CACTUS AND LACE

CACTUS AND LACE

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

Here is the final version of Cactus and Lace.  I was able to get rid of most of the charcoal lines and even things out a bit.  I got this lace while visiting Amsterdam.  I made the curtains and have been enjoying them for at least 20 years.  I think part of that enjoyment is remembering that I had the guts to buy all the lace and the tenacity to make the curtains.  Now I would prefer staying home and taking a walk in the neighborhood, or painting the way the light comes through this Amsterdam lace.

LACE LIGHT

LACE LIGHT

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

This is the window directly in front of my computer.  The sun creates a different shadow all morning as it moves across the sky.  This is the first really early morning composition when the light is still pink.

Cactus and Lace

CACTUS AND LACE

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

In this painting I used a new kind of charcoal to sketch in the scene and it turned out to be a big mistake, as the charcoal is too dark and mixed with the paint.  So now that the whole thing is dry I will have to paint it over again.  The theme of the painting is the way light is filtered through lace and even some cactus leaves and the intrusion of the charcoal outline is really intrusive.  I didn't realize how bad it was until I saw it up close on the computer as I scanned it in for the blog.  You will be seeing a better version of this in a few days.  It is something of an exercise in simultaneous contrast and with lines around the shapes that simply is lost.

ELBA

ELBA 

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

This month the Virtual Paintout traveled to Elba and I traveled along to see what Napoleon's exile might have been like.  It is a beautiful island that certainly cannot have been much of a punishment for Napoleon. This blurb from Wikipedia gives some idea of what he was up to while he was there "During the months Napoleon stayed on the island, he carried out a series of economic and social reforms to improve the quality of life, partly to pass the time and partly out of a genuine concern for the well-being of the islanders." 

Who would have thought!

DRIVING IN THE FOG

DRIVING IN THE FOG

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas

An ordinary drive takes on an air of mystery in the fog.  Not being able to see everything seems to infuse what can be seen with a certain romantic intensity.

CROCUSES 2012

CROCUSES 2012

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

About 2 weeks ago, on a warm day, I was strolling in the neighborhood and spotted several lawns on Birch Avenue covered with Crocuses.  They are the first flowers I have seen this year and they were alive with bees!  It is too early for Crocuses really and since then it has been cold and they are all closed, but seeing the bees is perhaps a sign that the bee population is coming back with gusto.  Let's hope so.  These were fully open as you can see, welcoming the bees.  The pollen was spilling out all over the petals.

Spring has officially begun!

TURTLE EYES

TURTLE EYE

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

In the afternoon the sun lights up this whimsical wooden turtle and his buddy the tiger.  They never fail to make me smile.  Made in Indonesia, these fellows bring the spirit of some local craftsman from half way around the world to me everyday.  Now days it is easy and inexpensive to purchase art and craft work of all kinds made by people from all over the world.  This is not the kind of work bought for investment or in order to show you are up on the latest art movement.  It is simply fun to look at and a way to get a small part of another culture into your life.

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.

SPACES

Spaces

Nancy Herman 

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

As you come into 30th Street Station on the train from New York, just before you get to the station, there is this space.  Nothing is there except for the shadow, the trash can and a pile of trash.  But there are hints of other places.  The car is just beginning to cross the bridge, the space under the bridge is leading somewhere, and there are just a glimpse of Philadelphia sky scrapers in the distance.  The tracks in the foreground are headed home.  It is a space pregnant with possibilities.

$125.00

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

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