Up on the roof in LIC

Clouds galore

"LIC Rooftop 2011"
Oil on canvas
9 x 12 inches

Every so often I head up to the roof of the studio to check out the change in the landscape in Long Island City. When I first arrived in 1980 I had a clear view to the East River and the skyscrapers of Manhattan. With all the development in the intervening years, I now see only glimpses of that view, in between the condos and rentals that now dot the waterside. If you look closely a bit of the U.N. building is visible. Work is being done on the facade now and it's interesting to watch the progress. I loved the sky the day I took this photo and hurried up to the roof with my camera. This painting is the result.

The streets radiating away from the river still retain many of the small scale homes and commercial and manufacturing buildings the neighborhood is known for. Every so often though, in the middle of a block, a new 3 or 4 story building has sprung up. The architect Frank Lloyd Wright believed a building should fit seamlessly in with the environment surrounding it. With the exception of the Guggenheim Museum, I think he followed that credo with magnificent results. Can't say that is what is happening in Long Island City these days though.