Windows in Manyunk

Windows in Manyunk

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

This painting was made from a photo taken at the bottom of the Cynwyd trail facing Manyunk.  I have an oldish small digital camera and yet it is able to capture the sun inside the window of a building several miles away.  I am not a great photographer but the camera is a mighty instrument these days.  It was set on automatic, not even zooming in.  If someone were in that factory window not wishing to be observed, they would be out of luck and I would have a painting that looked like a Hopper wannabe.

$125.00

EMPTY SHOP REFLECTIONS

EMPTY SHOP REFLECTIONS

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

The interior of an empty store is a lonely place.  Someones' dreams are dashed and the bare walls and hollow spaces seem to echo with old voices.  Here the reflections of cars parked for still thriving stores, mix with the empty arches of this abandoned space in Suburban Square.  

$125.00

UMBERS AND OCHRES ON THE ROAD

UMBERS AND OCHRES ON THE ROAD

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on  canvas board

From the train window on the way home from New York I spotted this combination of trucks passing in the late afternoon sun just as we were pulling into 30th Street Station.  It seems almost anything can look warm and inviting in that particular light... or maybe I was influenced by that special feeling of contentment you get when you have successfully negotiated a trip and you reach your home station.

$125.00

SOLD

FLOWER SHOP IN SOHO

Last weekend I was in New York visiting my daughter and while wandering around Soho, before meeting her for dinner, I came across this outdoor flower shop with each tulip individually wrapped against the stormy night and all the flowers encased in filmy paper.  It seemed such a tender scene I wanted to catch it in paint.  Backing up to take a snap shot I ran into this sign.

Now I could only imagine a hoard of painters complete with berets and easels being banned from the spot by an irate shop owner who wanted to keep all the beauty for his customers.  Here in flagrant disobedience is my painting.

FLOWER SHOP IN SOHO

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

$125.00

FARMER'S MARKET

FARMER'S MARKET

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

The Ardmore Farmer's Market is always a place to see lots of interesting colors and shapes.  I sometimes wonder what the Amish think of all the mainliners rushing around buying things as fast as they can, dressed in expensive clothes and shoes and carrying pocketbooks decorated with designer names.

$125.00

BEFORE THE DEMOLITION

BEFORE THE DEMOLITION

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

Back home in Merion on Latches Lane there is a lot going on.  The Barnes Foundation is closed, its Paul Cret designed building's future unknown.   Episcopal Academy is gone and St. Joseph's University has taken over. They are well on their way to having a large baseball field completed where young students used to romp, and this stately old home, the largest property on the Lane, is being demolished. 

My feelings about all this run very deep as I have been here for 40 years.  This home's demise is sad, but actually the fact that someone would spend the money to tear it down and build a new, apparently even larger home is  a positive thing for our street.  Hopefully the plans for the new home will be green, using all of today's technology to ensure it will be energy efficient.  This would be some justification for what would seem to be a waste.  The beautiful stone will be used in other projects and people have been removing parts of the house for weeks to use for new jobs.  Here is how it looks today.  The gaping holes in all the windows and doors feel like the vacant eyes of ghosts to me.

5TH AVENUE COLORADO

5th AVENUE COLORADO

Nancy herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

This month the virtual paint-out traveled to Summit County Colorado and I traveled along.  I found this cozy looking chalet just below the mountain where I will be skiing all day...or at least while the fantasy lasts.

$125.00

YELLOW WALL

YELLOW WALL

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

This is the last painting from the Cynwyd Trail for now.  I know I will be returning to these close-ups of Manayunk from the trail sooner or later as I love the shapes created by the roof tops. While I am painting them I imagine living in these houses, which adds to the fun.  Everything looks so cheery on this sunny afternoon but what is it really like to live there?

$125.00

SOLD