Seven U.P.
A Real Place painting.
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With each new Real Places painting (as I’ve come to call them), I find myself spending more time contemplating how that place has changed and what those changes might mean for the humans that pass through it. My own engagement with this newly completed piece 👇🏻 goes back to 2021.
In the summer of that year I stumbled upon an old stretch of storefronts while on a day trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In northern Wisconsin we colloquially call it the U.P. - hence the title of the piece. Seven U.P. I’m no stranger to photographing derelict places or piles of trash, but the old soda machine was a shiny gem on this block. I returned to it in 2023 and photographed it again. I used my own reference photos from those two visits to make this painting.
Incidentally, a quick look at google maps tells me that by the summer of 2025, the machine was gone. Not much else on this block has changed so I wonder why it was removed.
I’ve sketched the machine a few times, and even made a whole other piece of artwork - such is the hold it has had on me.
By my estimation, the new work took me 15-20 hours to complete, but done slowly over the course of a month.
The Twin
The first time I visited in 2021, the soda machine had a twin a block away. By the time I returned in 2023, that one was already gone.
See more of my Real Places paintings here:
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I love how you've followed this location through the years. So interesting to see the changes.
lovely little project and interesting to read!