Window Watching on 9th Avenue

Bricks galore

"9th Avenue Lady in Window"
Oil on canvas
16 x 20 inches

Continuing with the window watchers, today I'm posting this older painting that I came across while going through my racks that I really like. An interesting story about this painting. When it was exhibited several years ago, a gentleman came up to me at the opening reception and told me that this painting reminded him of a story. He had been born and raised in the Bronx and had not been back to visit for many years. When he did return, an old woman came up to him and excitedly started talking, but he couldn't remember her. Then, it came to him. She was the mother of a childhood friend and he didn't recognize her because he had only seen her from the waist up, looking out of her window, when he was a child. Here she was now, standing before him as a whole person, and it was the first time he'd seen her in that light. A nice memory.

Summer Sale Time

Two paintings on Ebay today

"The Sunny Side of the Street"
Oil on canvas
12 x 16 inches

It's summer and I've been rummaging around my studio, rearranging paintings and looking for more space, which is fast disappearing. So, I've decided to start offering some of my older paintings for sale on Ebay in the hopes of finding them new homes and giving me some much needed shelf space. They really need to be hung up and enjoyed, and not left to languish on a shelf. So, here goes.

In this first painting, the sunlight was hitting the side of this building full on, and the architectural details really stood out. The building has been rehabbed since this painting was done and the Affordable Art Fair, where I had several paintings exhibited, was held here recently.



"Lady in the Window on 9th"
Oil on canvas
9 x 12 inches
Sold

I love to paint people in their windows, such a New York "thing" and something that is vanishing. The action is out on the street and before television and the internet, life's dramas took place in real time in one's neighborhood. This lady was looking out of her window during a street festival, taking in all of the activity below.

The Affordable Art Fair

June 12-15, 2008

"An Elegant Twosome on Fifth"
Oil on canvas
24 x 30 inches

This painting of the rooftop of an old beaux arts building on Fifth Avenue reflected on the facade of a smooth, glossy modern building will be one of several paintings that I will have on view at the Affordable Art Fair with the Franklin 54 Gallery, Booth M407. Delivering work today in 90+ degree heat - the thing I like least about being an artist!


This large fair features galleries from all over the country as well overseas and presents all types of work in many mediums. The Fair runs from June 12-15 at the Altman building and Metroploitan Pavilion, 135 West 18th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues, www.aafnyc.com.

The 59th Street Bridge aka Queensborough Bridge

Continuing on the theme of bridges...

"59th Street Bridge Reflections"
Oil on canvas
36 x 30 inches

Since the anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge I thought I'd share a new bridge painting today. The 59th Street Bridge - ahhhh, memories - countless rides over this bridge, walking it during the NYC transit strikes, and hiking it during the last blackout. I remember getting stuck once right in the middle of the bridge - my car just stalled. Luckily I was towed off, but when you're the cause of a traffic backup, it's DEFINITELY not fun. Maybe that's one of the reasons I no longer have a car? At any rate, I saw this wonderful reflection of the bridge from a spot on York Avenue. A newly constructed, black, glass-fronted building acted as a wonderful backdrop for these bridge reflections in the late afternoon sun.

Limited-edition giclée prints of this painting are available. For more info, check out http://web.mac.com/sjfstudio/The_Florin_Collection.

Happy Birthday Brooklyn Bridge

125 years and still going strong

The Brooklyn Bridge
Oil on canvas
36 x 46 inches

Couldn't let the day go by without acknowledging the 125th birthday of the Brooklyn Bridge! I've always been in awe of the bridges of New York, the architectural and engineering feats that they are as well as the links they create for the "bridge and tunnel" crowd.


If you've never walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, it is a rare treat. The first time I walked over the bridge I took my Dad along. He was raised in Brooklyn and although he'd driven over the bridge countless times, he'd never walked it. I remember a bright, sunny morning in 1989, a stunning skyline and a bunch of great photographs. I've painted this bridge more than once and I've actually sold someone the Brooklyn Bridge. This particular painting is bittersweet as the Twin Towers are visible in the background - a skyline forever altered. Happy Birthday Brooklyn Bridge, may you stand tall and proud for years to come!

St. Mary's in LIC

The Long Island City Series continues...

LIC/St. Mary's
Oil on canvas
10 x 8 inches

Continuing with my Long Island City series, I share this small painting of St. Mary's, a lovely old church and landmark on Vernon Blvd. in LIC. With all the changes in the neigborhood, I'm hopeful that this landmark will remain standing proud. The steeple can be seen for miles around and bells do ring at certain hours of the day, giving the area an old-timey feel. Rosetta, an artist raised in Long Island City, commissioned this painting as St. Mary's holds many fond memories for her. We spent a few hours one day walking around the neighborhood while I took loads of photos and this was the one that she chose. It will be a wonderful addition to my upcoming December exhibition at Art-O-Mat, here in LIC. I've several more paintings ready to go so look for more LIC paintings to come.

Ninth Avenue Food Festival 2008!

May 17-18, 2008 - yum!

"Ninth Avenue Yum"
Oil on canvas
24 x30 inches

Well, it's coming up soon - my FAVORITE street fair. This year will mark the 30th year that I've attended the Ninth Avenue Food Festival, strolling up and down the avenue from 37th to 57th Street, stopping occasionally to eat, but really there to take photos for painting ideas, people-watch and to check out how the neighborhood had changed from the previous year. In 1978, my first year attending the festival, there was music and dancing in the streets, wonderful smells from the various foods for sale, people in their windows and fire escapes checking out the action below. Ninth Avenue is a nice wide street with plenty of room to wander from one side of the street to the other.

I've done many, many paintings over the years inspired by the festival and today I'm sharing a new painting that is based on a photo I took at last years fair. The reflections in the window of a housewares store capture the crowds, the tents, the colors and the action happening out there in the street. There has been a lot of gentrification over the years on Ninth Avenue and with street fairs in general. I remember seeing all kinds of stuff for sale back then, not the usual socks and sunglasses one sees at fairs these days. Banners on fire escapes with slogans of "We Won't Go" were up a few years ago and now one sees new buildings interespersed with the older structures. This neighborhood, like most of the neigborhoods in New York these days are getting facelifts and in some areas the change is more dramatic than in others. But, a lot of the charm and grittiness and character of Ninth Avenue are still to be found. Here's hoping for nice weather for this years festival!