Recently Katia Kelly visited Gowanus artist Joseph Mariano. Head on over to her blog, Pardon Me For Asking, to read her profile and see more of his work. It is simply gorgeous.
"When Gowanus area resident Joseph Mariano retired in 1996, he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life painting. Standing in his sun drenched studio, he showed me his many works. There were portraits and landscapes, some of Jamaica Bay, some of different scenes along the Gowanus Canal, one of his favorite subjects.
"Very often, Joseph takes a canoe out onto the water and paints the bridges at Carroll Street and 3rd Street. He likes to explore the canal's many inlets, places well hidden from others. Often, he encounters egrets and Night Herons. There used to be horseshoe crabs, too, but he has not seen those in the past five years."