Monday, November 30, 2015

"East Boston Harbor Swim!" Acrylic 9" x 12" Canvas

Started this work last summer.  Other commissioned paintings slowed down its progress.  Happy to finish it today!
Brings back many wonderful memories of my teenage years swimming off the old abandoned piers in East Boston!  Many of us use to swim across the harbor  to downtown Boston and back!!  So very dangerous! What were we thinking?! ("Hot fun in the summertime!" Sly And The Family Stone?)

8 comments:

  1. When you are that age you don't think! lol This is great!!! I love all the activity which I'm sure was non-stop. Great piece, Michael. Hope your Thanksgiving was great! I can't believe we will be in December tomorrow...where did the time go?

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  2. I love this painting!! I love the colors and the action of the kids jumping off the pier is great! I am happy to see you working again. It reminds me of my summers, too. When you're a kid you don't worry about consequences, it is all about the fun.

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  3. The action is wonderful Michael! The figures carry the eye across the whole scene and I can hear the boys laughter and chatter.

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  4. This painting sums up all those joys of summer and being a kid. Super Michael!

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  5. All the details is amazing in this piece Michael! the story is there without words!
    NICE work!!!

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  6. Very Cool Michael! Happy to see you back in the swing of it, or back in the saddle!
    I like the vibrant energetic quality you have here, very much like our youth. If only we still had that much energy: (
    I had similar experiences as a kid but not from a pier. We used to jump off the rocks into the Pacific Ocean. Tough getting back out since the rocks were sharp and jagged. But kids don't think. We did not plan on how exactly we were going to climb out, only thought about the fun part ahead of time, jumping in!

    Your painting reminds me of another that so beautifully captured that youthful spirit as you did.
    From the Ashcan School (which I remember you too love) George Bellows "Forty-two Kids"
    http://www.green-wood.com/2012/george-bellows-new-yorks-great-realist-painter/

    I suppose you could have titled yours "Six Kids" ; )

    Keep painting Buddy!
    Happy to see such a sunny painting as the winter rolls in on us!

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  7. Hi Michael, I love the colour and action going on here. Very evocative of youthful summer fun. You are very good at capturing energy and emotion in your work.

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  8. Great piece , nice work from your former student and east Boston buddy , David Rodriguez

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