My Cityscape Day

Unreal Forest, 2005, Oil on Panel, 8x10






After Jerome and I visited the Met last Saturday, we went to see the Milton Avery show at DC Moore Gallery. I have not always been a fan of Milton Avery, but I have grown to like his work in the last few years. I like the simplicity of the form, color and shape and how it still creates a space and an image. I also like the imagery. Rather mundane, everyday objects transcend into minimalist beauty. I know, I know, it's all been done, but I still respond to it. I wasn't familiar with most of the pieces in this collection, so it was interesting to see them.

I realized Tibor de Nagy was in the same building so I dragged Jerome upstairs. What a treat! One of my favorite contemporary painters was having a solo show. David Kapp is the husband of Cecily Kahn who is the daughter of my painting soulmate (in a grandfatherly way, of course) Wolf Kahn. I have been flirting with cityscapes lately and David Kapp's images really intrigue me. Most of the images are overhead views and they have a really good and exciting city energy about them.

Next we visited DFN Gallery. Again, they were showing another one of my favorite artists, David Shevlino. He also does cityscapes and these were also just stunning to look at. I thought these had a different kind of feel, moodier with a bit of longing to them. Big deep shadows always get me in the heart, too. The other artist in this exhibition was Jane Bloodgood-Abrams. Jane and I are both represented by a few of the same galleries and we will both be in a three person show this November at Carrie Haddad Gallery. She paints evocative landscapes in the Hudson River Valley tradition. Her palette is somewhat dark, but the paintings have a wonderful lightness and luminosity about them. I also think these paintings have a very strong spiritual quality. Jane and I have exchanged emails, and I look forward to meeting her in person this fall. I need to get some advice on how to get into a gallery in NYC!

Seeing all this art has helped me get over the last few bad days in my studio. This week I am back to my usual enthusiasm and productivity. I also feel inspired to spend a lot more time on painting cityscapes, perhaps on a larger scale. The ones I have done recently have turned out nicely, I think, and my dear, love blinded husband says he thinks mine are as nice as any other city scapes that he has seen lately. Seems like this post should include a cityscape painting, but wouldn't that just be so obvious?! I am going with "unreality" today.