"Marley's Bar & Grill"

"Marley's Bar & Grill"  25" x 16"  Oil on Hardboard

This painting will never be for sale. I have very special memories associated with this painting that was done some 10 years ago. My sister-in-law and her husband owned Marley's Bar & Grill on Walnut St. in Manistique. It's in a really cool old building that I had wanted to capture on canvas the moment I saw the place. In the deep days of winter in the Upper Pennisula of Michigan I decided to paint it Plein Air. (Painting out-of-doors, on site, not in a studio.) Great idea, until it got a bit too cold, so I ended up painting from the back of my large Ford Van. My field easel worked out well when I condensed it to a table-top size and placed it in the back end of the van. When I couldn't take the cold one more minute, I went into Marley's and had hot cocoa, a snack or lunch. (They took such good care of me!) It turned out to be so much fun. Anyway, this is the product of that experience and the days I spent with my wonderful nieces and in-laws. The town has changed a bit over the years. Some of the stores aren't the same, but that's the beauty of this painting. It's a moment in time and I documented it. I also like this painting because I tried to paint this in the spirit of the Impressionist style. I don't usually create artwork in that style, but I had read a book on the Ashcan Artists of New York and I was inspired to try my hand at it. I think this has a mood of that 1900s era. Below is the book on the Ashcan Artists.