Ucchia Marini carving a block

This is a painting of my dear friend Ucchia Marini, who along with her husband Mark are carvers and make beautiful stone sculptures. I painted this from life in the sculpture studios of the Art Students League of New York.

Art Students League Sculpture Atelier

I painted this painting of the sculpture studios at the Art Students League of New York. I was making clay sculptures and learning casting for a time in the mornings there and was always fascinated by the skylit windows that face onto 58th Street. These northlight windows face onto the street and once had unobstructed light when the American Fine Arts building was built in 1892. Since then, Manhattan has grown up all around and I'll always remember the effect of working on my sculptures on a rainy day and seeing the New Yorkers with their umbrellas silhouetted against the dirty milk glass of these windows scurrying by- sort of like some painting that Manet or Degas would paint.