Brooklyn Piranesi

Hamilton Avenue near Centre Street, under the Gowanus Expressway, in Brooklyn. 12 x 12 inches, oil on panel.

Halloween Under The Gowanus Expressway

Today I visited the Southern Vermont Arts Center to see the current exhibition.  I missed the opening so I wanted to see where my large painting "Beneath the Gowanus Expressway" was hanging.  The SVAC just held a "Halloween on the Hill" day, so the decoration was still there and fit in with my painting.  I don't know how intentional it was, but the bottles and the underpass seem to go together.  The bottles have labels such as "Wing of Bat," "Arsenic," "Witches Brew," "Red Blood," and "Poison."  I should have received the best background painting award.

Large Painting on the Studio Wall

Two views of the studio wall from this morning.  I splurged recently to frame the large painting (3x4') with the hope of selling it.  The painting, which depicts the underside of the Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn, came about due to a commission that didn't work out.

Under and Very Large

Under the Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn is Hamilton Avenue, here seen headed in the southeastern direction.  I seem to find myself making small Brooklyns.  In this case a small painting of a very large structure.  6x8 oil on panel.

Under the Gowanus

This is a large 36 x 48 inch painting that I've been working on for the last couple of weeks showing the area under the Gowanus Expressway at Third Avenue and 20th Street in Brooklyn.  I did a small 9x12 painting of this scene a couple years ago.  It's strange seeing the postage stamp photo of the large painting in this post since it doesn't convey how much the larger painting makes you feel as if you were under the road, hearing all the cars and trucks moving loudly overhead.  The postage stamp photo makes the painting seem more representational than it really is.  When you stand close up to it, it's a bit eerie and abstract.  At least that's my take.

Gowanus Expressway and How to Judge a Book

Facing north this time, we present a 12x12 oil on canvas view of Hamilton Avenue under the Gowanus Expressway.

One final anecdote from the Corot catalog: Corot painted several pictures of women reading.  "According to Theophile Silvestre, a contemporary of Corot, the artist hardly ever read, but he bought books along the quays, 'exclusively for their shapes and colors,' in order to put them into the hands of his models."

Inadequate Allowance

A small 9x12 oil on canvas view from below the Gowanus Expressway on Hamilton Avenue near Bush Street in Brooklyn, New York.

Another story from the Corot catalog that I'm reading:  when in 1846 Corot received the Legion of Honor, "his father wondered whether the allowance given his son --then aged fifty--should be increased."  Two other 19th century artists who depended upon a family allowance to survive: Cezanne and Van Gogh.