Rise and Shine

I love mornings. A new day is always full of possibilities. Fall mornings are my favorite with the air cool and crisp and the light seeming warmer as the shadows get longer. This painting is a view of Salem Avenue in Roanoke looking from Williamson Road towards my hometown of Salem. This is the road I would start towards home on when I worked at one of my first galleries, a co-op called Gallery 108. I learned a lot while I was there. All my life I'd heard people say how they hated to go to Roanoke (because of the one way streets and difficulty parking) and Roanoke was bad because of this, that and the other. I guess you could say I grew up in an "anti-city" environment so I was surprised when I came to like it and enjoyed getting to know it and some of the people who worked there. It is an old city full of beautiful buildings and many good people. If you keep your eyes open you'll see a lot of interesting signage painted on the sides of buildings. If you keep your heart open you'll meet some people you'll be glad to get to know.