In 2001, Jay and I discovered Pasticceria Bruno in Greenwich Village while looking for parking near O.K. Harris, where I was showing my paintings for the first time. Bruno’s Bakery and Cafe was an independent neighborhood destination with the most luscious displays, packed full of beautifully decorated pastries, tarts, and cakes. What a selection! Not only did everything have a distinctive look to it, but it tasted great too.
That was the first of many visits to Bruno over a decade before O.K. Harris closed last June after 45 years in business. And almost every time, Jay ordered something with fruit. This particular painting, called Strawberry Blackberry Cheesecake, came from a photo I took on September 11, 2010 when we took in some shows at O.K. Harris, ate at Bruno, and then went to the 9/11 Tribute in Lights to see the twin beams of light representing the World Trade Center.
Day 28. “Strawberry Blackberry Cheesecake” by Beverly Shipko, Oil painting on cradled panel, 6 x 6 inches.
The idea of this painting was to capture the freshness of the ripe, plump fruit, as well as the reflections that come from being in a brightly lit bakery case. I choose this particular dessert for the interplay of the green leaves against the red strawberries (ring-around-the rosie anyone?). This painting had a lot of details in it (think strawberry seeds!) and took a day and a half, beginning with the sketch you see here.
I am pleased with the final painting. Of course, there are small things I would have changed if I had more time (yada yada), but I’m not sure any of it would affect the net impression. So I made peace with that (how I matured in a month!), and am just enjoying the painting. It feels like the fruit is the hero, which is what I was going for, and is what Bruno does so well. Or should I say did…
While I was researching Bruno’s specific location for this post, I discovered something that made me sad. It turns out this store closed at the end of 2014, after over 20 years of business in that location.
With OK Harris and Bruno both shuttering its doors, it feels like an end of an era in more ways than one. Certainly the character of the neighborhood changed since 2001 with more national chains than ever and a constantly expanding NYU. It feels like that chapter in my life has officially ended, and a new one is about to begin.
So it is particularly fitting that I chose this painting for Day 28, which is doubling as my homage to Pasticceria Bruno of Greenwich Village, one of the last family run bakeries in the neighborhood.
Time to turn my attention to tomorrow and Day 29. Only two days left and too many ideas to choose from. A nice problem to have, isn’t it?
