Sweet Domino Sugars

©2012 CHARLENE CLARK STUDIO
“Sweet Domino” 2012
oil on board (20” x 24”)

Standing on the piers near the Baltimore Museum of Industry we can ogle the massive Domino Sugars Plant -- one of the last vestiges of Baltimore’s industrial heritage. Hardly a day passes by that a jumbo, hulking freighter is not tied-up to its docks as raw-sugar cargo is unloaded from the ship’s bowels.  The factory was opened for business in 1921 and has been refining sugar to deposit into the bright yellow Domino packages ever since . What grabs everyone’s attention is of course the over-sized, glowing neon sign that lights up our harbor every night. As neon signs continue to disappear, this one gets treated like the royal relic that it is. We all feel that this set of vintage neon tubes somehow belongs to us and that we must protect it.  As our cars zoom by on I 95 its radiant red flush across the horizon is a reassuring image that all is well in Crabtown for another night.

Some people have already asked me why I painted this building since I paint mostly things that no longer exist. Well my simple answer is that I had so many requests for it that I finally just did it. I  tried referring other artists' images since there are so many. However that did not seem to suit the collectors of my work. So I say thank you for your positive response to this one and please know that it was an enjoyable project. Now I want to tour the inside of the refinery.