Wet Flat Iron

Wet Flat Iron

70 x 50 oil 2014

This was a very wet-on-wet technique, where the fluid paint was worked into running glazes, the material mimicking the nature of humid streetlight halos during an inky urban night. When I look at it at a distance (seeing it as a photograph in this post) I note that it is slightly surreal.

The picture is dream-like or pared down to a memory. I simplified the intersections, leaving out  confusing barriers of bollards and planters that clutter the area nowadays. Why are there three taxis, only? Do they echo the triangular Flat Iron Building? A lone pedestrian tries to hail them.

The Rail Not Taken

Last spring during a visit to NY I overshot my stop on a subway train in Queens. Since it was only one stop I decided not to bother with taking another train in the opposite direction, but rather just exit the station and walk back to my destination above ground. Before I left the platform, accidentally arrived at, I glimpsed this interesting view of intersecting rails, glinting under lightbulbs receding into the distance of the large, Manhattan-bound tunnel.

Small mistakes, such as not getting off the train in time, give new opportunities if you remain open to them.