East Village Nostalgia: A Walk Down St. Mark’s

I love to paint buildings. They tell so much about where an area has been and where it’s heading. Buildings, rather than street signs, are how I know where I’m going. While the shops and restaurants that reside along them may change, the buildings that last stand tall with their layers of paint and faded signage along the road of life in this great city.  With all the talk of places that have come and gone, we thought we’d take a look at a few that have pretty much stayed the same.

While I haven’t yet gone in for a body piercing or a tattoo, the walk down St. Mark’s Place in the East Village continues to inspire, with much of the same feeling it had 40 years ago. Aside from the 7-11 that now sits at the end of the street, and the Chipotle and Pinkberry that sit as if dropped down by aliens, many of the shops & restaurants are a throwback to the days when Sly & his Family Stone graced the sidewalks.

4 St. Mark’s Place houses the eclectic clothing store known as Trash & Vaudeville.  My painting shows the many layers of watercolor life this shop breathed into the East Village in the 70’s and 80’s and continues to inspire and bring pizazz into the lives of the young and young at heart today.

Take in some sights along the way and on your way back like McSorley’s Old Ale House:

Give thanks that St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery has been able to keep the integrity of years gone by as long as it has.

Follow AFineLyne on  her  website  and on Facebook at  Harlem Sketches  or  Greenwich Village Sketches. Head to  The Untapped Shop to pick up your own Trash & Vaudeville image and some posters for your walls.