Thursday, October 28, 2010

MCCORMICK FACTORY, Baltimore

"McCormick Factory" 2010
oil on canvas (22" x 32")

Most Baltimoreans reminisce about the 1989 exodus of the McCormick spice factory from Baltimore,Maryland's inner harbor. It was an olfactory overload to be in the neighborhood of the Light Street building and inhale the aroma of whatever spice they were making that day. During the Sunday drives of my childhood I often requested to include a pass-by of the giant white building with the huge spice tins on the roof top. It still gives me a thrill to remember the cheerfulness it added to the harbor with its jumble of sagging buildings, steaming ships and hulking boxcars. Today you can often get a whiff of the spices but in a different location. Just drive towards Hunt Valley, MD on I 83, roll down your window and breathe in the fragrance!