the Painting Activist

30″ x 48″ oil on canvas
SOLD
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I thought with my sly ways I could tag this commissioned painting with an article written as an afterthought to make it “blog-able,” and you would never be the wiser. Maybe it’s my pocket PC blinking at me with a laundry list of things to be addressed that has taken precedence over crafting such a story. So honesty wins, and in the impostor article’s place I’ve opted for a list of some the great small businesses illustrated in this painting of Louisville’s Douglass Loop.

This area of town has done a commendable job of preserving its “mom & pop” heritage and keeping all signs of corporate big-wigs, like Walmart, at bay. These days, pocket spots like Douglass Loop are needles in a haystack (I blame my recent trip to Houston for this pessimistic outlook on the boom of strip malls and an insatiable use of concrete).

Although, this certainly doesn’t include them all, here’s a short list of shops (beware dieters):

• Heine Brothers - Fair Trade, organic coffee, or maybe just as well known as the place to hang out and be seen. They also display local artists’ work for a very low commission fee (but don’t get too excited unless you’re willing to sit on their waiting list for well over a year).
• Desserts by Helen - I start to drool within seconds of visiting the bakery’s delicious website.
• Twig and Leaf diner - I remember it as the one restaurant that was open in the wee hours of the night as a teenager. And who doesn’t want waffles and eggs at 2am?
• All For One - “This is a very good, funky, but clean secondhand store run as a charity on behalf of HIV hospices here in town.” - thanks to Jim at yelp.com.
• Graeter’s ice cream - “The French Pot method swirls our secret recipe of egg custard and fresh cream…whips air out of our ice cream…which accounts for an extremely dense pint of that weighs nearly a full pound!” It puts Baskin Robins to shame (and your hips).