Beauty and the Beast

I think the girl on the train yesterday morning was a fashion model. She was tall, thin and beautiful. This is not a direct shot of her, but of her reflection in the window.

By luck you can see the foliage of the trees along the tracks in her face.

I couldn't see her. But I could see her reflection in the narrow space between the seat back in front of me and the window. Here's another shot.


While I was very happy with what I got on the way to Grand Central, I was unhappy about a shot I missed in New York.

A tall, attractive woman was on 10th Avenue at the corner of West 24th talking with a young man. She was pregnant and this was emphasized by the blue and white striped sweater she was wearing.

Suddenly she yanked the sweater up so he could see.

I was watching this through the window of Trestle on Tenth, one of my favorite bistros. But I couldn't get to my camera in time. For consolation I had a duck tenderloin sandwich and a glass of pinot noir.

One more shot, to add a beauty and the beast twist to this post. A picture of my reflection returning on the train last night.

Click on the pictures to get blowups. Photos by Grier Horner. All rights reserved.

Desolate days

There are days in late October and in November when the landscapes you see while driving on country roads are stark and bleak.

Days when the sky is heavy with gray clouds, when most of the trees are bare and leaves sail as they detach from the few that are not. There is a sadness to these landscapes and a raw beauty.

It was one of that kind of day when we were driving home from Hudson, New York, last Saturday.

Babbie drove and I shot. Normally I aim through the windshield by this time I also tried some side window shots. Which these are. I think they capture the mood.

Click on these pictures to get blow ups. Photos by Grier Horner and protected by copyright.

Getting ready

My art group is going to have a show at the Lichtenstein Center in Pittsfield this month and I'm going to put up two or three of my Runway paintings.

The opening is November 13, a Friday naturally. There will be a party from 5 to 8 that evening. Hope you can make it.

So I've been building 6 foot x 4 foot stretchers for them and stapling the canvases on.

In the process I've found that I want to work on some of them some more. That's what I've been doing on the woman in the Gareth Pugh outfit with the horse of fire above.

I made her face very pale and added reds, oranges and yellows to the tale and mane to make them suggest fire more than they had.

Next I'm going to tackle the woman in the Alexander Wang mini dress with Baghdad burning in the background. For one thing the clouds of smoke have to be toned down a little.

Here's one I didn't put in the show, although now I sort of had. It's better than I had remembered it. I like the armor plate that Alexander McQueen used in the outfit.

Also showing will be Linda Baker-Cimini, Betsy Dovydenas, Barbieo Barris, Julie Edmonds, Paul Graubard and Susan Hartung.

Click on the top two paintings to enlarge them. Paintings protected by copyright.