I love New York. I really, truly love New York. But I didn’t get to go into the city; I stayed near JFK airport, and had my canvas and citrus thinner delivered to my hotel from an art store in Manhattan.
As my Trinidadian livery driver carried me east out onto Long Island, the neighborhoods gentrified almost from one block to the next. Rows of working class houses gave way to lawns and comfortable homes, then mansions with water access to Hewlett Bay.
Tucked away behind these shrub-lined gardens, the Seawane Country Club could pass for another stately home. But its magnificent ballroom looks out over the greens and fairways that stretch down to the bay. A salt breeze wafted in over the patio, decked this day with a chuppah, or marriage canopy, and white flowers. A larger white tent covered the guests from the predicted rain.
Inside, tables were set and the band tested their sound system while I mixed paint and prepared to depict the room. After cocktails were served in an adjacent room, a white curtain was swept aside, the band got funky, and the dance floor filled with celebrants before dinner.
And what a band it was. They played everything from klezmer to jazz and funk. They finished the evening with 80s rock.
As for my part, I knocked this painting out in four hours.
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