Nassau Street – Under Construction
The reference for this painting is from street construction that was being done on Nassau Street in Lower Manhattan.
As I was walking to the subway after work one evening, I looked down to see the innards of the street, but what struck me was the colors. Pipes, tubes, cable, water mains, gas lines, bottle caps and other trash all of which were different colors along with the broken cement and dirt made, to me, an interesting picture. This is a work in progress. I’m almost done, unlike construction in NYC which never seems to end.
In case you’re wondering what IS under the streets of NY, you can go here and take a look.
After 9/11 it seems like a day doesn’t go by where I don’t have to walk around construction, hear construction, look at construction. Trying to work in your office which is vibrating because of the constant pile driver at the construction site across the street can really get to you. And as any NYer knows, our Mayor Bloomberg never met a construction project he didn’t like.
I know that stress is not only in NY. During a nuclear stress test, my brother Robert (who doesn’t read my blog) blurted out:
“This is a bullsh!t test!”
When asked why by the technician and the doctor, Robert said “They should make a test where your wife is yelling at you, your kids are crying and you have to carry a laundry basket up a flight of stairs! That’ll get your heart rate up!!!!”
My heart rate is always up. I’m off to practice some deep breathing.
What? I need a vacation? Indeed I do!
47 comments
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June 6, 2010 at 7:16 pm
R Garriott
What a gorgeous painting! I love your ‘realistic abstraction’. (and you brother’s version of a stress test, too).
June 9, 2010 at 8:57 pm
CarolKing
Hi R, thanks so much for your comment and for stopping by.
June 6, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Francis Jong
Wow, nicely done. I just love the colors and the realistic piping of all types. This painting is really complex, must have taken a while to finish this. It’s a master piece. I sense your anguish, same here at KL, construction is a way of life.
June 9, 2010 at 9:20 pm
CarolKing
This painting did take longer than many of my other paintings. I still am not totally finished, but very close. Thanks for your comments. This one may be a favorite of mine.
June 6, 2010 at 8:26 pm
The Husband
Stress schmess!! Just take a deep breath, put your blinders on and walk right by whatever it is, unless it’s a crime scene–then find a way around it. I love the construction piece. Another painting I’ll need to get framed.
June 9, 2010 at 9:20 pm
CarolKing
Yay! Glad you like it!
June 6, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Kung
Thank you for approaching these nasty construction sites with such a poetic interpretation. As you can imagine, these colors are essential for future construction/excavation to properly identify the appropriate conduits. The necessity of everyday utility becomes a thing of beauty in the eyes of an artist. Thank you for sharing your vision with us.
Now to the stress test. I almost feel that after 9-11, I have a second lease to life. Separated from the WTC site by a mere two-blocks, I feel fortunate not only to have survived the event, but also personally knowing no one who had perished. Of course there have still been days when I got stressed out at work, or had to deal with unpleasantness at home, at the end of the day I have been able to take a deep breath and close my eyes to a restful sleep. What I am trying to say is that I would defer to Robert’s authority on defining stress, since he works in/for hospitals AND has a wife and kid at home. OY!
June 9, 2010 at 9:22 pm
CarolKing
I never realized that the reason all the pipes and cables were all those different bight colors was for identification but of course it makes sense! I’m glad you like this, you famous art collector you!
June 6, 2010 at 10:49 pm
jaybastian
Interesting study. Its like the street is alive with blood vessels and nerves!
June 9, 2010 at 9:23 pm
CarolKing
YES! That’s exactly what it’s like. Thanks Jay.
June 7, 2010 at 12:28 am
Jala Pfaff
Super cool painting!!
Boulder is all under construction too. Talk about widespread road rage…
June 9, 2010 at 9:24 pm
CarolKing
I wonder why certain cities always seem to be under construction? There are parts of the City that are just under constant construction. I think they’ve been working on the BQE (Brooklyn Queens Expressway – and Expressway is clearly used sarcastically) since before I was born. Glad you like the painting.
June 7, 2010 at 12:34 am
lesliepaints
You just went on a vacation! 🙂 I am liking this painting! I am really impressed with what you did with the texture in the broken off concrete and your darks are superb! The color pulls me right in to that mess that you have made look gorgeous. “Me-thinks” you are a contemporary artist, Carol!
To think you are riding in the subway beneath all the power and gas lines and atop sewage is a rather appalling thought. Forget that I said that. …ewwwwww!
June 9, 2010 at 9:31 pm
CarolKing
Whaddya mean I just went on vacation???? That was in April, which feels like a year ago! 🙂 thanks so much for calling me a contemporary artist! What a compliment.
June 7, 2010 at 2:15 am
Stephen
I love this subject – and how you have handled it. And I love the story of how it caught your eye. Last night I came across Laurie Humble who also paints this topic – check out http://www.lauriehumble.com/ if you like.
Dear me – you are rocketing along in this watercolour business – jolly good for you
June 9, 2010 at 9:37 pm
CarolKing
Thanks for the link to Laurie Humble. Very interesting work! So glad you like this painting and subject. For some reason I think I’m very attracted to painting city scenes.
June 7, 2010 at 2:40 am
AKLizzy
The colors are really striking! Another great painting!!
Maybe you need to relax on the 3D Slip and Slide? (I will not be 3Ding with that shark. Nope. Not gonna do it.)
June 9, 2010 at 9:38 pm
CarolKing
Can’t wait for the 3D slip and slide. I will watch the kiddies get swallowed by the shark as a I enjoy a nice cocktail on the deck.
June 7, 2010 at 7:20 am
Sonu
At first look, i thought I was looking at a photograph! And further reading, i scrolled up, my jaws dropped and i was like…WOAH, that’s a painting???? beautifully done! realistic!
Construction can be very annoying! But I love it, how you found beauty in that too!
June 9, 2010 at 9:39 pm
CarolKing
As an engineer, I’m sure you can appreciate all those pipes and cables! As an artist, I’m glad you were able to see the beauty that I saw.
June 7, 2010 at 11:03 am
asmalltowndad
How can something such a mess be so cool? The colors and details are great. The thing about construction in Indiana. You may have 20 guys watching 5 do the work, so it takes for ever to complete a single stretch of road.
June 9, 2010 at 9:40 pm
CarolKing
Ryan, I think what you described is construction everywhere. There are always 5 guys watching to one guy doing the work!
June 7, 2010 at 3:20 pm
unprecedentedintellectual
In houston, you cannot walk anywhere, you have to drive everywhere. And you can’t get anywhere because if the road to your destination is not under construction, then i can almost guarantee the road home is. AAAARRRRGGGGHHH construction, i feel your pain Carol.
June 9, 2010 at 9:41 pm
CarolKing
I cannot imagine a place where you can’t walk to your destination and must drive everywhere! That is such a foreign concept to me. Thanks for visiting.
June 7, 2010 at 6:35 pm
lindahalcombfineart
You have such a great eye. You saw the beauty in the every day and made lemonade from the lemons!
June 9, 2010 at 9:42 pm
CarolKing
Love that Linda! Lemonade from lemons! Thanks… 🙂
June 8, 2010 at 9:10 am
Beth Parker
I love this painting Carol! I couldn’t quit looking at it. I always get a kick outta comments from your husband, too. he he
I can’t wrap my head around the whole subway thing. (the underground part) I used to ride Bart, when I lived in San Francisco, but couldn’t make myself take the route that went under the bay. (I don’t like caves underground much either) I’d be a terrible NYer, I think.
You can’t really walk very many places where I live. It’s so rural. I have a 13 mile commute to work and I cross the lake 4 times, getting here. Long country gravel roads, rural highways and such, would make for an endless walk. 🙂
June 9, 2010 at 9:44 pm
CarolKing
Hmmm, I don’t like caves either. But I think you would appreciate how efficient and “green” the subway is. I’m sure you would make a fine New Yorker. Glad you like The Husband’s comments. He’s a funny guy.
Like I said earlier, I can’t imagine what it would be like to have to drive everywhere. When would I get my reading done?
June 9, 2010 at 6:01 am
An Artist’s Eye « The Height of Awesomeness
[…] by Neil E. Das. Just a few hours before I hit upon this picture, I came across a painting by Carol King. I thought to myself, that I have never seen a mess on the road could turn out to be beautiful; and […]
June 9, 2010 at 11:38 am
Alice
I love this painting! You are an amazing artist – anything I say now would be redundant after all the other comments, but….damn! It’s so good!
June 9, 2010 at 9:44 pm
CarolKing
ALICE!!!! Thank you! Maybe you will blog again soon?????
June 9, 2010 at 6:40 pm
wrjones
This is a VERY neat painting. Love the colors and design. I think you should do a series. Roam around doing street pictures.
Also – being lazy I will just comment here that I like your drawing of your canine friend; saves me some clicks.
June 9, 2010 at 9:45 pm
CarolKing
Bill, you ARE still around! So glad to see you. I think I will do a series. Also happy that you liked the drawing of Kaiya. I guess you didn’t read the post or you would have noticed the shout out to Mango.
June 9, 2010 at 8:31 pm
frank
I love your blog – very informative and well written! Good painting, I like the idea and execution of it, Carol. All the best!
June 9, 2010 at 9:46 pm
CarolKing
Many thanks Frank…for the comment and for visiting.
June 10, 2010 at 4:36 am
Alex Zonis
Now here’s a painting after my heart! I love innards of anything! Often times these innards are too complex for me to be able to paint, and I sadly pass them by… I certainly enjoyed yours here. I can relate only too well to a constant and never ending construction: Mayor Daley and Mayor Bloomberg must be secret twins separated at birth :D.
June 10, 2010 at 9:00 am
razzbuffnik
Very nicely done.
If it’s any comfort to you, Winston Churchill found relief from stress (of running a country at war), by painting.
June 11, 2010 at 9:32 am
CarolKing
Thanks Razz, Churchill was also a big napper (as am I). See his quote below.
Who knew I had so much in common with him.
You must sleep sometime between lunch and dinner, and no halfway measures. Take off your clothes and get into bed. That’s what I always do. Don’t think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. That’s a foolish notion held by people who have no imaginations. You will be able to accomplish more. You get two days in one — well, at least one and a half.”
–Winston Churchill
June 10, 2010 at 11:53 am
sam
I hope being #38 on your hit parade doesn’t relegate me to the bottom of your to-do reading list… I already “knew” you from WR’s blog. And Bonnie’s, too. Your blog is as funny as your comments to them. Duh. Procrastination kept me from coming here before. Dumb-A mistake. I also like your art a lot. You’re an accomplished (meaning, been there, done that) multi-media zany!
Here’s some of your stuff I really like: this painting of urban underground toobs, the way you string sentences, the really hot tip about Citrasolv, which I suspect would remove almost all substances off of almost all surfaces. Who knew oranges and coconuts were that fierce?! Also, the dawgs think Kaiya is *snuff* very attractive.
June 11, 2010 at 9:39 am
CarolKing
Sam, Just so you know, # 38 is my lucky number! I knew you too from Bonnie and WRJones.
Glad the dawgs like Kaiya. I will have to do more portraits of her. She’s quite pretty and lovable. But then again, I’m sure I’m quite biased. Thanks for your comments.
June 10, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Artswebshow
lol. stress all around.
This is cool.
I never would have believed such an image would make a good painting
June 11, 2010 at 9:40 am
CarolKing
I, too, wouldn’t have believed this image would make a good painting, but when I saw it, it just said PAINT ME. So I did. (sometimes listening to those voices in your head is good I suppose.)
June 14, 2010 at 4:20 pm
Sonya Chasey
I like the concept & you’ve done all those interweaving tubes very well. It’d be interesting to do a whole series of these. Or maybe we’d find it interesting to look at them all – you yourself might get bored of painting them after a while! I still think it’s an interesting exploration though.
July 25, 2010 at 11:02 pm
CarolKing
Hi Sonya, Yes, I think it would be interesting to do more of these. I’ve been going around the City and love the buildings and all the negative spaces they create.
June 15, 2010 at 8:29 pm
Alonso
Great painting love it and its so street.
July 25, 2010 at 11:03 pm
CarolKing
Hey, Thanks Alonso!
August 30, 2014 at 10:42 am
dkatiepowellart
I grew up in lalaland. When construction happened there they were made to keep even a high rise within the confines of their block or rent space elsewhere. Now I am in Portland and am always pissed at construction. Seems Portland contractor can’t build a two-story house on a large lot without closing off the street on one side. High rises take full closures. Geesh. Then there is the lumberyard that has taken over 19th five days a week to unload their trucks — hello? Learn to park your truck — I could do a better job! So you started the construction sequence . . .