The Vanishing New York Diner

Afternoon at the Gramercy Diner
Oil on canvas
8x10 inches

Read this article today on the disappearance of the neighborhood diner and it really hit home. Growing up in Queens with a working mother who did not like to cook, many of the meals we had were eaten at neighborhood diners and this is the type of restaurant that I still prefer frequenting when eating out.

Several years ago I did this painting of the Gramercy Diner on 17th Street in Manhattan. This place, like so many others, closed a few months ago and now brown paper covers the windows. Not sure what will be opening in the space, or when that will even occur, with so many vacant storefronts dotting New York's streets these days.

New York Artists Equity

As a long time member of New York Artists Equity, I'm pleased they have found a new gallery space on the Lower East Side. I admire the work of many of the artists who founded the organization almost 70 years ago. It's so important to be part of a community of artists and I'm proud to be a member.

Several weeks ago I was interviewed for the Community section of their website. If you'd like to read it, here is a link to the interview.

Photo of the building housing NYAE's gallery

A view from 14th Street

View from 14th Street
Oil on canvas
12x9 inches

When visiting a friend I was struck by the view from her apartment - a lot of light, air and sky. The older buildings dotting the East Village are still in evidence with the soaring skyscrapers of the Financial district shrouded in fog looming in the background.

I do enjoying attempting to capture the city as I know it today on canvas. So many changes at such a rapid clip. In the lower left hand corner out of view in this painting, is a large project currently under construction with murmurs that more are to come. Not surprising in the city that is constantly tearing something down to build something new.

Orchard Street back then

Orchard Street Shoes
Oil on canvas
10x8 inches
Sold

The Long Island City Arts Open was a flurry of activity with my participation in a group exhibition, Plastique 2 and an open studio week-end. The people who stopped by were genuinely interested in my work and I did make a sale or two which is always nice.

This is one of the paintings chosen by a collector. It is one of my older New York City scenes as evidenced by the subject - an Orchard Street shoe seller, displaying his wares outside of his shop. Many of these small mom and pop shops on the Lower East Side, in what is considered to be America's first mall, are no longer around. When I was younger, I used to love going with my parents on a Sunday to the LES to have lunch and then do some shopping and take photographs. It seemed everyone was out on the street, shopkeeper's hawking their goods and always crowds of shopper's looking for bargains. No one paid retail as it was a given that there would be a little back and forth when it came to price, and it was always an experience - diverse, colorful, noisy and in retrospect, pretty wonderful.