I managed to paint and visit Long Island & NYC over a recent long weekend. I painted one early morning and one afternoon on different days at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories and Education Center where Bobbie works, probably the prettiest site for a lab and a career. This is the view near the top of the hill and close to her office doorstep. The paintings show adjoining areas of the village of Cold Spring Harbor, across the bay; both were painted in glorious sunshine but the harbor photos were taken when scattered clouds changed my view and I took a break.The painting below, on the easel, is set to dry in the sun as I relished the view and waited for a ride home, I have it home now having gingerly carried the still wet painting in my JetBlue carryon. The Library painting stayed at the lab in her office, I painted until 5 minutes before leaving for the train and it was entirely too fragile to move.
I plopped the wet picture on the shaded ground and took a snapshot to test the light. It needed more light for true colors so I moved the picture to shoot it again. Dead camera battery. I have no painting, nor do I have an accurate photo of it, but I did have the opportunity to spend hours with this view, the changing colors and shadows of morning, the moored boats changing direction with the breeze, pansies and flowering trees and a nearby fountain attracting a variety of birds.
Can you believe my sister works in this spectacular place? And she has the painting? I expect a comment as to how this photo of the painting compares to the real thing!
Photo Cold Spring Harbor
Photo Cold Spring HarborCold Spring Harbor Library, oil 14x11 2011
Photo of easel, 'Mapping My Genome at CSHL, oil 11x14 2011
Yes, this is what it looks like every day. I walk up those 115 steps from the 1st floor to my car on the 5th. And ever day, rain or shine, I turn around and take in the view. It was worth spending 20 yrs in the basement, waiting for them to build my new office :) I think you painted from the 1st & 2nd level of the Hillside Campus. The sky up here is amazing. It changes quickly, but so often it is that amazing pink and blue you captured in the painting. You'll have to come back and do the same view in the Fall. Stunning colors, but tricky to get the timing for the right weekend.
ReplyDeleteOh and the painting - it was fun to leave it at my desk to dry and have people comment on it, and for me to proudly say, "Yes, that was my sister!" Several people mentioned they saw you, but didn't want to interrupt. I thought it was funny that the techs were wheeling the chair through the lobby and when I asked what was going on, they said some lady out there looked like she'd be more comfortable with a seat. It wasn't till later that I realized it was you, right outside the door. I guess that little spot of paint disappeared - I can't find the chair the green mark.
ReplyDeleteThat morning painting at the lab was a special event, I felt I was on top of the world, celebrating Spring.
ReplyDeleteAn update on this picture: My boss, the CIO, is leaving us for England. Everyone was asking what are we going to get him as a farewell gift. I couldn't burden him with more things to pack, especially since the giant container of their life possessions has already started its journey over the pond! He was standing in my doorway chatting and I asked if he would like it as a memento of the office view he is leaving behind. :) It has been arranged, that once they have settled into a more permanent apartment, I will ship it to them. Maybe it will tempt him to come back - we will certainly miss miss him!
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