Go Yankees

Well, a 7-0 loss isn't exactly a great game but...

Photo taken 9/13/08

With only 10 games left to go before "The House That Ruth Built" is closed down for good, I thought it would be a nice idea to take my brother, a Yankee fan since childhood, to a final game, perhaps to relive some memories. My friend "Yankee Fran", a season ticketholder, was kind enough to give me 2 tickets to the game, what a pal! The place was packed. My brother had lots of stories to tell such attending the first ever Bat Day, being present for Mickey Mantle Day, his boyhood hero, and then there was the time a fly ball zoomed into the stands and landed smack into the mouth of his friend Eddie - not exactly the way to catch a ball.

The game wasn't anything to write home about, the Yanks losing 7-0 with few hits, but since I've only been to about 3 games in my life, I enjoyed sitting in the crowd, watching the action on the field and taking lots of photos with the idea, of course, of doing a painting or two of an historic building that will soon be disappearing from the NYC landscape - my specialty it seems. Here's a painting I did in 1989 of the famous frieze surrounding the topmost section of the stadium.


"Yankee Stadium"
Oil on canvas
10 x 8 iinches

An artist friend, Andy Jurinko, is a master at painting the golden era of baseball and has done many paintings of baseball stadiums, players and historic moments in the game, someone worth checking out if you enjoy this subject.

I did get a photo of the new stadium currently under construction and it's looking pretty spiffy. I just might have to go to a game, if I can afford a ticket, when it opens next year.


Photo taken 9/13/08

9/11 seven years down the road...

Thinking about then and now

"Union Square Memorial #3"
Oil on canvas
30 x 36 inches

Thinking a lot about the events of 9/11 this week and I'm finding it hard to believe that 7 years have passed. New York is a different city today, it's a different world. Many people around the globe joined in our mourning and I did this painting with the idea of community.


Photograph taken Fall, 2007

The area where the towers once stood is a huge construction site and the latest word is that the "bathtub", the structure keeping out the river, is still leaking and building progress is slow going. Tourists continue to flock downtown to see the site where the "Twins" once stood.




"New York Harbor"
Oil on canvas
36 x 46 inches
Sold

I did this painting in 1985 and it was purchased by a company with offices in the World Trade Center. As far as I know, this painting perished along with so many other works of art that day.


Art and politics don't mix, at least for me, and I generally keep my opinions to myself. This 9/11 anniversary though, brings home the fact that it's a troubled world we're living in. This artist is an apolitical person, throwing in the towel when McGovern lost the race back in the day. These last few years though, I find I can't help but be very, very concerned and the upcoming election is bringing home how many important issues need to be addressed. A lot is riding on the outcome and I hope the candidate who wins will be the right person for the seemingly impossible job of getting us out of the mess the last eight years have put us in. I'll be casting my ballot and keeping my fingers crossed that my vote will really count this time around.

Kicking off the Fall Season

Several juried shows coming up

"Holiday Bait"
Oil on canvas
18 x 24 inches

This Fall will find several of my paintings on view in various juried/group exhibits. Yesterday I delivered "Holiday Bait", a painting of a holiday-themed restaurant window on 23rd Street, to the Audubon Artists 66th Annual Exhibition. The exhibit is held at the Salmagundi Club in a nice old brownstone on Fifth Avenue and the quality of work is usually pretty good. The show is open to the public September 8 -26.

Last week I received a letter from the National Association of Women Artists informing me that my painting "Holiday at Carmine's" had won an award in their 119th Annual Exhibition, always nice news to hear. That exhibition is on view at GoggleWorks in Reading, Pennsylvania from August 24 - September 29.

More shows are coming up and I'll keep you posted!

Empire City Iron Works

LIC continued

LIC/ Empire City Iron Works
Oil on canvas
8 x 10 inches
Sold

Still busy painting Long Island City scenes and I now have over 20 paintings completed with more ready to be worked on for the upcoming show in December. So many new high-rise developments are taking over the neighborhood these days, but vestiges of the light manufacturing area LIC is can still be found. Empire City Iron Works has several buildings in the area and this sign really pops out of the landscape. Decided to do a painting of this site as it is part of the history of LIC and lends a sense of what a mixed-use community this still is.

Summer Streets in NYC

Two weekends in August

Photograph of Grand Central

A large stretch of Manhattan was closed to vehicular traffic until 1 pm these past three Saturdays in August. It was an opportunity for walkers, joggers, rollerbladers and cyclists to tool uptown or downtown on Park Avenue and see the city from yet another perspective. Last weekend I grabbed my camera and headed uptown, walking 35 blocks, taking photographs galore, people-watching and enjoying the beautiful weather. Getting up this close to Grand Central was a real treat.





Photograph of Central Park Summer Stage

The next day was the last Summer Stage Concert of the season in Central Park, featuring Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. Wow, can that woman sing! Mix in some James Brown, Tina Turner and maybe even a little Areatha Franklin and you have dynamite on stage, backed by a terrific band, the Dap Kings. Another beautiful day weatherwise, a great weekend overall.


Photograph from the Brooklyn Bridge

Last weekend I decided to take advantage of Summer Streets again and head downtown this time. I met a friend and off we went, walking down Park Avenue to Fourth Avenue and on. Another beautiful day weatherwise, and another great opportunity for photographing the city. We walked to the end of the route, made two quick stops at Century 21 and J&R Electronics and then decided to continue our day with a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. Lots of people had the same idea and there were many folks trekking the boards of this venerable landmark.


"Brooklyn Historical Society"
Oil on canvas
8 x 10 inches
Sold

Heading toward Montague Street to find a place for lunch we passed the Brooklyn Historical Society. I painted this building several years back and was delighted to see that the building had been lovingly restored recently. Nothing makes me happier than seeing the older buildings saved, restored and standing proud once again. After a chance to sit down and chow down, it was off to the Brookyn Explanade to check out The Falls art installation. Backtracking several blocks to Bororough Hall/Court Street we caught the shuttle bus to the new Ikea store in Red Hook. Always fun to check out the stuff in this store and I found some really nice square frames which I'll put to good use. The water taxi ride back to Manhattan, with a great view of the Lady in the Harbor, was a nice way to head back to the city. Disembarking at Wall Street we trudged several blocks up to Broadway and caught the subway back uptown. Eight hours after I left my apartment I arrived home tired but happy with the day's adventures. I like to think of these past two weekends as a mini-vacation and realize how lucky I am to live in NYC. I know there will be several paintings amongst all the photos I took and I'm looking forward to see which ones I choose to paint.

Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame Annex in NYC

So many great concerts over the years














"The Bottom Line Remembered"
Oil on canvas
30 x 36 inches

Heard on the news today that the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame will be opening an annex museum in Soho. That sounds good to me. Having seen soooo many great shows over the years, it seems only fitting that this town, which provided venues for many performers to get their music out there, will have a spot to highlight some of the memorabilia that accompanies the music.

I got to thinking that a lot of these venues have sadly disappeared from the NYC scene, places like CBGB's, the Bottom Line, The Fillmore East. When I heard that The Bottom Line was closing a few years back, my heart sank. I was in the audience the first week it opened, back in the 70's, and saw some memorable acts - Tim Hardin, Laura Nyro, Tom Russell, Joan Baez, Roy Buchanan, The Turtles, Barry Manilow (!!!!) and so many others. Seeing that familiar blue awning, getting tickets, squeezing into the tightly packed chairs, seeing and hearing the performers up close...it was wonderful. The one concert that I WISH I could have attended was one of the August, 1975 Springsteen shows, just prior to the release of Born To Run, history in the making. I plan to check out the museum when it opens - sure beats the news of the opening of yet another Duane Reade.

Meeting at Brooks

Another sunny day in LIC

"Meeting at Brooks"
Oil on canvas
12 x 9 inches

This painting is a companion piece to the "Waiting at Brooks" painting posted earlier on this blog. It is said that every picture tells a story, and these two paintings together tell one as well. As I imagined it, a young woman is waiting for a friend at a restaurant, anticipating a nice meal and conversation and then meeting up, smile's "hello" and then off to eat and schmooze. A commonplace event, captured here with paint and brush. This painting will be featured in an upcoming LIC calendar project and will be part of my upcoming LIC exhibit in December.