Arcade Evening

I think I did the watercolors on site for this one. There's a tradition of American artists painting pictures of colorful amusement parks and tawdry but poetic public scenes. The seaside decay is part of the beach park's charm. The place is especially evocative as the sun sets and the shadows grow long, reminding you that summer never lasts forever. Almost all these beach arcades and independent amusement parks are gone now, and pre-packaged theme parks have taken their place. I must have dropped hundreds of quarters into the pinball and Pac-Man games in these arcades, and now all I have to do to play is go to an internet site. But there's no sunlight, no smell of fried snacks, no sound of waves, no sand, no moist east wind.

"Arcade" was probably done at Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts. Watercolor on thick paper, about 12" x 9", summer 1982.