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

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

WINTER PORCH

We don't have to shovel or slosh around in piles of snow to appreciate the beauty of a white Christmas.  Our memories can supply the details without the hassle.  Here is an old favorite painting done from my window on a beautiful day many years ago.  Best wishes for a merry day.

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

HOUSE ON THE CYNWYD TRAIL

HOUSE ON THE CYNWYD TRAIL

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

Continuing my stroll on the Cynwyd Heritage Trail I found the way the light caught the foliage on this bend in the trail reminded me of a Constable painting of the English countryside.

$125.00

LAUREL HILL CEMETERY

LAUREL HILL CEMETERY

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas

Along the Cynwyd Heritage Trail a lovely allay of trees welcomes all to Laurel Hill Cemetary.  This beautiful spot was"established as a permanent, non-sectarian burial place for the dead, but also as a scenic, riverside sanctuary for the living."*  

Here you can wander for hours in peace and quiet contemplating nature with great views of the river.  Read all about the interesting history of Laurel Hill, begun in 1885 with a new concept in burial grounds which were almost exclusively in crowded church yards at this time. This concept of grand public open space was incorporated into the planning for our great parks, both Central Park in New York City and Fairmount Park in Philadelphia.  

* website

$125.00

UNDER THE BRIDGE

UNDER THE BRIDGE

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

This week I am continue chronicling my stroll on the Cynwyd Heritage Trail.  I noticed while I was walking that, although I was going through areas that I probably knew well from the street, I was in a completely different world here on the trail with nothing to distract me from the lovely patterns the light made on the surroundings.  I believe from the map (click this link) that this is the Belmont Ave bridge, but as you can tell you certainly would never know it from this position.  How easily our perceptions can be changed if we are able to look at things from a different point of view.

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

LIGHT IN THE MORNING FOG

LIGHT IN THE MORNING FOG

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

I love the early morning just as the world is waking up.  The night light is still on and the fog has not lifted on this balmy November day in Merion.

$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

ARBOR IN THE FOG

ARBOR IN THE FOG

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!


$125.00

ARLES FIELDS

ARLES FIELDS

Nancy Herman

12" x 9"

oil on canvas board

For this month's Virtual Paint-out I traveled to Arles France where Van Gogh made so many thick and delicious paintings.  I painted from a borrowed ipad as the printouts from the Google map were very dark and unreadable.  It was very much like being there, as the light through the colors is so good on the computer.  There were many wonderful spots to paint, but this one with it's lonely tree was most reminiscent of Van Gogh for me.

$200.00

Rockland Road

ROCKLAND ROAD

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

What a glorious fall we have had!  Walking through the streets of our neighborhood has been a constant surprise as the trees gradually turn from one color to another.  Only today, after the heavy rain, have the leaves finally begun to abandon the trees in huge numbers.  Now we get to appreciate their structural beauty and, for a short time, the carpet of glorious color they have left behind.

Here is a lovely spot on Rockland Road just as it comes into Wynnewood Ave.  with Merion on one side of the street and Narberth on the other before the rain.

SOLD

$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

BIRD'S EYE VIEW

BIRD'S EYE VIEW

Nancy Herman

12" X 9"

Oil on canvas board

This is a view from my second floor window of my neighbor's front yard in the morning.
Soon all these trees will be bare, but for now it is a glory of warm colors.   This spectacular display comes just before we are confronted by all the whites and blues of winter in the snow and the grays and beiges of winter without snow.  Better store up all this warmth while we still can and get out there.

$200.00

LAST ROSE OF SUMMER

LAST ROSE OF SUMMER

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas

This brave climbing rose managed to squeeze out one last bloom before the snow storm.  'Here' is a clip of Deanna Durbin singing the Last Rose of Summer.  There are scads of versions of this on Youtube including one or two by Joan Sutherland, but this one did it for me.  I wish I knew what was happening in this movie.  Is the guy charmed by her singing or is he about to strangle her?

$125.00

SOLD

SHALOM FOR PECO

WHOOPEE!
My animation "Shalom for Peco" will be displayed every Friday night in November in the Crown Lights display for their program Art in the Air.  The pieces must be only 30 seconds and in the format of the display which is very long and thin.  For this one I used as inspiration the old Israeli folk tune Shalom Chaverim.  'Here' is my translation of that to color and 'here' is the piece as it will appear on the crown lights display.  If you are anywhere near the display on Friday night, look up to see this one and several others.
It is an interesting challenge to compose something that seems to have a beginning and an end and only lasts 30 seconds.  (By the way if you are wondering who Illuminata is on the youtube piece it is me.)

The great quirky sound on the round was programmed by Luke Herrine my dear grandson and has gotten 4,247 hits on youtube.  It is only to be surpassed by another that he programmed, Donna Nobis Pacem which has gotten 122,441.  

KID'S NIGHT OUT

KID'S NIGHT OUT

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

Didn't get around to painting this year's pumpkins, so I am posting this one from last year.  Here are a couple of interesting videos on YouTube about Halloween, if you can get past the ads.

History of Halloween 

About Pumpkins

UNION AVENUE #2

UNION AVENUE 2#

Nancy Herman

oil on canvas board

8" x 6"

The leaves are slowly transforming our streets to glowing colors, each year  intoning their own poignant farewell poem to summer.  Here is a link to UNION AVENUE 1# walking in the other direction in August.

$125.00

SARDINIA #2

SARDINIA #2

Nancy Herman

oil on canvas board

9" x 12"

I am still wandering in Sardinia and found this, to me, very interesting spot where I invite you to travel for a few minutes.  Here is the link to the google map spot.  Imagine living here.  One appears to be at the top of a hill or even a mountain.  The road seems to stop after your house.  Opposite your house is some sort of a memorial space where some cherished relatives are buried(?) (Just move the scene around to see all sides).  If you travel down the road ( click on the arrow and keep traveling) you will see one beautiful view after another but you will also notice that there are no houses for what seems like miles and miles.  So there you are at the top of a mountain with your memorial park and a beautiful view in a pink villa miles from other people.... mmmmmm.  There must be a story here.

Sardinia

SARDINIA

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

This month the virtual paint out is visiting Sardinia.  I spent many hours traveling the rolling hills of this country using google maps.  The country side is quite beautiful and the towns are full of colorful buildings like these in Soleminis Provence, Caglieri.  This spot reminded me of the stark cityscapes of de Chirico. 

$125.00

POOL REFLECTIONS

POOL REFLECTIONS

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

We are having a few more summer days before autumn really sets in.  The beginning of the school year and the slowly turning leaves give us time to get ready for the bare cold days ahead.  But for now these pool reflections and the boisterous shrimp plant are a visual delight.

$125.00