Back at it

The show seems like a distant memory, even though it has only been a little over a week. Even before the show, I was having thoughts of the next batch of paintings.
This past weekend, I started a painting based on images and observations of a project that my office is doing on the Marysville school in SE Portland.
The school had a fire last year that destroyed a third of the building. There were no injuries from the fire, so it was a sucess as far as fire safety goes.
Had someone been killed or seriously hurt, this would be a memorial.
I had the opportunity to view the ruins of the school. The majority of the burnt material was removed from the site, leaving the floor and walls but no ceiling. It was a lovely day and the sunlight was casting deep shadows and the blue sky was above. Some of the walls had holes and the paint and wall finishes had puckered and peeled in places. Pools of water had collected in low spots on the floor, creating oasis like reflections. I could not help thinking of making paintings out of this.
I think that people have always been enamored with building ruins. It must have something to do with a realization of our mortality or is some kind of sentimental trip.
I am hoping to do at least five paintings of the Marysville ruins.
Here is the underpainting of the first one.