"Brick Mansion on the corner of Comm. Ave and Exeter" (20"X16, Oil on Canvas, $650)
I did this painting as the result of a walk through the park that runs down the center of Commonwealth Avenue, one of the more beautiful areas in Boston. It's always been a really upscale street, with expensive homes and apartments lining both sides of the park. This building on the corner is one of the more palatial, with its tower and pointy copper spire. I'm pretty sure it's a one-family home, but if someone knows different, leave a comment below.
The people walking by give the picture a little scale sand the way they're dressed tells the viewer that the weather is still warm in Boston. The street features plenty of plantings and trees, as seen here. The neighborhood is known for its informal competition to have the most beautiful flowers in the spring and the nicest display of tiny white lights at Christmas time. There are also lots of cherry blossom trees on the street that make springtime and extra nice time to walk along the park, admiring the colors left and right.
This kind of brickwork is still available to the wealthy, but it's fallen out of fashion in most cases to actually do it. Modern lines aren't what you see here, so I don't know if masons and bricklayers can still do this kind of work, like they used to do on a regular basis. Of course, the building has a modern heating system, so the chimneys probably don't see too much smoke. I bet the fireplaces all still work, and you can see by the multi-chimney at the left edge of the building that probably every room has one. I also bet that there's a huge fireplace in the living room, served by the huge chimney next to the tower. Imagine the roaring fires that used to be built in it at Christmas time, when the wealthy of Boston would entertain each other. I say!
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