Picturing Albany – Part I

My time as a restaurant owner provided me with some wonderful memories, a banging wine cellar and a collection of Albany-centric art. Not a bad take away really. I’ve finally hung the pieces I collected and couldn’t be happier with how they look on my walls. There are photographs, prints, a fine pencil drawing and a couple of watercolors and they’re a wonderful, tangible reminder of a chapter of my life that I was fortunate enough to experience.

First up, and apologies in advance for the less than stellar photo, is this incredible sketch of the interior of 200 Lark St. When I asked my friend, Ken Ragsdale, to do my required schematic for my liquor license application I had no idea that I would have this wonderfully detailed framed architectural drawing. It hung in a spot of honor at Lark + Lily and always garnered a tremendous amount of attention and I’m proud to have it now in my home.

The photos below were given to me by the remarkable Albert Gnidica, the man who is everywhere judging from the photos he posts on social media. I’m a fan of his work, particularly his skyline photos of downtown Albany, and I had these two mounted and framed locally. They did a really nice job and the photos looked great in the restaurant and equally good now in my living room.

A map of Albany’s neighborhoods is an image that evokes a few different emotions for me. I originally bought it at the Fort Orange General Store and was thrilled to see that the artist had included DelSo as one of the neighborhoods. Amazing, right? After popping the print into a frame and hanging it in one of the restrooms in L+L, where it perfectly covered an unsightly hole in the wall, it suffered some graffiti. Someone decided to take a black pen and, for reasons I’ll never know, attempted to scratch out DelSo. I was able to wipe it off, but it does make me a little sad sometimes when I think about what might motivate a person to do something like that. You can order one for yourself here. I think I want shirt.

This print, though, can cure any melancholia I might be feeling. I won it at Champagne on the Park’s silent auction and it is the last thing I see when I walk out of my house. I don’t knows how about art, but it feels kind of deco and the colors and depictions of Albany’s landmarks are joyful. Lee Dixon, the artist and graphic designer is a super nice guy and I’ve often seen his works for sale at local art events. He’s also done some awesome postcards that I’ve seen at Elissa Halloran’s shop on Lark Street.