Pittsburgh Morning

Acrylic on canvas. 9 × 12 in.

It was a cold Pittsburgh morning, and my last day of my weekend visit. I knew I had to capture something there to take home with me. I walked around alleyways and tall buildings until I found just the right spot to perch.

Just as I was setting up, a slightly older lady said to me, “What are you doing? Trying to make some beauty in this ugly world?” I couldn’t help but smile and laugh to reply, “I’m trying, thank you!” as I finished getting it all ready. Before even beginning, I had another reason to create. As if she could already see my finished painting on the blank canvas there, and given me meaning behind it. Not just something for me to take home, but a proof of the beauty in the world.

My session’s conversations never stopped throughout the three hour I worked. Every few minutes I would have a new conversation with a new person, or a group, or just a passing comment, all very encouraging and thoughtful. I found this the last time I did a Plein Air in Pittsburgh. It’s the people that really make this city to beautiful.

I got lucky as I was about half way though painting the scene, a large group started to form to wait for the show going on in the theater. I felt no choice but to add them into the painting. Usually I don’t add people or cars to my paintings, but here they were as much a part of the landscape as the buildings and the roads.