Industrial Paintings
The steel industry that created the smoky image of Pittsburgh is slowly fading away. Occasionally, I get to visit a working mill first hand. It is really interesting. I think I am most surprised by the scale of everything. Workers seem tiny compared to the machines that they control. The air is filled with dust and when the light sneaks into the mill it cuts a path. The drama is amazing. These places were never designed to be pretty, but maybe that's part of the surprise? It is a visual poetry of constantly changing color – a contrast of warm/cool and light/dark. The electric lights near the roof create a soft glow of yellow-green. The machines are all dirty gray or brown and depending on the process, splashes of liquid steel can fill the cavernous space with dancing fire and smoke.
You quickly understand why you were fitted with special clothing and shoes. It is a very dangerous place to work or visit.
Atmospheric Mill
53 x 47
Weirton Mill
30 x 50
Tapping a Heat
18 x 24
SteveYoung
9 x 12
Steel Shower #2
60 x 36
Sample
47 x 30
Morning Break
36 x 60
Mill Poetry
22 x 28
Mill Impression
14 x 18
Lawrenceville Steel
11 x 14
Filling a Mold
12 x 16
Forging the Steel
44 x 30
Braddock Smoke
9 x 12