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Myrtle and Dekalb, 2017, oil on card, 16 x 17 cm AVAILABLE
This picture was framed for the Society of Scottish Artist`s Annual show.
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Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts
Monday, April 29, 2024
Monday, September 3, 2018
Paintings from New York and Chicago- conclusions
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Some thoughts on my trip
Working on bigger pochades- which is something I`ve been pursuing over the last four months or so- works well with the bullying hugeness of North American urban architecture. So for that reason I might well go back. I worked very steadily, getting up early and coming home to cook dinner and watch the USA`s dismal television which consists mainly of adverts for medical products occasionally interrupted by low-intelligence programmes and news about shootings.
I took out very few different paint tubes- five or six. This makes the kit lighter to carry and easier to use. The style I am chasing is about simplicity and speed, not detail.
I enjoyed visiting the USA but, as East Africans say, I enjoyed it but not very much.
A number of things come together for me to say that. Apropos Chicago, the flatness isn`t agreeable, The city turns itself from the lake. It has an endless grid plan which is inimical to walking. Walking matters, it`s a way of connecting with a place, and if walking isn't agreeable or is dangerous , the city usually isn`t worth visiting.
While the food in supermarkets is excellent, cheaper food in restaurants otherwise is relentlessly awful. It isn`t even served on plates or using proper cups. The service system in restaurants - in which waiters are paid a tiny wage and essentially work for tips - makes them both obsequious and annoying. And, of course, if someone is only working for tips, then they are unlikely to do anything that isn`t going to be paid- such as giving directions. The tipping system is dreadful because it makes people petty and mercenary.
A number of things come together for me to say that. Apropos Chicago, the flatness isn`t agreeable, The city turns itself from the lake. It has an endless grid plan which is inimical to walking. Walking matters, it`s a way of connecting with a place, and if walking isn't agreeable or is dangerous , the city usually isn`t worth visiting.
While the food in supermarkets is excellent, cheaper food in restaurants otherwise is relentlessly awful. It isn`t even served on plates or using proper cups. The service system in restaurants - in which waiters are paid a tiny wage and essentially work for tips - makes them both obsequious and annoying. And, of course, if someone is only working for tips, then they are unlikely to do anything that isn`t going to be paid- such as giving directions. The tipping system is dreadful because it makes people petty and mercenary.
People look bad. Almost everyone over the age of forty in Chicago is obese. There is no sartorial distinction between adults, children men or women. They all dress horribly, like giant babies in logo festooned stretchy romper suits. The use of shining white trainers and tube socks is dreadful, especially on older people.
Specifically, black people I met in Chicago were friendly and pleasant. Others were so so. But few people seemed very happy. They weren't that happy in N.Y. either. Perhaps that`s why they often weren`t very personable.
There is an officious way of speaking to people in the USA, and I encountered it in many small situations at immigration and in public transport especially. And they also have a robotic way of giving have a nice day pleasantries- they have a whole series of these vacuous catchphrases- (is there a list somewhere that you are expected to learn?). I spoke to very few people as I was painting in the street in Chicago- this is unusual. New York is much friendlier despite fairly frequent experiences of it`s world-renowned rudeness.
There is a lack, in Chicago, of the sort of idiosyncrasies that make travel amusing- people dressed in individuated ways, shops or cafes serving things which are at all surprising, or people selling curious stuff on the road (the exception being some yard sales I passed). When I was there the huge pop festival, Lolapallooza was taking place and I was struck by the huge number of identikit teenagers streaming down to the park.
There is an officious way of speaking to people in the USA, and I encountered it in many small situations at immigration and in public transport especially. And they also have a robotic way of giving have a nice day pleasantries- they have a whole series of these vacuous catchphrases- (is there a list somewhere that you are expected to learn?). I spoke to very few people as I was painting in the street in Chicago- this is unusual. New York is much friendlier despite fairly frequent experiences of it`s world-renowned rudeness.
There is a lack, in Chicago, of the sort of idiosyncrasies that make travel amusing- people dressed in individuated ways, shops or cafes serving things which are at all surprising, or people selling curious stuff on the road (the exception being some yard sales I passed). When I was there the huge pop festival, Lolapallooza was taking place and I was struck by the huge number of identikit teenagers streaming down to the park.
Of course, much of what I have just written is obvious but almost everything about the USA is very obvious. .
The transport system in Chicago was clean, efficient and pleasant to use. The grid plan, so monotonous- is fabulously easy to navigate. The subway in NY is grim- unclean, badly signed, with few staff.
There are fine parks in Chicago. There are nice old suburbs too.
There is also a huge problem with violence- when I was there in the fist weekend 35 people were shot.
There are fine parks in Chicago. There are nice old suburbs too.
There is also a huge problem with violence- when I was there in the fist weekend 35 people were shot.
Frank Lloyd Wright
I visited two Frank Lloyd Wright buildings- Robie House and Oak Park- both are far smaller than I imagined and somewhat fussily styled. Photographs of these buildings are deceptive. To see these buildings you have to go on guided tours. These are tedious and overpriced.
Pictures
Four Manhattan pochades
Working on bigger pochades- which is something I`ve been pursuing over the last four months or so- works well with the bullying hugeness of North American urban architecture. So for that reason I might well go back. I worked very steadily, getting up early and coming home to cook dinner and watch the USA`s dismal television which consists mainly of adverts for medical products occasionally interrupted by low-intelligence programmes and news about shootings.
I took out very few different paint tubes- five or six. This makes the kit lighter to carry and easier to use. The style I am chasing is about simplicity and speed, not detail.
In West loop, building on Madison (detail)
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Saturday, September 1, 2018
Paintings from New York- Manhattan
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Chelsea, New York, Jewelry Store, oil on card, 18.5 x 17 cm unavailable
These cubic buildings, on corners in Manhattan are very satisfying to paint. Painting a set of them is would be an enjoyable project. Perhaps next time I`m in New York I`ll stay in Manhattan to be able to really concentrate on this.
I have been to New York four times now. It wears its meanings on its face. This is what I first liked about it, this frankness,expressed in bold architecture, grand bridges and gigantic museums. This is what attracts me as a painter.
In New York a rich neighborhood is very obviously rich. Your don`t need to de-code people in N.Y. as you do with the (much) more subtle British class system, in which a rich man might dress in simple clothes and drive a bashed up mini (the American idea of wealth is a poor man`s idea of wealth- ostentation, bigness, obvious luxury symbols).
Contrariwise, of course, you can get to know it fairly quickly and as you do you find it less and less curious. And, as Kenneth Clark points out Civilization, it is much better at a distance than close- at a distance it is grand, but up close the lack of human scale considerations taken by architects can make one weary.
In the great steeplechase of best cities- London N.Y. or Paris, Paris has moved to the fore- it offers more long term pleasures.
New York- on Lexington, oil on card, 17 x 19.5 cm - available
Washington Square Park- the arch, oil on card, 17 x 18 cm SOLD
This is the third time I have painted the arch- this picture is larger and more simplified than the others. Arches are extremely satisfying to paint- and the simpler they are, the better.
In Central Park, oil on card, 19 x 17.3 cm - unavailable
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Paintings from New York - Queens
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oil on card 19.5 x 25.7 cm SOLD
This was painted on a sad street that provides the only diagonal crossing the grid of streets, and seems to be lost in time.
Actually, Queens overall itself seems to be stuck in about 1977, with innumerable old shops with somewhat forlorn facias and decaying blocks.
But it has is very nice for Greek things- delis, restaurants, cafes.
Actually, Queens overall itself seems to be stuck in about 1977, with innumerable old shops with somewhat forlorn facias and decaying blocks.
But it has is very nice for Greek things- delis, restaurants, cafes.
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Friday, August 24, 2018
Some things I liked in the Met this time
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It`s always a pleasure to visit the Met but why did they have to set the entry charge so high- at 25$ for non-New Yorkers- a charge prohibitive to those who are on a limited budget and so high as to discourage the repeat visits that are necessary to know this vast collection. Surely the benefactors did not intend that the works should only be accessible to the wealthy?
That caveat aside, here are some things that struck me especially this time-
Velázquez, Portrait of a man, ca. 1630–35
Velázquez, Cardinal Camillo Astalli-Pamphili, ca. 1650
Titian, Filippo Archinto, 1550s
Hans Memling, Portrait of an old Man, 1475
These renaissance portraits struck me with their combination of perceptiveness and gentleness.
Titian, Venus and the Lute Player, 1565-70
Rubens, A Forest at Dawn with a Deer Hunt, c. 1635
The falling tree is a visual metaphor for the prospects of the deer, I suppose.
Conversation, Vuillard, 1897-8
I found the aspect of visual puzzle above enjoyable.
Still life with Ham, Philippe Rousseau, 1870s
The handling of paint and tonal control in this still life are so assured that this painting transfixes.
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I was very taken by these detailed and elegant designed woodblock prints by Kitagawa Utamaro from the Picture Book of Crawling Creatures,1788, 26.7 x 18.4 cm
I was very taken by these detailed and elegant designed woodblock prints by Kitagawa Utamaro from the Picture Book of Crawling Creatures,1788, 26.7 x 18.4 cm
Cone-headed Grasshopper or Locust; Praying Mantis
Spider
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Ariadne, Giorgio de Chirico,1913
View of Collioure. Henri Matisse, 1907
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Ceremomial Banner (Roto), Toraja people
Indonesia, Sulawesi, Ronkong, late 19th century
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Bis Pole. Wood, fibre paint, Indonesia, Papua Province
Asmat People, 1950s
This tall, fantastical Indonisal sculptures are quite delightful. Their scale and effect aren`t conveyed in the photos I could find, alas. You have to visit...
Asmat People, 1950s
This tall, fantastical Indonisal sculptures are quite delightful. Their scale and effect aren`t conveyed in the photos I could find, alas. You have to visit...
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Tuesday, March 13, 2018
My Peruvian Adventure- Lima; conclusions; next?
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Lima
Lima, tabernacle, oil on card, 21.2 x 17.5 cm SOLD
Lima, a block near the courts, oil on card, 17.2 x 19 cm available
This building near the courts reminded me of the Flatiron in New York.
Lima, a view of a street in the centre, oil on card, 17.7 x 18.5 cm - -unavailable
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I spent almost a week in Lima and painted only three pictures. But they are all good: the colours are original and they are unfussy and confident. I stayed in the centre and in Miraflores too. I went to Miraflores because I am a softie and a rotten traveller and the filth of old Lima started to depress me. But Miraflores is also a bit depressing in its blandness and provides nothing much worth painting. I know because when I`d set myself up to work on something I found after some minutes that I could scarcely focus on the motif so glazed with boredom had I become. It was as if nothing in Miraflores told or suggested any story, it was so blandly, nicely, suburban.
Lima proper is very rich architecturally (if in need of considerable restoration), with a more splendid variety of buildings by miles than I have seen in any other Latin American city including Rio, Santiago and Salvador.
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Travelling and painting in Peru
You come home and within two days its as if you had never been anywhere at all.
Peru is mostly good to paint in. The people are not generally criminals and they don`t harry you sleazily as is the custom in North Africa. They are mainly polite, good-natured and a little shy. That includes the children who are neither nasty and sly like British children, vicious like the stone-throwing prodigy of Arabia, nor like the fat Ritalin-addled slobs you get in Donald Trump`s USA (Brazilian children are also mostly amicable- at least, the children of the lower orders are. The children of the Brazilian bourgeoisie are as revolting as their adult peers, spoilt and self-regarding and forever glued to their moronic smart-phones).
There are dogs everywhere, however, and these are sometimes aggressive. I had to rescue a schoolgirl in Ayacucho from a pack of about six of them. She was traumatized and went back home crying. Occasionally the dogs are covered in sores. I frequently saw pigs too, some of them enormous and shamelessly slothful.
Hygiene is not, generally, a high priority among Peruvians. Restaurants rarely have soap and towels, and the streets reek of urine. There is litter all over the place.
I sometimes found the food to be so poor as to be repulsive, created as it generally is by stewing the innards of uncertain animals for long periods of time. Salad is a rarity. The breads are weird- round and cardboard-y. There are some salty cheeses. Cakes are more impressive in their appearance than taste, which also has the aspect of cardboard. Ceviche is not worth making a fuss about- it`s acidic and gives one a belly-ache. For dinner fried chicken with chips is compulsory but it`s rarely any good and you feel sad after dining. The coffee, which is mainly instant or some concoction made in advance in a tureen, isn't much to look forward to. Milk is uncommon.
The light is soft and sad and not bad at all but equally it is not remarkable as it can be in Italy on a golden evening or when here in winter it is clear and crisp and the sun is low casting such blue shadows. It didn't rain much at all and I managed to work most days. The landscapes I found did not often convey a grandeur though except near Tarma. I was stymied by the road blockage out of Ayacucho as that route might have given me more dramatic perspectives. I also missed the beauty of tall trees.
In architecture Peru is quite harmonious. Their modern buildings do not, as in Brazil, disturb so hideously the older constructions (really Brazilians should be very ashamed of their architecture and how cruelly they have treated their heritage). And the older constructions in Peru are often of considerable interest and merit.
I met few other travelers and those few I met (4 x French) were unfriendly to the point of rudeness. What a pointless nation the French have become! Anyway, being alone is quite agreeable- my own company is very good.
Some of the paintings are good, some repeat themes. The average size of pictures is greater than in previous trips and I won`t work larger, at least not for a while. Anyway, there are maybe as many as ten paintings I am unequivocally happy with, which isn't a bad number (but what is the right number?). The business is capricious and I am not sure one ever really gets better at it.
Peru is mostly good to paint in. The people are not generally criminals and they don`t harry you sleazily as is the custom in North Africa. They are mainly polite, good-natured and a little shy. That includes the children who are neither nasty and sly like British children, vicious like the stone-throwing prodigy of Arabia, nor like the fat Ritalin-addled slobs you get in Donald Trump`s USA (Brazilian children are also mostly amicable- at least, the children of the lower orders are. The children of the Brazilian bourgeoisie are as revolting as their adult peers, spoilt and self-regarding and forever glued to their moronic smart-phones).
There are dogs everywhere, however, and these are sometimes aggressive. I had to rescue a schoolgirl in Ayacucho from a pack of about six of them. She was traumatized and went back home crying. Occasionally the dogs are covered in sores. I frequently saw pigs too, some of them enormous and shamelessly slothful.
Hygiene is not, generally, a high priority among Peruvians. Restaurants rarely have soap and towels, and the streets reek of urine. There is litter all over the place.
I sometimes found the food to be so poor as to be repulsive, created as it generally is by stewing the innards of uncertain animals for long periods of time. Salad is a rarity. The breads are weird- round and cardboard-y. There are some salty cheeses. Cakes are more impressive in their appearance than taste, which also has the aspect of cardboard. Ceviche is not worth making a fuss about- it`s acidic and gives one a belly-ache. For dinner fried chicken with chips is compulsory but it`s rarely any good and you feel sad after dining. The coffee, which is mainly instant or some concoction made in advance in a tureen, isn't much to look forward to. Milk is uncommon.
The light is soft and sad and not bad at all but equally it is not remarkable as it can be in Italy on a golden evening or when here in winter it is clear and crisp and the sun is low casting such blue shadows. It didn't rain much at all and I managed to work most days. The landscapes I found did not often convey a grandeur though except near Tarma. I was stymied by the road blockage out of Ayacucho as that route might have given me more dramatic perspectives. I also missed the beauty of tall trees.
In architecture Peru is quite harmonious. Their modern buildings do not, as in Brazil, disturb so hideously the older constructions (really Brazilians should be very ashamed of their architecture and how cruelly they have treated their heritage). And the older constructions in Peru are often of considerable interest and merit.
I met few other travelers and those few I met (4 x French) were unfriendly to the point of rudeness. What a pointless nation the French have become! Anyway, being alone is quite agreeable- my own company is very good.
Conclusions
Some of the paintings are good, some repeat themes. The average size of pictures is greater than in previous trips and I won`t work larger, at least not for a while. Anyway, there are maybe as many as ten paintings I am unequivocally happy with, which isn't a bad number (but what is the right number?). The business is capricious and I am not sure one ever really gets better at it.
Where next?
Chicago and New York. I like to go to a western country after having spent time in an undeveloped country. Maybe about 9 days in each of these cities? Also, I like Uruguay and want to go back there in winter as the light is so good.
I have only just returned and I am desperate to get another solid period in which I can do some work. I hate the bittiness of previous journeys- in fact I am angry with myself for permitting such short essays. And with distant trips one loses days here and there just travelling and finding ones bearings.
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Saturday, July 1, 2017
Bushwick Park, Brooklyn, New York
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Near Cooper Street, Brooklyn, oil on card, 17.5 x 15.2 cm available
This, above, is one of the best of the bunch. The colours are fresh, harmonious and original. The picture was painted fast but isn't slapdash.
It's pretty much what I worked to make: I recall that when I arrived I had this sense of irritation about how fussy my work had become and how I wanted to remove all its fiddly details and make something assured, elegant and fresh- on the back of New York's architectural boldness.
I harboured the desire to create pictures with a similar confidence, giving the same satisfactions as such typography as this:
Rockaway Avenue, Brooklyn, oil on card, 12 x 14 cm - available
The grand terraces remind me of Glasgow.
A view from Jefferson Avenue, Brooklyn, oil on card, 16.5 x 18 cm SOLD
Looking down from the roof, Jefferson Avenue, Brooklyn
oil on card, 17.5 x 15.5 cm - unavailable
oil on card, 17.5 x 15.5 cm - unavailable
Painted from the rooftop (above), this is almost a remaking of a painting from Queens five years ago: this one large and more unruly. I think this sort of pictures chimes a lot stylisically and thematically with Joan Eardley.
A view from Jefferson Avenue, Brooklyn
oil on card, 16.5 x 18 cm AVAILABLE
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Williamsburg, New York City
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I find this painting effective and even beautiful.
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Thursday, June 29, 2017
Central Park, New York
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Baseball, Central Park, N. Y., oil on card, 15.5 x 14 cm - available
Yellow tree, Central Park, N. Y., oil on card, 15.5 x 14.5 cm SOLD
I am very pleased with this one (above) which seems to have a certain freedom about it.
Bridge, Central Park, N. Y., oil on card, 17 x 17 cm- available
A boat on pond, Central Park, N. Y., oil on card, 17 x 15 cm- unavailable
Trees , Central Park, N. Y., oil on card, 16 x 18 cm - unavailable
Dog, cyclist, Central Park, N. Y., oil on card, 16 x 13.5 cm- available
This is quite a nice set. I relaxed when working and the result is apparent. It's so important to be in a certain frame of mind when working.
It's a characteristic of dilettantes that they wait for that mood to arrive and do not work towards it from whatever mental set in which they might find themselves. I suppose this is a truism for all jobs that require psychological sensitivity or imagination. Of course there will always be days when things really aren't going to go your way and it's better to give in and go to the cinema, but those days are few proportionally speaking and usually such negative moods can be "worked through".
Nonethless, environment matters: painting when someone is watching you is not helpful or fun. Observation doing any activity will turn it into a performance, making it much more difficult, even impossible for the subject to follow whatever trains of thought they might have.
With this in mind, I am reconsidering going to Morocco, as the level of nuisance and scrutiny from passersbys there is unpleasant, and doesn't help me at all. Instead I might do further explorations of Scotland.
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