By the time I set up to paint, it was nearly 10 AM in Forest Hills, Queens. Unlike in Florida, it was still considered to be a fresh morning time in New York. The hustle and bustle of the city had just begun. The location was the street corner of Queens Blvd. and Ascan Ave., in front of an Italian restaurant named Portofino. Across from the street on Ascan was a Roman Catheric Church named Our Lady Queen of the Martyres. Since I came to New York, I was impressed by the striking contrast between the dark shaded side and the part shined by the sun. I tried to learn to paint the nuances of lighting in the situation. In the background there was the Long Island Railroad overhead pass with the Forst Hills Garden subdevision behind the trees.
When I was setting up my easel, there was a whole bunch of people, mostly dressed in black, on the sidewalk by the church's side door. Then I noticed a convoy of all-black cars parked on the roadside. "Is there a funeral inside?" I asked myself. Suddenly I thought of the movie Godfather and wondered whether all the black cars had anythng to do with Mafia. I cautioned myself that I'd better shut up. Then I laughed at my own paranoia. I am sure you are laughing at my ignorance, too. Honestly, all my knowledge about Italian Mafia came from movies and novels. Hope you like my painting, though.
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