Ellen C. Caldwell | ECLAIRE.me

In Reeder’s words, “This painting is the start of a new series. Prior to my Neighborhood Series, I had done a series of paintings based on electric substations and that industrial theme was something I wanted to explore again. As with the previous series, I’m drawn to the old, the worn, and the creaky. My studio is in a converted warehouse in an older Houston neighborhood that includes rickety 1920s single-family homes next to industrial warehouses – typical for unzoned Houston! Both are rapidly being replaced by $800,000 townhouses, also typical. The warehouse that inspired this painting is near my studio and I drive by it frequently. It has rounded vents that felt very anthropomorphic to me, like giant mouths opening. It is old, rusty, has broken windows and doesn’t even register to most people who pass it. I love the very mundane nature of this building and that’s what drew me to it as subject matter.”