Tuesday, August 10, 2010

BROWN AND WHITE STRIPES By Cecelia Lyden

acrylic on stretched canvas
11x14
cecelialyden.com
About 25 years ago I painted the entire front of this building on Market Street in Mechanicsburg. It was painted white, then, with deep brown trim. The awnings were brown and white stripes. The building was so striking and the painting sold from an art exhibit at the Harrisburg Art Ass.
The building is a little rundown now and I was told by Terry Kennedy, who runs the Second Floor Gallery across the street that someone was going to renovate it. I can only hope that they keep that beautiful, rich trim around the doors and windows--and of course the stunning striped awnings. I felt I needed to paint it again, just in case.

5 comments:

Bottini - Classic Realist Landscape said...

Very nice composition - the approximate symmetry and stripe motif add a syncopated energy to the piece. Your use of a strong angled mid day sun and shadows opens up the pictorial space. Your slightly greyed-down palette and loose brushwork convey the substance and the worn nature of the old structure. Lovely painting!

Mary Beth Brath said...

ah yes - I recognized this building right away. Well Done Cecelia. I started one of this place during the plein air event at the Mechanicsburg Art Walk this spring. Is that when you did this one?

L. O'Neal said...

You captured the charm of these Mechanicsburg structures so well - I love knowing that this building has been preserved through art in it's various stages of renovation.

Autumn Leaves said...

A gorgeous building made even more gorgeous by the work of your brush.

Debra Kreiger said...

Cecelia, What a nice painting! We used to live in this building years ago. It has a lot of charm.