Opening Reception for "Florin at Warburg" Thursday

Memories and art

"Winter Sunlight"
Oil on canvas
26 x 36 inches

Thursday, September 30th, is the opening reception for the exhibit at Warburg. It was an interesting experience picking out work for this particular show in that it is not in a traditional gallery space. I looked through the racks in the studio and when I saw this painting I knew I wanted to include it. Many of my paintings evoke a memory for me, and often for others who love this city and have either grown up here or have been transplanted and subsequently smitten.

I created this painting back in the 1980's and remember the day I took the photograph that was the inspiration for it. When my parents were alive, they used to enjoy spending a Sunday afternoon on the Lower East Side. We'd eat lunch at Ratner's or Katz's and then stroll and shop in the stores along Orchard Street and the surrounding streets. We were walking around one late afternoon in the winter (we would go in all seasons) and my eye caught this window of a tenement with the winter sunlight catching some of the faded architectural details. As one's sense of smell can often evoke a long-ago moment or memory, so too can a painting. This one brought back a happy memory of a day spent with family in the city I love best.

2 Upcoming Exhibits in Tribeca and Chelsea

I'm dancing as fast as I can

"The White Restaurant"
Oil on canvas
18 x 24 inches
SOLD

Getting ready for two shows simultaneously is a challenge, but so far things are moving along. I paid another visit to the Tribeca office of Warburg Realty on Monday and delivered 3 more paintings as there were still some walls that needed work. One of the paintings I selected to exhibit is "The White Restaurant", a painting of the Cowgirl Hall of Fame restaurant also on Hudson Street just up the road apiece in the West Village, north of the Warburg office. This exhibit has been fun in that I've been able to put together an eclectic mix of work from different times in my painting career, unlike the upcoming "Triple Play" exhibit in October/November where I will be showing all new work created specifically around the theme of the Flatiron and Gramercy Park districts.

The shelves in my studio will have plenty of gaps as the work from this summer's PikNik exhibit on Martha's Vineyard is still out of the studio as well. Some paintings have sold, some will be returned, but for now I'm enjoying the space on the shelves and wouldn't be at all unhappy if a lot of the paintings found new homes and I could use the shelf space for new work. An artist can dream...

To read an article appearing in CityBiz List online about the Warburg exhibit click here.

Florin + Warburg Realty

Art and Real Estate


Card for exhibit with images of paintings "The Cable Building" and "G.E."

It has been a busy time as I am gearing up for two exhibits this Fall. Today I installed 18 pieces in the Tribeca office of Warburg Realty Partnership Ltd. The artwork is scattered around the space, some on large walls and others tucked away in nooks and crannies. A business involved with New York buildings seemed like a good match for my work. I picked out an interesting selection of artwork, some old, some new. I actually had a painting that had been done a number of years ago of a building located around the corner from the office which I dusted off and hung.

The New York Mercantile Exchange Building, a real beauty, sits just across the street from the office. I had painted and sold the painting I had done of that building awhile back so I made an inkjet print and hung that as well.


Inkjet print from my painting "New York Mercantile"

The exhibit will be on view through December so if you find yourself in the neighborhood, drop in and take a peek. The office is located at 100 Hudson Street, corner of Leonard.

Gordon's Novelty

A Vanishing New York

"Gordon's Reflections"
Oil on canvas
12 x 9 inches
Sold

This painting, "Gordon's Reflections" was done several years ago. I caught the reflection of the novelty store in the windows of Just Bulbs, a store across the street. Both stores have "vanished" from the neighborhood. Gordon's has been boarded up and Just Bulbs left the area several years ago.

A blog I follow, "Jeremiahs' Vanishing New York", has recently written about Gordon's and the novelty businesses that have disappeared from the Flatiron district. I sometimes share my paintings with other blogger's when they write about a place that I have painted. Such was the case with "Gordon's Reflections".

One of the upsides of blogging is that I have found other like-minded individuals with interests common to my own, blogging merrily away. Being a painter of the New York urban landscape and capturing the sights before they vanish has been an enduring theme in my work. There are several others who are trying to capture and share their thoughts on a city that they once knew and Jeremiah's Vanishing New York is one.

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.