Gramercy Park South

The last painting for the upcoming October exhibit


"Gramercy Park South Snow"
Oil on canvas
10 x 8 inches

Today's painting is a new one and my last piece for the upcoming exhibit, "Triple Play: Flatiron/Gramercy from 3 Angles", at the Franklin 54 Gallery, October 19 - November 24. Another snowy scene from last winter's snowstorm. I liked the contrast of the snow against the old brownstone steps and wrought iron railings.

I had hoped to paint several more small paintings for the show, but as the gallery is only so large we have limited our works to 14 artworks from each artist, 42 artworks in total. That will make for a nice selection of work. Our brochure has arrived from the printer and looks fabulous! Will be gearing up to do a mailing soon.

The business of art takes as much time as the making of art these days. I would much rather spend my time in front of the easel painting my little heart out, but I've learned over the years that artists really need to be proactive in "getting the work out there," not an easy task but a necessary one. Here's hoping all the hard work will yield results.

"Urban Event" exhibit at PikNik

Spent several days traveling with friends to New Bedford, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard in Massachussetts with a quick visit to Newport, Rhode Island on the way home. The reason for the trip was to attend the opening of the exhibit on Martha's Vineyard where several of my paintings were on view. The gallery is an eclectic space with a big yard area and a shop out front, with the gallery in a separate building in back. My work was hung on a mirrored wall - this is not your typical white box space, as well as outdoors for the opening. The reflections upon reflections made for an interesting display. Many good artists in the show and I enjoyed seeing their take on the urban landscape. The Martha's Vineyard Times ran an article on the exhibit which you can read here.

It was wonderful to spend time with old friends and to visit cousin's who live on the Vineyard. As this was my first trip there, I found myself captivated by many of the areas we saw, but I most enjoyed wandering around and looking at the doll-like houses of the Tabernacle area. These small, candy-colored cottages are decorated to the nines in Victorian gingerbread, each outdoing its neighbor. Took a bunch of photos and might do a painting or two, as they were just charming.


Photo on Martha's Vineyard

Checked out a number of galleries as well as shopped (my friends are intrepid shoppers), had some fine meals, and enjoyed the ferry ride to and from the Vineyard. On the drive home we made a stop at Newport, RI and visited Rosecliff, designed by Standford White, one of the fabulous mansions dotting the coast. This is one town I have to go back to visit as seeing the architecture of the gilded age is totally my thing. All in all, we crammed a lot into a 4-day trip and to top it all off, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, couldn't have asked for better.

A little NYC in Martha's Vineyard

An "urban" vacation

"LICConstruction II"
Oil on canvas
10 x 10 inches

The trucker came today and picked up the paintings that will be exhibited in the group show "Urban Event" at the PikNik Gallery on Martha's Vineyard. As people go to places like the Vineyard to escape the cities, it's interesting that a show of the urban environment will be following them on their vacations.


"Remembering the Bottom Line"
Oil on canvas
24 x 30 inches
Sold

Ten of my paintings were selected by the gallery director - street fairs, water towers, reflections, LIC, landmark buildings - all subjects covered in these paintings. I'm curious to see how my work fares away from the confines of the city. Surf's up!

For more information about the show and the gallery click here.

Broadway's original Lord & Taylor

An elegant store for the ladies who shopped

"Zig Zag Broadway"
Oil on panel
6 x 6 inches

An intimate painting of Broadway around 20th Street. This Flatiron district has some wonderful buildings on Broadway as well as the side streets radiating off the main drag. Lot's of architectural details to be found. The original Lord & Taylor's department store is the building pictured on the left-hand side of this painting, which will be in the upcoming fall exhibit at the Franklin 54 Gallery in Chelsea. Artist Susan Pyzow will be exhibiting a painting and etching featuring this building and Emily Trueblood will have a linoleum cut on view. As you can see, we three artists have been drawn to many of the same sites and showing our work together will make for an intriguing exhibit. Our catalogue is almost complete and will be sent off to print in early September. Meeting in my studio several times over the summer to work on the layout and then capping it off with lunch at a local LIC diner has become something of a "tradition," one that I hope we can continue in some fashion after our show is up and running. Also, thanks to my friend Sandy, designer extraordinare, we now have a beautiful brochure designed and in production. Exciting times and working with other artists on this collaboration has been a wonderful experience.