Theater, Crown Center Evening

In the summer, I took photos of children playing in the fountains at Crown Center. I was interested in the colors that the lighting gave to the figures. It made for great theater and the children obviously agreed.

Fall, St. Joseph's River

Recently I have finished a small painting from a visit in October to Niles, Michigan. The river was beautiful in late day and on returning to Kansas City, decided to do a small painting from a photo; It is really an oil sketch, done very quickly. Ned Mueller told me to paint faster than I would like and set a deadline-that way I would not be caught in detail. Thanks Ned!

Blind Jim, Halloween

Jim, the blind man who frequents You Say Tomatoes, loves to dress in costumes. I saw him on Halloween in his costume and he agreed to my painting a picture of him. I wish he could see the results.
Randy, at You Say Tomatoes, tells me that when Jim comes in,often, he takes people over to see the painting. Someone had him stand under the painting and she took his picture with the painting. It has created a sensation!

Waterfire

An exciting evening at Brush Creek near the Plaza. An Installation of 55 floating bonfires, with music and dance, which made colors of the night glow.. With a nod to Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island Of  La Grande Jatte, I painted Waterfire.

A Gift To The Future

The Music is as good as the architecture!

Summer has passed, but I have several new paintings to show how I spent my summer. I  have addressed the new skyline for a second time. The Performing Art Center is the new addition, and it is fascinating how the computer generated lights of the Marriott Hotel frame the Center- As the colors change momentarily I had to pick a color, so I chose fuschia. The scene is from the bluff overlooking the lagoon in Penn Vally Park. Years ago, I took students to that bluff to paint landscapes (Not at night). Fond memories.

The Drum Room

Again, I am drawn to the Kansas City of the last century-I always remember a former teacher,who was classical trained, stressing-rules are made to be broken. The light pole in the center? I think it makes an interesting abstraction with the black line on the left side. Does it work? That is for the viewer to decide.

My Portrait of a brother and sister

Ocassionally I do portraits, and have recently completed this painting from a photograph taken by their father. I think the back lighting is effective and gives a sense of time and place.

Katz Drug Store

One of the icons of our city is the Art Deco structure, the Katz Drug Store. Several years ago, I painted this  abandoned old building, and as it is up for auction, I wanted to revisit this building in a painting, to make a few modifications. I fear it will be torn down-a great loss to our city.

Savannah Conection

View From the DeSota

I recently met Charles Meyer who visited me to purchase a painting as a remembrance of Kansas City. Mentioning he was from Savannah, I shared watercolors that I did in 1989 of his city, while at a workshop for art teachers at Savannah College of Art and Design. During my stay in Savannah, I didn’t spend too much time in the workshop, as I was drawn to the beautiful homes on the squares and spent the week doing watercolors. In the evening I did a large watercolor of the rooftops of Savannah from the window of a hotel in the center of town. I have never forgotten the history and beauty of the city and have always wanted to return. Charlie left with the three studies and these also can be seen on his website, http://bluebicycle.org/home/2011/08/02/pantings-of-savannah-by-harriet-bigham/

Panorama of Kansas City

I have spent the summer painting a panorama from my window of Kansas City looking north from Crown Center. The skyline has new additions since we came to Crown Center in 1990. Sprint Arena, the Performing Arts Center, and renovated Union Station have changed the skyline since I first began to paint the cityscapes. It was a struggle. the Westin hotel blocked my view, so I went to Bentons on top of the Weston, took photos, glued them together, but there were still problems. The photos didn’t accurately record my view (the space was wrong; cameras tend to flatten ground). So I sat at my window and did a drawing. I used the drawing, graphing it to scale on my linen panel and using the photos as additional reference. I don’t yet have a title, but I wanted to record the beauty of our city at twilight. The panorama extends from the Western Auto building to I-35. It was difficult to resolve the relationship of the buildings in size. I think it is accurate as I used the traditional technique of measuring width plus height with a pencil. Perhaps in the future I will do another, but later in the evening with a brilliant blue sky.

Welcome

As a cityscape artist in Kansas City, Missouri I want to share my art and methods with friends.