ANGLES

Did you ever notice that there is very little computer activity on Saturdays?  There is little mail and not much on Facebook compared to other days.  It must be that a lot of people are using social media to pass the time when they are at work.  Once they have a day off they actually do things in the real world.  That is good news.

Since I am rarely anyplace but right here, the day of the week doesn't matter to me.  So since I finished this video today I am posting it today even though it is Saturday.  I made this piece in part because I love the way images fade into each other, leaving the ghost of one to merge with the ghost of the other.  Our interactions with our surroundings and other people are like that. They combine subtly in our minds in unexpected ways.

I know a lot of people see this blog on their phone, but if you are going to spend the 5 minutes it takes to watch it, I suggest you watch it on a big screen.  It really is meant to be seen that way. Think of it as a coming attraction.  Even though the feeling in this piece has a lot to do with what's gone before, for me it is what I imagine this year is going to feel like.  That isn't really good news.

ANGLES:  https://youtu.be/sKNNkSzkqKE

Old and New

OLD AND NEW

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

Visiting a friend in downtown Philadelphia, I spotted these two buildings in the early evening sun, united by the sun but representing very different periods.

Looking for some words to describe the old and the new, I ran across this poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, Memoriam.  It is living proof that humans don't really change and the old and the new are united by their desire for a better life, while struggling with the same problems.  Tennyson writing in the middle of the 19th century had these words to welcome the new year.  Here is one stanza.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,    

And ancient forms of party strife;    

Ring in the nobler modes of life, 

With sweeter manners, purer laws. 

In 2013 I would wish for exactly the same things.

Here is a link to the whole poem:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16131

$150.00

crocus 2

WHITE ACCENTS

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas

Here is another view of Manyunk from the Cynwyd Heritage Trail.  Since I am spending so much time peering into the windows of the houses there, I thought it would be a good idea to find out more about Manyunk.  Here is a link to its quite interesting history in Wikipedia.  

Some of the highlights are that Manyunk has the first canal begun in the United States.  It was once called Flat Rock because of the very large rock near the bridge.  The name Manyunk, however, comes from the Lenape word for river "Manaiung", or place to drink.  The Lenape seem prescient as Manyunk probably has the most bars and restaurants in the area.

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

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.

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

The Red Roof

THE RED ROOF

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

There are some great views of Manyunk from the bottom of the Cynwyd Trail.  Here is a close up of the town's roofs making abstract patterns with a little help from the late afternoon sun.

SOLD

$125.00

A GLIMPSE OF MANAYUNK

A GLIMPSE OF MANAYUNK

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

As you near the bottom of the Cynwyd Trail civilization begins to appear.  Here is a glimpse of Manyunk through the trees on this golden day in November.

$125.00

Cynwyd Station

CYNWYD STATION

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

The Bala Cynwyd Train Station originally built in 1886 and restored by a group of institutions in our community under the auspices of the Historical Society is the beginning of the Cynwyd Trail.  On a warm day in late November I took my first stroll down the newly completed trail and will be featuring paintings from that local adventure in the next few days.

$125.00

Rue Frederic Mistral, Arles

"Rue Frederic Mistral, Arles"

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

Another painting from Arles for the Virtual Paintout using Google maps. This very narrow street is intriguing.  What is it like to live here I wonder.  Is it comforting to be in such an inclosed space or stifling?  

$125.00

WHITE HOUSE ON RAYNAM ROAD

WHITE HOUSE ON RAYNAM ROAD

Nancy Herman

8"x 6"

oil on canvas

On these beautiful autumn days it is a good time to observe the way colors are influenced by what is nearby.  Here this lovely old house is many shades of white depending on where the sun is and which tree color is bouncing off its surface.  Color interaction is one parameter that we can observe that gives us hints about a phenomenon that is always going on,  all things are connected and interact in ways that are seen and unseen.

$125.00

HOUSE IN THE FOG

This is the last painting from this particular fog series, though I'm sure I will find myself in a fog again.   Before the fog lifts and the sun comes out, here is the lovely little poem by Carl Sandburg.

                                                          

THE FOG

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

SOLD

ARGYLE AND ALBEMARLE ROADS

One of the prettiest streets in Brooklyn is Albemarle Road with a median planted with trees and seasonal flowers.  I am a fan of porches and this one beats all.  I believe this house is one of the ones described in this entry in Wikipedia.
Tomorrow back to Merion.
SOLD

EARLY MORNING LIGHT IN DITMAS PARK

Looking out my bedroom window on my Brooklyn holiday I caught this shaft of light that I could not resist.

SHADOW PLAY

I was drawn to the way the shadow of this tree, in this moment, knits everything together.  Shadows are to me a visual reminder of the way we are connected to everything, although those connections are always changing.

FULL MOON IN THE SWIMMING POOL

I rarely go out at night just to take in the scenery but this full moon brought me out with my camera.  This is the moon reflected in the swimming pool with my neighbor's house lights competing with the much bluer light of the moon.  Their house is not yellow but the lights make it seem so by contrast.