Rochester Postcard Project

     During the first few months after moving to Rochester NY I was unemployed.  During that time the state had me going out and looking for work and sitting at a non-profit for 30 hours a week all to get $350 in food stamps a month and another $200 for everything else.  I was on the bus many hours a day going to a fro trying to find work.  As I did that I carried with me a tiny 3 x 5 sketchbook to capture scenes from around the city.
   
     Over time I filled it up.  Going back through them I picked out 39 of the best of them and created the above poster.  It is for sale at $20 each and it is 18 x 24 - so a pretty good size.  If you are interested in getting one of the posters let me know.  But, over the next 39 days I will place a post here about each of the postcards.

    
                                THE SPIRIT OF ROCHESTER

   
     One day in early spring I decided to check out one of the marinas near Charlotte.  It took me about 40 minutes to walk down to the area from my home and I had seen the boat tied up there.  The owner gave me permission to go anywhere I wanted as long as I did not go out on any of the piers or boats.  I had heard of the Spirit of Rochester long before coming down here.  And had known that it no longer ran.  But, while I was walking the grounds there I came across her.  I got up close enough to see through the windows and everything was still on the boat but in total disarray.  It was being held by the Marina owner as collateral by the boat's owner since it had been abandoned there.

     I felt depressed to see it laying there, rusting away and forgotten.  After walking around it for a while I found a spot and drew this scene.  To me, it was a clear reminder of how run down the city seemed to be.  Here I was in a city overflowing with history and everyone seemed to be ignoring it.  I did not know it at the time but seeing this ship would be my kick off to finding a way to celebrate and honor this new city I had moved to.