I just finished this painting of St. Mary's church in Clinton Iowa. The church construction was finished in 1888 and was eventually torn down in 2009. This magnificent structure was built by Irish immigrants and was home to more than 500 families. Historical references to the church are sketchy and I could not find any decent photographs that showed the bell tower with cross on top right down to the brick cobblestones in the street in front of the church. I also wanted to include the concrete in the middle of the street showing where the trolley cars tracks were at one time. These trolley tracks were ripped up and filled in with concrete. I tried to add drama to this painting with the clouds rolling by in the sky behind the church. Maybe they represent the tumultuous times this church had seen. It's too bad that the church, the high school and the grade school are all demolished. For a lot of people in Clinton and those parishioner's who moved on and are spread out over the world these buildings carried a lot of memories. Why this building was not labeled a historical site is a mystery to me.
Signed 16x20 prints of this painting are now available in the "Americana"
http://bergerfinearts.com/products-page/americana-art-prints/ section of the "bergerfinearts.com" website
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