St. Charles Streetcar

New Orleans Painting #10
June 2011
Acrylic on canvas - 18" x 24"
$775 - SOLD

Diary entry: At first I was hesitant to paint this kind of picture. There's no shortage of streetcar paintings to be found here, but there's a good reason for that. The New Orleans streetcars (don't call them trolleys) are really a living artifact of a bygone era. They are practical antiques, rolling through the city - unaware of their technological inferiority to let's say, a New York City subway car.

Of the many striking features of this town, the most resonant and picturesque is the image of the rickety streetcar rolling under the majestic oak tree branches reaching out from either side of Saint Charles Avenue. St. Charles is considered one of the most beautiful streets in the country. Aside from the streetcar and the giant oak trees, this avenue is famous for it's mansions and old plantation homes. 

Getting on the streetcar itself, you get a real sense that the design of it hasn't changed in a hundred years. It's metal hull, old wooden benches and roll down windows combine for a creaky, old world experience.

I frequently ride the streetcar on the weekends when I head to the French Quarter and Marigny areas of the city. Not as reliable as New York's transit system but it makes up for it in charm.