas and know them well. One artist is a printmaker, one is a printmaker/painter and I'm a painter, so it will be an interesting mix of work. We're planning on exhibiting this work sometime in the fall of 2010, so we've got plenty of time to really explore these areas and portray them in our respective mediums.

This is my first painting and I found the perspective really interesting. I was on the balcony of a building on 23rd Street and Broadway and got some wonderful photos. This view is looking north and the street configuration below is what caught my interest. The city is currently redoing roads and making some areas more pedestrian friendly. A portion of the roadway in the 23rd Street area was paved over and decorated with potted plants, stone blocks and tables and chairs. I'm not sure that I would want to be sitting literally in the middle of traffic, but that's the idea.

I have blocked in several new paintings and I'm ready to begin work on them. Look forward to an interesting painting series ahead.