Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Diagonals and Stripes

2015, Oil on Hardboard, 7"x 5"
#196

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On First Avenue in NYC, just north of First Street, there is a staging area for a variety of safety barriers for a big dig on Houton. It has been going on for a couple of years now and I pass by it on my way to Russ & Daughters, the finest purveyor of smoked fish in the city. I have been looking at this photograph since December, wondering what to do with it. It occurred to me that the question was not what to do with it, but whether I had enough patience to work with it.

Monday, April 27, 2015

East Village Windows

2015, Oil on Hardboard, 7"x 5"
#195

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One of the most interesting things about buildings in New York City has very little to do with the subject building, and more to do with the shadows cast by its neighbors.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

The Grundy Stack

2015, Oil on Hardboard, 7"x 5"
Scenes From a Train
#194


Another Building near the rails. This one was interesting in so many ways. The first was obvious, that stack with the company name made of different colored brick. That takes pride, not to mention money. Then there's the treatment of the odd angle in the front. Instead of embracing it, ala Flatiron Building, it was ignored. Angle? What angle? There is an interesting cove detail in the cornice. There are, or were, huge arched doorways. And lastly, those Mediterranean style roof tiles. I wish I could have been in the meetings when this thing was being planned.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Room Service

2015, Oil on Hardboard, 7"x 5"
#193


The alternate title for this painting was 'Redrum.' This is a hall way in the Waldorf=Astoria, in New York. It's not as decadent as it might seem, since the rates are comparable to most other hotels. But, I love the history of the place, both real and imagined. They used to have Cole Porter's piano in the lobby.