The Last Sunday Barn

The last Sunday of the year is the perfect way to end the Sunday Barns.  Today's offering is one of my rare oil paintings.  I don't know why I don't use this medium more often; I enjoy working with oils every time I do. Who knows - maybe this will be the year for oils.

Alone at Dawn  oil  16x24"

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS & A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR

On the Eve of Christmas Eve

May your Christmas be as peaceful as this landscape...and remain with you always.

Counting down with Christmas Cards

HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

SUNDAY'S CHRISTMAS CARD (AND BARN)

MERRY CHRISTMAS

The Daily Christmas Card

Pastel

The Daily Christmas Card

Pastel enhanced clay mono type

CHRISTMAS COUNT DOWN

In the days remaining until Christmas I will replace the daily Industrial landscape with a daily "Christmas Card".

THE DAILY INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE #10 ELMER NJ

Elmer New Jersey is one of the many small farming communities scattered through the state's "deep south".  This village, which I always found difficult to take seriously because of its name, is 15 miles from my home town, and for years I drove through the town on my way to Wilmington, Philadelphia, or anywhere west of our farm.

It took 40 years for me to discover, to my utter amazement and delight, Elmer's incredible architectural gem, a worn out and fading grain elevator located only blocks from its small main street, and towering over everything else in the vicinity.  It did not take long before it showed up on my drawing table, not just once, but three times.

the first time - pastel and ink

second time - construction

third time - pastel

THE DAILY INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE #9

Two glorious industrial scenes pulled from my imagination, both are pastel enhanced clay mono types.  Each measures approximately 15 x 30".

THE DAILY INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE #8

Here are two of my most extravagant paintings in the industrial landscape series.  Like most of the others, they are clay mono types enhanced with soft pastel.

Oliver's Skyline  aprox. 24x36"  available framed

Industrial Skyline #6

THE DAILY INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE #7 JUST DRAWING

Of all the industrial landscapes I've painted and drawn these two are my favorites.  Both were done with a sepia pen and markers.

Power Plant on the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh PA

NRE facilities in Paducah KY

THE DAILY INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE #6 The Paducah scene

Moving from one location and one medium to another, this morning finds us on N. Eighth Street in Paducah with pen & ink and a bit of color.

THE DAILY INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE #5 GRAIN ELEVATORS

Sentinels of the prairie, aka grain elevators, have been a favorite subject of my art.  They possess an elegance, standing tall above their stubby surroundings in the endless flat fields of middle America.  They are cousins to barns as icons of rural industrial architecture. 

Imagining a landscape   pastel

Winter Grain elevator   pastel

THE DAILY INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE #4 CONSTRUCTIONS

I abandoned the shadow box in the following three pieces, working directly on a wood support to create my imaginative "power plants" using an assortment of wood, plastic, and other studio junk I saved for occasions like this.

Power Plant #3  18x38"

Power Plant #2

Power Plant #1

SUNDAY BARN # 130

I have misplaced my handwritten list of barns that I've posted and I am too lazy to go scrolling through all of the posts.  So, today's barn may be a repeat, but that's ok because it is one of my favorites.  It measures only 8x8" and is no longer available.

Standing Alone  acrylic  8x8x'

I think it's time for some more barn paintings.

THE DAILY INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE #3

About 15 years ago I created a series of Shadow Box industrial landscapes with a painted background  - acrylic, pastel, clay mono type, alone or combined.  The foregrounds were composed of leftover model railroad cars and other paraphenalia.  (Model railroaders are notorious for hoarding all sorts of "stuff" that might be used in the miniature worlds they create.)

Yes, they are a lot of fun to make, and yes, they leave a mess in the studio because you end up using every tool and every art supply imaginable.  But they are worth the effort and the mess.

THE DAILY INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE #2

Today's industrial landscape, like many that will follow, is a clay mono type enhanced with soft pastel.  It is difficult to estimate, but the balance is probably 70-30 in this piece, with the pastel being the dominant medium.  They are really fun to create because there are no boundaries as to what can be done.

Prairie Grain Complex

Clay mono type-soft pastel

22x30

THE DAILY INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE #1

For the past year I've posted the Barn a Day and the Daily Urban Landscape, and it is time to move on. For something totally different I thought I would begin posting a daily Industrial Landscape.  The gritty texture and dark colors fascinate me and invite imaginative interpretation in form and color.  I have chosen the very first Industrial Landscape I created to initiate this series, which also happens to be my very first clay mono type.

The First Industrial Landscape

Clay mono type

12x44"

THE DAILY URBAN LANDSCAPE #54 OAK PARK IL

Yesterday I finished this painting - one of my favorite buildings in downtown Oak Park.  It is the latest addition to the growing Oak Park Portfolio.

 

Watercolor
aproximately 15x15"

THE DAILY URBAN LANDSCAPE #53 Drawing on clay

Today's urban landscapes are drawings on clay mono types.

Fells Point in Baltimore

Big Red inspired by the piazza in Greve in Tuscany

THE DAILY URBAN LANDSCAPE #52 PHILADELPHIA DINING

After hot dogs and Philly cheese steaks it is time for some finer dining.  I don't know if these establishments from my days in Philadelphia are still around.

China Town

Old Original Bookbinders

SUNDAY BARN #129

Something old and something new this Sunday morning.

Something Old - small sketch from 2-3 years ago

Something new - pencil sketch completed yesterday

SO FORTH AND SO ON

the title of my new blog which will be devoted exclusively to the written word, with or without illustrations. “So Forth and So On”. was a frequent expression my mother would use to end something she was saying in a conversation with me.

I will be posting new work as well as revisions of older essays and comments, some of which have been posted on this blog, “Reflections on a life in medicine and art”, which I started in 2007, and will now be devoted to art and cooking (which really means art and pasta).

THE DAILY URBAN LANDSCAPE #51 PHILLY CHEESE STEAK ANYONE?

Let me start with an apology to all  Geno's fans - I have never had their cheese steak and have never painted their store front.  My Philly cheese steak experiences have been limited to Pat's, which I have painted several times, and Jims on South Street. 

Pat's

Jim's

THE DAILY URBAN LANDSCAPE #50 PHILADELPHIA

It's time to leave Cape May and head back to Philly, looking at two paintings from the mid 1980s.

Broad & Snyder in south Philly

Levis hot dogs on Fifth St.  long gone

THE KITCHEN

Taking the time to remember on this quiet Thanksgiving morning.

mom

 

 

 

 

THE KITCHEN

Looking back, the room that appeared so large to my young eyes was probably 10-12 feet wide and maybe 14 feet in length.  Entering the house from the back door, no one ever used the front door; you passed through a small combination mudroom-laundry to reach the kitchen.  On the right was a small phone desk followed by the kitchen table.  On the left was an entrance to the dining room, the refrigerator, and the beginning of the cabinets, which wrapped around the far end of the room, interrupted by the sink, and ending with the stove against the wall on the right.  The table could seat 6 people comfortably, and 8-10 intimately.

The dining room was used for large gatherings on holidays and other festive occasions, but all other meals and entertaining took place in the kitchen.  I cannot remember guests being entertained in the living room… ever.  We listened to the large freestanding radio there, before a TV replaced it in 1948.  I remember lying on the floor in front of the radio, listening to the Lone Ranger at 7:30 on Thursday evenings.  At the end of each day, after shedding his coveralls and boots, my father would sit in the living room reading the evening paper until my mother called him for diner, at least 2-3 times before he would come.  I would be remiss if I did not mention the many epic battles I fought with the bad guys, either flying off the sofa as superman (dish towel tightly secured around my neck) or as Roy Rogers, taking on the crooks behind the large Maple chair.

But it was the kitchen where our lives happened, where we shared 3 meals every day, often with assorted family and friends, where the working day started and ended, where farm business was conducted, homework completed, and phone calls made and answered.  Company rarely made it past the kitchen.  Coffee was offered within the first few minutes, often even before coats and hats were removed, and everyone settled in around the table.  Some how there was always enough room.  The stream of visitors included nearby aunts and uncles, neighbors, friends, out of town relatives, and my friends and classmates.

My parents, Jo and Duke to some, aunt Jo and uncle Duke to others, and on rare occasions, Mr. and Mrs. Renzulli, had a very special gift; they made everyone feel loved and welcomed.  First time visitors ceased being strangers within minutes, and by the time they left they were family.  It didn’t matter who it was; there were no pretenses and no apologies.  Everyone was treated the same.  Their warmth and hospitality were genuine. Graciousness, generosity, and goodness were woven into the fabric of their character. That was what they were, and guests received more than food and wine when they sat at our kitchen table.

Thinking about all of this now, I’ve come to realize that despite their limited education and sophistication, they each possessed a deep sense of self confidence in who they were, giving them a mantel of humble nobility.  In the first eighteen years of my life I experienced their love and generosity, their commitment to family, their kindness to others, their willingness to share and to forgive, and their gentle outlook on life; I witnessed it all in our kitchen, around the kitchen table, drinking coffee, sipping wine, or sharing a meal.

My parents were not religious.  My mother never spoke about matters of faith, and my father would not hesitate to tell you he was an atheist.  I think he was really more anti-cleric than anti God, and simply had no use for the church.  But in the life they lived, grounded in love and caring for everyone, I saw the nobility of the human spirit, and if there is a God, He was in our kitchen.

L to P  Walter, aunt Edith, aunt Mary, Marx, uncle Fatty, mom

, all have died except Marx

THE DAILY URBAN LANDSCAPE #49 CAPE MAY HOMES

Since Thanksgiving Day usually means going home, I am posting 3 Cape May homes.  Yes...we are still in Cape May.

Happy Thanksgiving

CM Green

CM Blue

CM Pink

THE DAILY URBAN LANDSCAPE #48 ANOTHER DAY IN CAPE MAY

I am not ready to leave Cape May - having too much fun remembering the town and its wonderful architecture, both elegant and funky.  I have no idea if many of these places are still there.  Hopefully the Lobster House has survived.

Cape May Antiques

Cape May Lobster House- diners served on the boat

What to do with an old bank

THE DAILY URBAN LANDSCAPE #47 GRAND HOTELS OF CAPE MAY NJ

It has been a long time since I've visited Cape May, so I don't know if all of these grand ladies are still there.  I suspect they are, knowing the towns love and commitment to all things Victorian.  These paintings were done in the late 70s and early 80s.