Exhibit: 100 West Busway
In 2006 I came up with the idea for a totally different exhibit from the usual exhibit of just paintings. I decided to turn my bus ride, explained below, into a multi-part exhibit of 125 4″ x 6″ photo prints and 13 finished 2-D works, each in a different medium, created from one of the 125 photos. The numbers of photos and works organized themselves; I culled the 800 photos I’d taken on one bus ride, June 22, 2006, chose 18, then got as many done and framed as I could between then and July 27 when it opened.
I wanted as much uniformity of presentation so that the images could stand out even more. The original and digital paintings were different sizes, but all were matted with plain white mats in 1″ matte black frames, and hung above the 4″ x 6″ photos, all horizontal, each of which was mounted on foam core and then mounted on the wall 2″ apart about 4′ up from the floor in a line around the room so it was like a dotted line on a street. The painting created from the small image was hung above as close to that image as possible. In 2008 I hung the show a second time, in the front entryway of a coffeehouse in Carnegie with big glassed-in display areas on either side of the door, the paintings on the walls and the small photos in a line on the glass, facing outward. I also had them in a digital photo frame in the corner of the window. I sadly have no photos of either exhibit—I couldn’t take any, and forgot to ask anyone else.
Just below my original text to describe the show I have the slideshow of small images (when I had this set up on an old HTML site I actually had a slideshow that let the images creep across the page so they looked a little like the dotted line, but that isn’t available on this template). You might wonder what inspired me at the beginning of the slideshow but as we travel on you’ll see the interesting people and buildings and flower sellers and graffiti and unique views, and then overall you’ll see what is always fascinating to me, beginning in a very green and treed neighborhood where I live, along the Ohio River and into Pittsburgh’s downtown, then around behind old neighborhoods to where all the colleges and universities and grand old buildings live, then back along the Monongahela River, to the trees, and back home again. Below that is each of the original and digital paintings in the order they hung. I hope you enjoy looking at this.
WHY?
Views of the rivers and city streets and tree-covered hills and the activities of people have always provided entertainment for me while riding the bus. I’ve long carried a camera to capture my everyday surroundings, and now my digital camera allows me to snap even more photos.
A ride on the West Busway, my usual route, shows a variety of scenery from the verdant hills and open space of the still-suburban areas through small neighborhoods and shopping districts to the bustle and congestion of downtown Pittsburgh and Oakland and the open vistas along the rivers.
Those extemporaneous images have often been the subject of artwork done in my studio, either rendered in traditional 2-d media or in digital techniques on the computer.
This show is both a simple document of the ride and of the visual inspirations to be drawn from the places and people along the way. Don’t trap yourself in your car and sit in traffic. Ride the bus and look out the window and see your world.
Original and Digital Paintings
“Misty River Morning”, watercolor, 9″ x 12″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“MISTY RIVER MORNING”, VIEW THROUGH THE WEST END BRIDGE, ALWAYS ONE I LOOK FOR WHEN RIDING INTO PITTSBURGH, FOR MORE READ HERE
“Our Golden Gate Bridge”, digital image, poster edges and color saturated, 12 x 18 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“OUR GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE”, FT. PITT BRIDGE,DIGITAL PHOTO, FILTERED IN PHOTOSHOP, FOR MORE READ HERE
“City Textures”, collage, 10″ x 12″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“CITY TEXTURES”, LACE CURTAINS, SOCKS AND UPHOLSTERY FABRIC ON FOAM CORE, ALL PAINTED OVER WITH GESSO TO ENJOY THE TEXTURE, FOR MORE READ HERE
“Flower Cart”, digital image, posterized, 12 x 18 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“FLOWER CART”, LIBERTY AT MID-TOWN TOWERS, DIGITAL PHOTO, POSTERIZED (THIS ONE TECHNICALLY SHOULD NOT BE IN THE SHOW BECAUSE I TOOK THE PHOTO IN THE SPRING, BUT IT’S ONE OF THE ONES THAT INSPIRED THE SHOW, AND I LIKE IT A LOT.)
“Where? and When?”, black and white photo, 12 x 18 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“WHERE, AND WHEN?”, LIBERTY AT SIXTH, DIGITAL BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO THAT JUST LOOKED LIKE AN OLD PHOTO OF PITTSBURGH BECAUSE THE ROW OF BUILDINGS IS UNCHANGED
“Pennsylvania Station”, ink and watercolor, 10″ x 12″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“PENNSYLVANIA STATION”, INK AND WATERCOLOR, FOR MORE READ HERE
“Waiting Bench”, watercolor, 10″ x 12″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“WAITING BENCH”, WATERCOLOR, I LOVED THE COLORS AGAINST THE LIMESTONE
“A Trip to the City”, pencil, 9″ x 12″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“A VISIT TO THE CITY”, A MENNONITE COUPLE ASKING DIRECTIONS, PENCIL, FOR MORE READ HERE
“Old Oakland”, pastel, 12″ x 18″” © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“OLD OAKLAND”, A BLOCK OF FIFTH AVENUE NOT YET “IMPROVED”
“Sah Side Slopes”, photo, 12″ x 18″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“SAH SIDE SLOPES”, PHOTOGRAPHED FROM BOULEVARD OF THE ALLIES ACROSS THE MONONGAHELA RIVER, BECAUSE I JUST LOVE THE MIX OF HOUSES AND TREES ON THAT NEARLY VERTICAL HILLSIDE
“Gateway Clipper Reflections”, oil pastel, 12″ x 18″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“GATEWAY CLIPPER”, REFLECTED ON THE RIVER
“Tunnel Vision”, photo, 12″ x 18″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“TUNNEL VISION”, JUST A FUN ABSTRACT SHOT
I hope you’ve enjoyed this exhibit! Originals are available as marked; if you’d like to purchase one or a print of one, please send an e-mail to bernadette@bernadette-k.com. See other annual solo art exhibits here on Today.
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Inspire Me Monday
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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
Inside and Out
Inside and Out
Though the photo looks old, it’s not, but the building is, and on a misty, snowy winter day the rest of the city around the building is misted out while the Victorian light fixtures and gingerbread appear. And the tromp l’oeil of the semi-circular awning reflected in the glass makes it look like a dome, though half of it is indoors.
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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
Primary and Secondary Colors
Lights in Primary and Secondary Colors.
The traffic lights add red and green to the blue and yellow and orange of the lights in the Greyhound station in downtown Pittsburgh; the dusk adds purple to the building. All colors are present.
I took this with my smartphone, hence the extreme proportions of the building, and the crosshatches made by the lights. Usually I am frustrated by these compositional failings with my camera, but this time they were welcome.
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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
Monongahela Fog
Monongahela Fog
It could have been a scene from a century ago at the J&L Steel plant along the Monongahela River, but it’s just a foggy October morning.
A spectacularly foggy morning, the type that only autumn provides. This is a bend in the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, the bit of a bridge you see is the Birmingham Bridge from the South Side Flats to the Boulevard of the Allies in the Lower Hill/Uptown/South Oakland. The steam rises from a concrete plant on Second Avenue, on the river’s edge, where the J&L Plant once stood; in the distance you see the first of the buildings in Oakland leading to Carlow University, Chatham University, the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. In this fog, this could have been taken decades ago, representing the smog from the mills. The mills are gone, the air and the rivers are relatively clean, but the colleges, the neighborhoods, the essence of Pittsburgh is still there in the rolling fog of an October morning.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
Entering Reality
Entering Reality
Not so much what it looked like in life but the way my camera recorded images at this spot, all the figures outside the shadowed area looked vaguely abstracted, kind of cubist or sometimes just a shadowy rectangle because the sun was so bright on the pavement and on the river beyond. As they walked toward the shadow they gained detail. Interesting.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
All images in this post are copyright © Bernadette E. Kazmarski and may not be used without prior written permission.
Magic
Outlying Planet
More bubbles from the festival.
Foreign Sun
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
All images in this post are copyright © Bernadette E. Kazmarski and may not be used without prior written permission.
The Magic of Bubbles
Reaching for the bubbles.
Along with everyone else I was enchanted by the huge bubbles people were making! Two long sticks with a 36″ loop of rope between were dipped into five-gallon buckets of bubble solution then held up to the breeze coming off the river. Sometimes one long bubble would form like a long tube, but if the wind moved about or the make moved the sticks it would twist and fold on itself or break into individual bubbles.
Of course, I had to get the bubbles and the fountain together in a few photos.
The best bubble of all.
This perfect bubble moved on the wind through the crowd…
This bubble went floating by…
…then suddenly, pop!
Then…pop!
The most wonderful thing was that everyone around the bubbles was smiling! The light was a little too dim to get a good photo of it, though.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
All images in this post are copyright © Bernadette E. Kazmarski and may not be used without prior written permission.
The Sun and Water
The Glow of Light and Water
I was enchanted by that big yellow ball in the sky and what it did to the scene of people and pavement and water; this is another in the series of photos from the Three Rivers Arts Festival. The photos above and below were taken through the spray that blew off the fountain over the water, and the sun is refracted through all those flying droplets, some of them landing on my camera lens. The blending of color from white hot to pale yellow to orange to red in the sun is pulled apart into a pattern that I didn’t notice at first until I started playing around with the RAW photos. I ended up not modifying them at all, I liked them just as shot, including a few others that are kind of abstract, shot through the fountain spire and fans.
The photo above shows a man and a little girl walking hand in hand, and I took a few shots as they walked past the yellow path on the water made by the glowing sun. The little girl stopped to point at something and the man paused.
The photo below is blurred, and that was unintentional—it was the first one I took as the two walked toward the path of light and my camera was finding its focus on the droplets of water flying around me, but I like the softened effect, and also the fact they are just stepping into the path.
Entering The Sun’s Path
In the photos below, I intentionally shot with the sun shining into the fountain, trying to capture the little gold droplets as the water fell from the spire along with just tiny hints of the landscape beyond.
Fountain Spray
Catching a few droplets falling, and one person through the opening.
Below, a little more abstract as the sun touches one thing after another.
Fountain Abstract
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
All images in this post are copyright © Bernadette E. Kazmarski and may not be used without prior written permission.
The Fountain at The Point
Two young girls run through the wading pool around the fountain.
I went to a concert at our annual Three Rivers Arts Festival weekend before last, and I captured so many images I was absolutely overwhelmed—as well as busy with a big project in house so I barely had a chance to review and edit photos. I realize it’s been a week since I posted anything at all! But a little distance from all those photos and getting the big project done gave me a little more perspective and choosing and editing images was actually easier.
The Point at Pittsburgh is the headwaters of the Ohio River, and the reason Pittsburgh exists where it does. The Allegheny River flows from the northeast and the Monongahela River flows from the south east and they come to a confluence in this valley and flow on to West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois until it reaches the Mississippi River in Cairo, Illinois. It’s an interesting feeling to stand above this point and see the rivers come together and flow off through this landscape that was once so scarred by industry and pollution, but which is now clean and green, the hills still tree-covered, the waters, well, I’ve had a swim in each of the rivers.
People gather at the point during the festival.
The most surprising thing is the point itself. Because river travel was so important for industry, this very point was once the site of factories and warehouses, trainyards, docks and even coal tipples that loaded barges and boats to carry raw and finished materials from the hinterlands of Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia into Pittsburgh, and picking up more to travel down the Ohio. If you’ve ever seen the land left behind after a steel mill or a chemical factory or a glass plant has moved on, it’s about as dead as the earth can be. But with the beginning of Pittsburgh’s Renaissance in the 1950s, this point of land was taken for a state park, rehabilitated and made a lovely place to visit and see the city and the rivers from a unique point of view—Pittsburgh is very hilly, and there aren’t many places that are this flat.
The fountain celebrates this spot with three short fans each facing a river, and the spire in the center fed by the “fourth river”, an underground river that flows out of Coal Hill or Mt. Washington directly underneath the Point.
The plate marking the Point.
The seal above is on the pavement near the edge of the wharf and has the names of each of the rivers on the side facing that river and also reads, “Point of Confluence, Point of Conflict, Point of Renewal”. A pentagonal shape marks the spot where Fort Duquesne once stood. I’ll be writing more about that with other photos coming in the next few days.
Below is a photo of the point from up on Mt. Washington from 2011 when the Point and the park were under construction so that you can get an idea where this fountain stands and see the confluence of two rivers that makes a third.
Pittsburgh
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
All images in this post are copyright © Bernadette E. Kazmarski and may not be used without prior written permission.
Gateway Clipper Fleet
Gateway Clipper
Pittsburgh’s Gateway Clipper Fleet reflecting on the calm Monongahela River in early morning.
Too bad the guardrail got in the way at the bottom!
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Magenta Meander
Magenta Meander
A walkway to the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, under the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
I was at the Convention Center for the Pet Expo over the weekend, and when I left Saturday night after a long day, I heard water and thought it was raining. As it turns out, there was an area to drive through between the two sides of the building, and this pathway between the lanes with a waterfall, the water flowing down the vertical walls then down the stepped area next to the walkway, lit with magenta lights. It was totally enchanting! This couple had also been taking photos, one figure walking all the way down below the catwalk I was standing on, then walking back up to the person taking photos.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Pittsburgh Autumn Bridge
Pittsburgh Autumn Bridge
Well, I was stuck in traffic on a lovely autumn day, so I took a photo through the windshield. But it’s typical Pittsburgh, a suspension bridge, a steep hill covered with trees and peppered with houses, a few churches in various denominations mixed in, incredible clouds and a lovely blue above, plus you know there’s a river in there somewhere. Pittsburgh is a lovely city but on a day like yesterday it’s breathtaking.
I wish my travels had allowed me to safely take a few other photos, but you can’t just stop in the middle of traffic, let the camera focus and click a few times without some difficulty in traffic flow. I passed no fewer than five major universities and an international teaching hospital, probably a dozen or more national historic sites and the headweaters of the Ohio River, to name a few things, plus dozens of distinct neighborhoods.
I just wonder who got up there and painted the dinosaurs on the rigging.
It’s the 10th Street Bridge that connects downtown Pittsburgh with the South Side.
Monongahela Fog
Monongahela Fog
It could have been a scene from a century ago at the J&L Steel plant along the Monongahela River, but it’s just a foggy October morning.
A spectacularly foggy morning, the type that only autumn provides. This is a bend in the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, the bit of a bridge you see is the Birmingham Bridge from the South Side Flats to the Boulevard of the Allies in the Lower Hill/Uptown/South Oakland. The steam rises from a concrete plant on Second Avenue, on the river’s edge, where the J&L Plant once stood; in the distance you see the first of the buildings in Oakland leading to Carlow University, Chatham University, the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. In this fog, this could have been taken decades ago, representing the smog from the mills. The mills are gone, the air and the rivers are relatively clean, but the colleges, the neighborhoods, the essence of Pittsburgh is still there in the rolling fog of an October morning.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
View of Pittsburgh, Roberto Clemente Bridge
View of Pittsburgh
Just a little bit of the city, with a bridge and a river.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Ladies’ Dresses
Ladies’ Dresses
Lots and lots of ladies’ dresses hanging in, of all places, the Strip District in Pittsburgh. Do we strip and try them on? No, it’s just the original strip of wholesale warehouses for all sorts of produce and dry goods. And ladies’ dresses.
I applied the “poster edges” filter to achieve the vibrance and contrast from the original scene; I had to take the photo through my car window.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
City Fountain on a Hot Night: 2010
Dancing in the Fountain
Families chase each other through the dancing waters of the fountain in PPG Place in downtown Pittsburgh on a hot night in the city. Changing colored lights illuminate the obelisk in the center as the water jets put on a show of their own.
For a print or other reproduction of any photo, please visit “Purchasing” for more information.
Old and New
Allegheny county Jail
What’s this medieval-looking fortress in the midst of modern buildings?
It’s the Allegheny County Jail in downtown Pittsburgh. What else does one do when sitting in traffic on a perfectly clear sunny day?
It’s an interesting contrast, especially seen from behind when it actually is a wall that makes it look like a fortress.
Pittsburgh at New Year’s
Pittsburgh at New Year’s, 2008
It’s snowing and I’m not going to First Night, but I thought I’d post two of the photos I took of Pittsburgh, viewed from Mt. Washington, taken on New Year’s Eve a few years ago.
Pittsburgh at Night
I don’t know why it’s always captivated me, but Pittsburgh at night, the modest buildings lit just right, bridges decorated with lights, all reflected on one river or another, has always been one of my favorite scenes. I took this series of photos and created a panorama on Monday night about 9:15, so many of the office buildings weren’t as well lit as they would have been earlier in the evening, but I never pass up a chance to stop on Mt. Washington to photograph the city.
This view is of “First Side”, along the Monongahela River right before it reaches the point; off to the right a little past center is the Smithfield Street Bridge, then in the darkness over the river is one bridge after another—Panhandle, Liberty, 10th Street, Birmingham, Hot Metal, then the bend where J&L Steel used to fire the night sky with an orange glow.
But even before that bend in the river, this little cluster of buildings coming to a point where a great river is born is all of downtown Pittsburgh.
Look Up! The Peaks of the City, 2009
US Steel Tower and Presbyterian Church on Strawberry Way
Pittsburgh has a mix of tall and short, gothic and modern, stone and steel in its skyline, and on a perfectly clear autumn day even minor details are enhanced by shadows. I typically enjoy photos of the contrast of gothic archictectural influence from the mid industrial age when buildings could have no undecorated spot with the streamlined ultra modern influence from the height of the steel era.
Stylistic Contrast
Look up and see the gargoyles staring down at you!
Gingerbread and Gargoyles
Sometimes a convergence of details comes together and simply provides a nice varied view.
Ornate
Old Church Roofs and Towers
Medieval Battlements
Two views of the same church, actually seen from the back on Oliver Avenue.
And, finally, just an interesting facade.
Nice Facade
Perspective on a Mural, 2009
“Yesterday’s Tomorrow”, looking up
I just love to look at this mural in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, and I think it’s because unlike most others it’s not really figurative and it has an intentionally limited color palette. It does represent a city scene, but it could just as easily be a collection of shapes. It’s entitled “Yesterday’s Tomorrow” and was designed and painted by Brian Holderman. The mural can be seen at 900 Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh. For reference, here’s a distance shot, below.
“Yesterday’s Tomorrow”
Someone Got Your Goat? 2009
Someone got your goat?
I see no small amount of similarity between these two…perhaps it’s the expressions.
As much as I love my woods and streams, I love to photograph the city. On my occasional trips into Pittsburgh, the camera is always in hand. I’m always sensitive about photographing people, but this guy really didn’t mind.
Some Last Looks at Autumn: In the City, 2009
Just Yellow Leaves
We know autumn is stunning on the hills and along the trails; a walk in the autumn woods can wash my soul clean as new. But that exciting splash of color among square and stolid buildings, hiding in the shadows of narrow streets but touched but the afternoon sun—now that is a welcome sight, and just as likely to cleanse the soul of the press of people and work on city streets. These yellow trees, some hybrid magnolia, I believe, having seen them bloom in spring, are planted in a curving line in a sculpture court at the corner of Sixth and Penn Avenues in downtown Pittsburgh.
Under Yellow Trees
Here people actually get to enjoy sitting under lemon-colored trees, near a granite sculpture of an eye. Just before I took this photo, several people who had been sitting there got up and boarded a bus. Darn! They looked great under the trees.
Yellow Trees, Blue Buildings
I may like this one the best since the impact of the trees on the urban landscape is clear.
And here’s one more, not as dramatic in color, but both the trees and the sculpture help to break up the vertical lines and rectangles in Mellon Square Park, a little farther uptown.
Respite from Rectangles
Pittsburgh at Night, 2011
Pittsburgh at Night
I don’t know why it’s always captivated me, but Pittsburgh at night, the modest buildings lit just right, bridges decorated with lights, all reflected on one river or another, has always been one of my favorite scenes. I took this series of photos and created a panorama on Monday night about 9:15, so many of the office buildings weren’t as well lit as they would have been earlier in the evening, but I never pass up a chance to stop on Mt. Washington to photograph the city.
This view is of “First Side”, along the Monongahela River right before it reaches the point; off to the right a little past center is the Smithfield Street Bridge, then in the darkness over the river is one bridge after another—Panhandle, Liberty, 10th Street, Birmingham, Hot Metal, then the bend where J&L Steel used to fire the night sky with an orange glow.
But even before that bend in the river, this little cluster of buildings coming to a point where a great river is born is all of downtown Pittsburgh. See other photos I’ve taken of Pittsburgh
Today 