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.