The Bronx, 11x14 inches, watercolor on cotton paper by Kenney Mencher
FREE SHIPPING
Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago. I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This watercolor is called The Bronx. It’s 11x14 inches on heavyweight cotton paper and painted in 2024. I based it on an old photograph that reminded me of growing up in a working-class neighborhood, and in particular, the textures and tones I remember from the Bronx in the 1970s.
The figure—a woman in a powder-blue outfit—is walking past a car that looks like it could be from the ’60s or early ’70s. She’s holding a black handbag and seems mid-step, caught in a candid moment. I deliberately blurred and simplified a lot of the details, using soft washes and geometric shapes to capture mood and memory more than accuracy. The car and buildings are loosely rendered using rectangles and blocks of warm and cool tones, while the woman’s form is more stylized and abstract.
The overall style walks a line between naturalism and stylization. The proportions are mostly correct, but I’ve flattened the space and abstracted the background. Her face is generalized—not detailed—and the folds in the clothes are indicated with quick brushwork rather than fine lines. I was thinking a lot about Bay Area Figurative painters when I made this, especially how they merged representation with abstract formal elements.
Compositionally, it’s asymmetrical, but still balanced. The figure is off to the right, following the rule of thirds, with the car stretching horizontally behind her and anchoring the whole scene. I wanted the viewer’s eye to travel across the page and feel the motion of the street and the woman’s stride.
To me, this piece is also about memory—how the places we grow up in shape us. The slightly faded, washed-out feel of the watercolor echoes the way we remember the past: softened, a little warped, but still vivid. It captures the kind of street scene that defined life in the Bronx for so many of us—where cars, sidewalks, and people all blended into a steady hum of daily life.
Details
Title: The Bronx
Medium: Watercolor on heavyweight cotton paper
Size: 11 x 14 inches
Year: 2024
Unframed
Signed and dated lower left
Ships flat, protected with archival backing and sleeve
Original artwork—not a print
FREE SHIPPING
Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago. I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This watercolor is called The Bronx. It’s 11x14 inches on heavyweight cotton paper and painted in 2024. I based it on an old photograph that reminded me of growing up in a working-class neighborhood, and in particular, the textures and tones I remember from the Bronx in the 1970s.
The figure—a woman in a powder-blue outfit—is walking past a car that looks like it could be from the ’60s or early ’70s. She’s holding a black handbag and seems mid-step, caught in a candid moment. I deliberately blurred and simplified a lot of the details, using soft washes and geometric shapes to capture mood and memory more than accuracy. The car and buildings are loosely rendered using rectangles and blocks of warm and cool tones, while the woman’s form is more stylized and abstract.
The overall style walks a line between naturalism and stylization. The proportions are mostly correct, but I’ve flattened the space and abstracted the background. Her face is generalized—not detailed—and the folds in the clothes are indicated with quick brushwork rather than fine lines. I was thinking a lot about Bay Area Figurative painters when I made this, especially how they merged representation with abstract formal elements.
Compositionally, it’s asymmetrical, but still balanced. The figure is off to the right, following the rule of thirds, with the car stretching horizontally behind her and anchoring the whole scene. I wanted the viewer’s eye to travel across the page and feel the motion of the street and the woman’s stride.
To me, this piece is also about memory—how the places we grow up in shape us. The slightly faded, washed-out feel of the watercolor echoes the way we remember the past: softened, a little warped, but still vivid. It captures the kind of street scene that defined life in the Bronx for so many of us—where cars, sidewalks, and people all blended into a steady hum of daily life.
Details
Title: The Bronx
Medium: Watercolor on heavyweight cotton paper
Size: 11 x 14 inches
Year: 2024
Unframed
Signed and dated lower left
Ships flat, protected with archival backing and sleeve
Original artwork—not a print
FREE SHIPPING
Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago. I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This watercolor is called The Bronx. It’s 11x14 inches on heavyweight cotton paper and painted in 2024. I based it on an old photograph that reminded me of growing up in a working-class neighborhood, and in particular, the textures and tones I remember from the Bronx in the 1970s.
The figure—a woman in a powder-blue outfit—is walking past a car that looks like it could be from the ’60s or early ’70s. She’s holding a black handbag and seems mid-step, caught in a candid moment. I deliberately blurred and simplified a lot of the details, using soft washes and geometric shapes to capture mood and memory more than accuracy. The car and buildings are loosely rendered using rectangles and blocks of warm and cool tones, while the woman’s form is more stylized and abstract.
The overall style walks a line between naturalism and stylization. The proportions are mostly correct, but I’ve flattened the space and abstracted the background. Her face is generalized—not detailed—and the folds in the clothes are indicated with quick brushwork rather than fine lines. I was thinking a lot about Bay Area Figurative painters when I made this, especially how they merged representation with abstract formal elements.
Compositionally, it’s asymmetrical, but still balanced. The figure is off to the right, following the rule of thirds, with the car stretching horizontally behind her and anchoring the whole scene. I wanted the viewer’s eye to travel across the page and feel the motion of the street and the woman’s stride.
To me, this piece is also about memory—how the places we grow up in shape us. The slightly faded, washed-out feel of the watercolor echoes the way we remember the past: softened, a little warped, but still vivid. It captures the kind of street scene that defined life in the Bronx for so many of us—where cars, sidewalks, and people all blended into a steady hum of daily life.
Details
Title: The Bronx
Medium: Watercolor on heavyweight cotton paper
Size: 11 x 14 inches
Year: 2024
Unframed
Signed and dated lower left
Ships flat, protected with archival backing and sleeve
Original artwork—not a print
