Yucatan "Populated Landscape"

click pictures to enlarge

"Fishing from Quay at Progresso, Yucatan" 2013
32 x 18 Casein on muslin covered panel

This painting is another from my trip to Yucatan last year. The sun-drenched beach at Progresso faces the Gulf of Mexico from the very center of the peninsula. The area is modern and developed, attracting many tourists, but this scene captures a local family fishing trip on the quay. I wanted to depict the intensity of the sun suffusing the afternoon with vivid colors of turquoise, pink and yellow

Cape Cod Light
This is the first painting from my recent trip to Cape Cod. The exceptional quality of the light at sunset inspired this study of a side street in Provincetown's west end. With most of streetscape dark with purple shadows, the façade of one house picked up the amber and salmon colors of the clouds, while the open bay beyond remained in reflected daylight.

"Last Light Over the Bay" 2013
 14 x 14 Casein on muslin covered panel

(Unfortunately, the photograph loses some of the subtlety of the rich colors)

Winner of Plein Air Competition
"Paint Our Town" event sponsored by Medford Art Center
On June 1, I participated in a Plein Air (outdoor) painting contest in Medford NJ, and annual event of the Medford Art Center. I was very excited that my painting won the first place prize! My painting and others from the contest are on display at the Medford Arts Center, in conjunction with the "Metro 29 Show" from August 31 thru October 4th.

More info about hours and location at the Art Center Website: http://medfordartscenter.org/?p=985

"Silo" 2013

Summer Shows

Recent Paintings on Display at

Frame House Gallery

7900 High School Road, Elkins Park PA, 19027

 

Casein paintings by Bruce Starr
on display through August

for hours and info visit:
http://www.epframehouse.com/



"Evening Ritual" 16x12, 2013
This painting is a great reminder of summer evenings at the shore; in this piece, watching the sun set from Herring Cove Beach on Cape Cod

Pieces Chosen for MRAC Annual Juried Art Show

 

Two of my paintings have been selected for exhibit in the Manayunk-Roxborough Art Center's 5th juried event running through July. For more information about the show, visit the MRAC website:

Manayunk Roxborough Art Center

 

The paintings chosen are shown below:

"Storm Clouds over Manayunk Viaduct" 2013: 26 x 24, Casein on muslin covered panel

 

 

"Three Lanes to Jersey" 2011: 16 x 12

 

Mural Up!

 

Elkins Park Train Station Renovation Project, Mural Panels

Panels completed in the station "studio"  ready for installation

I've been working on this vividly colored mural, designed to raise curiosity and awareness about the plan to preserve the historic Elkins Park Train Station, and turn it into a community center. I painted plywood panels on a loooooong easel set up inside the station itself.

Last Saturday a group of volunteers helped install the panels on the outbound shelter structure, where it can be seen from the commuter parking lot and the business district around Creekside Co-op.

For more information visit renovation project website at:

www.elkinscentral.com

New Paintings

"Distant Campfire" 12 x 12, Casein on muslin covered panel. Weathered chestnut frame, overall size 21 x 21

This new work is on display at the Frame House gallery, 7900 High School Road in Elkins Park PA. I was really pleased with how the moody scene became more interesting with the integration of the painting into the frame, the blue tones enriched by an intense periwinkle floater and the beauty of the heavy weathered chestnut outer rail. I built this frame from wood I found in a salvage yard, and was told by the owner that it was originally the back rail of a church pew. It works beautifully for its new purpose! 

"Market East" 28 x 21, Casein on muslin covered panel

Septa riders may recognize the multi-colored, angled strokes in the right section of this painting as an interpretation of the glazed tile wall of the Market East station platform area. Light pours in from the glass shaftway above, reflecting and refracting from the glossy wall surface onto the platform and patrons. Yet the underground darkness of the tunnels still pervades the space. My palette became more high-contrast and intense than usual to capture this atmosphere. I was also interested in capturing the feeling of people interacting in this public space--or rather not interacting, with many characters' attention focused downwards to their hand-held devices. The scene made me think of an earlier impressionistic painting, also of people taking public transportation, "Boston Common at Twilight" by Childe Hassan. (shown below)  A very different mood of a different time, but somehow connected.

Open studio for the Turtle Artisan's Tour

Thanks to everyone who visited me in the
ELKINS PARK TRAIN STATION!



Ready at the station!

Beautiful tour weather!

Special thanks to
Amy Ragsdale and Denise Shardlow
for all their hard work organizing the tour!



"Tour-ists" browse my paintings

Great to get feedback on my new series

for more information about the Turtle Artisan's Tour, visit:

www.turtlearttour.com
 

 New painting series:
"EYES ON THE ROAD,
HEAD IN THE CLOUDS"


"Nightfall Over Turnpike Crossovers" 36 x 24, Casein

"Sunrise Overpass" 36 x 24, Casein

 

"High Clouds Crossing to Jersey" 36 x 24, Casein
 



"Storm Clouds Over Manayunk Viaduct" 36 x 24, Casein

 

MURAL FOR STATION RENOVATION PROJECT

To help raise funds to create a community arts space in the station's beautiful original waiting room I will be painting a mural for the outbound side of the station facing the High School Road business district.

Working sketch for the station mural

 

Lisa Stockebrand, Cynthia Blackwood, Bruce Starr at Elkins Park Station

"Beginnings" exhibit continues through April at OCJAC gallery

Bruce with his paintings at the OCJAC gallery on First Friday

 A beautiful spring evening fueled the crowds in Philly's Old City during April's First Friday event. Four paintings from my new series "Eyes on the Road, Head in the Clouds" were on display in the OCJAC gallery at 119 N. 3rd St. in the show "Beginnings" which runs through April.

Visitors view pieces from my "Eyes/Clouds" series.

RECENT PAINTINGS:

By coincidence, the scene for the two pieces shown below was the street just outside this gallery, on another First Friday last fall:

"The Violinist, First Friday" 30 x 18, Casein

"The Opening" 14 x 14, casein

Another recent work from the Esplanade along the Charles River in Boston on a warm summer afternoon

"Anchorage on Esplanade, Charles River" 32 x 21, casein

Special Pricing on Selected Framed Original Paintings

on display for Turtle Tour, 2013

Elkins Park Train Station

The pieces below are among those with special pricing for the tour event, benefiting the Elkins Park Train Station Renovation effort. All these paintings include custom frames. (Click picture to view larger image)

"Wheatfield and Lone Tree" 24 x 12, Casein,
Classic Gold Frame

"Miranda's Window, Rainy Dawn" 16 x 12, Casein,
Classic Gold Frame

"Fountain of My Youth" 9 x 12, casein,
Chestnut floater frame
 

"Green House, Flowering Apple, Commercial St. Ptown"
24 x 12, casein, Classic Gold Frame

New works also on display!

 

Artisan Woodworking

Repurposed for a New Millennium

Also available during the tour, or from the Frame House gift shop.  These are objects I've found and salvaged from rural Pennsylvania, Virginia, or Maryland. They display the craftsmanship of previous centuries, which I've reworked and updated for a new life as home furnishings and accessories.

Rope Bed Table



This table would fit perfectly in a foyer or behind a sofa. The beautifully turned legs began life a rope bed in Pennsylvania's Perkioman Valley, probably at least 250 years ago. They have been refinished with a beautiful black cherry Casein stain, and fitted with a rustic pine plank top, protected with a polyurethane finish. 

Picket Coat Rack

This 5-hook coat rack was made from a beautifully weathered picket gate also found in rural PA. Because it was never painted, I merely sanded the planks lightly and sealed them with polyurethane prior to re-crafting them into this rack.

Rustic Votive Tray from Column Base

Weathered column bases salvaged near Schwenksville Pa formed the bases for this pair of Votive Candle Trays with bun feet. The trays were first dyed with burgundy casein stain, then hand painted with a tracery of branches, buds and leaves, creating modern candle holders with a rustic heirloom feel. These make a perfect dinner party presentation used on a long dining table with a floral centerpiece in between.

Creekside Co-op Designer's Tour

 

Take a slideshow designer's tour of the new Creekside Co-op in Elkins Park PA. Interior design and casework contracting for this project occupied most of my time last year (sadly limiting my time for painting!) The slideshow tour video above shows off the interior where most of my efforts were focussed. I also produced exterior renderings used by the design committee and general contractor, as in the example below.

Creekside Co-op front elevation by Bruce Starr

The co-op opened just in time for the 2012 holidays

Below are a few of my favorite shots from the construction period

Co-op building shell after demolition in March. 2012

The new facade begins to take shape

Interior after demolition

Same wall today

The two pictures above are "Before and After" shots of the same wall. My design work included preserving the look of the original ceiling beams and exposed brick at the top of the wall.

     

Placing Checkout Counters

Interior Nearing Completion

With the interior nearing completion, my casework gets installed. Below are shots of my renderings used for planning and placement of the checkout lanes, and the lanes being used in the finished store.