Acrylic on 9x12 canvas sheet
Available through DPW gallery/auction
The idea on this was taken from a catalog I saw some time ago (last year maybe?) and it showed 3 women with bicycles riding together. I think the catalog was for clothing, but could not swear to it. The photo & shapes intrigued me so much that I tore the page out & saved it for reference. Recently I came across that torn out page & decided to paint my version.
I have seen so many paintings of bicycles by so many different artists and I can understand why. A bicycle offers so many lines & arcs -- and their shadows are just as interesting. The round tires, the spokes crossing in the middle of them, the handle bars & pedals -- all interesting shapes. Then add the figures, the hats, the bags - so much to add, so many areas for details. This was fun to paint, I have to say. And the memories this evoked were of a childhood filled with bicycles & rides!
The love of the bicycle is not lost on children, who see a 2 wheeler as their first step to independence. I remember my first 2 wheeler, which had training wheels on it in the beginning. I wasn't allowed off "the block" so I rode that bicycle around and around the block until I was exhausted! Eventually, once my balance was good, the training wheels came off - and then not long after that, I was allowed off the block. That's when I had my first taste of freedom - I rode that bicycle all over town, up & down every street, around every corner. It was my vehicle of independence, my method of travel, and, to some degree, my best friend. I polished the chrome & paint (blue), and took special care of the gears & chain. Yes, it was my first new car!
Looking back now, I remember the thrill of riding my bicycle fast down a long hill - wind in my hair. Especially on a warm summer evening, riding as fast as I dared, just to feel that wind on my face. I smile now, remembering that. It's one of those special moments in time that sticks with you - a memory that is always in the back of your mind.
And it comes to the front whenever you write about it in a blog, or paint a bicycle in a painting, or even when you see a child today riding their bicycle as fast as they dare to, down a long hill, and smiling with the wind on their face.
Some things are just not meant to be outgrown!
3 comments:
Somehow our childhood days seem so much more innocent than today's days bring to our kids and grandkids. I always love hearing your thoughts and memories, Nancie. Love this painting; thought it was a mom and her two daughters and it reminds me of my time with my own daughters when they were young.
Great job on those bikes! Love the shadows.
I too loved my bike. I rode for miles with the wind in my face. Sometimes I think how worried my mother would have been if she'd know how far and wide I traveled.
The paiting makes me think about the summer, nice painting
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