Urban Landscape Paintings
People cross bridges every day, and with each new crossing, you can celebrate the powerful engineering achievements these feats of architecture represent. The bridges of Portland improve commerce, connect communities, and unite the city.
Mooney honors bridges by painting them from unusual points of view, giving them dramatic perspectives, rendering them both realistic and abstract. Light plays an important role in his paintings, illuminating structures, casting shadows, and encouraging viewers to see bridges in new ways, directing our attention to details that we might not otherwise observe.
Astoria Bridge III. Oil on canvas, 30” x 40”
Connection. Oil on canvas, 11” x 14”
Cape Creek Bridge. Oil on canvas, 16” x 20”
Cape Creek Bridge is an arch bridge that spans Cape Creek in Lane County, Oregon, United States. The bridge carries U.S. Route 101. Opened in 1932, it was designed by noted bridge engineer Conde McCullough and built of reinforced concrete by John K. Holt. The total length of the bridge is 619 feet, with a main span of 220 feet. The bridge resembles a Roman aqueduct, with a single parabolic arch that spans half its length. It was listed as Cape Creek Bridge No. 01113 on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, as part of the C. B. McCullough Major Oregon Coast Highway Bridges.
Siuslaw River Bridge. Oil on canvas, 16” x 20”
The Siuslaw River Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Siuslaw River on U.S. Route 101 in Florence, Oregon. It was designed by Conde McCullough, built by the Mercer-Fraser Company of Eureka, California, and funded by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (later renamed the Public Works Administration). It opened in 1936.
The bridge's total length is 1,568 feet. When open, the 140-foot double-leaf bascule provides 110 feet of horizontal clearance for boat traffic. The bascule section is flanked by two 154-foot reinforced concrete tied arches, identical to those used in the original Alsea Bay Bridge. Four Art Deco-style obelisks house mechanical equipment as well as living quarters for the bridge operator.
Freeways. Oil on canvas, 30” x 40”
Near downtown Portland South Waterfront looking up under the belly of the I-5 freeway ramps to the Marquam Bridge.
Cleveland Bridges. Oil on canvas, 36” x 48”
Center Street Bridge, a rare example of a bobtail swing bridge, is located directly under the Detroit Superior Bridge. It is one of Cleveland's oldest Bridges; a significant example of work done by Cleveland-based and nationally recognized bridge builder, the King Bridge Company; and a readily visible landmark for Cleveland.
This painting was displayed at the International Guild of Realism 17th Annual Exhibition At the At Sugarman-Peterson Gallery in Santa Fe, NM | June 2nd - June 26th, 2023.
Climate Control. Oil on canvas, 30” x 40”
Red Bird. Oil on canvas, 48” x 60”
This painting was displayed at the International Guild of Realism 16th Annual Exhibition At the McBride Gallery in Annapolis, Maryland | June 10th through July 24th, 2022
STAX II. Oil on canvas, 36” x48”
My trip to New York City, 2019 before the Plan-demic (truth), I enjoyed a commuter on a ferry from Brooklyn to Manhattan recognized the Con Edison Power.
Hawley Power House, Oregon City. Oil on canvas, 36” x 48”
Fifteen years ago, I was thrilled to be able to participate in the art jams events, the plein air trips, to the various hydroelectric power houses and paper mills in Clackamas county. Organized be the Willamette Falls Foundation, The Estacada Area Arts Commission, and Portland General Electric. For six or seven years every spring, this was an experience of personal significance to me, a turning point perhaps, as it put me in an industrial environment in close contact with an environment that is still in use, closed, or abandoned, enabling me to document buildings and structures that are often unrecognized and forgotten. These art jams were a lot of fun. Charles Sheeler, Edward Hopper, and Charles Demuth were painting just these kinds of subjects during the Works Projects Administration (WPA) years in the 1930s, but many artists today do not have the opportunity or permission to work at industrial sites.
Banks - Vernonia. Oil on canvas, 48”x 60”
Rails to trails bike trail. Banks-Vernonia State Trail - Oregon State Parks
Fremont Foot. Oil on canvas, 48” x 48” Currently displayed at Rental and Sales Gallery, Portland, OR
Date Opened: 1973
Type: Steel three-span half through tied arch, with orthotropic upper deck.
Engineer/ Designer: Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas, New York, New York; Werner Storch and Assoc., Portland, Oregon (concept)
NYC Windows. Oil on canvas, 48” x 60”
Columbia River Crossing. Oil on canvas, 48” x 36”
Over the Columbia River between Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon Date Opened: 1917 (northbound), 1958 (southbound) Type: Steel through truss (Pennsylvania-Petit) vertical lift span. Engineers/Designers: Waddell & Harrington, Kansas City, Missouri (north bound). Oregon Department of Transportation (south bound).
I love this view of the bridge so I did it for the second time in a larger scale. The Interstate Bridge (also called Columbia River Interstate Bridge, I-5 Bridge, Vancouver-Portland Bridge) is a pair of nearly identical steel vertical-lift, "Parker type" through-truss bridges that carry Interstate 5 traffic over the Columbia River between Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon. The bridge opened to traffic in 1917 as a single bridge carrying two-way traffic. A second, twin bridge opened in 1958 with each bridge carrying one-way traffic.
Broadway at Albers. Oil on canvas. 36" x 48” Currently displayed at Rental and Sales Gallery, Portland, OR
The Broadway Bridge is a Rall-type bascule bridge spanning the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, built in 1913. It was Portland's first bascule bridge, and it continues to hold the distinction of being the longest span of its bascule design type in the world.
George Washington Abstraction. Oil on canvas, 60” x 48” Currently displayed at the Rental and Sales Gallery.
The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting the New York City borough of Manhattan with the New Jersey borough of Fort Lee.
Oregon City Bridge. Oil on canvas, 19” x 27”
The Oregon City Bridge is a steel through arch bridge spanning the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, Oregon. Completed in 1922, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built and is owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) as part of Oregon Route 43.
Blue Heron Paper Mill. Oil on canvas, 22” x 28”
I was recently one of 20 artists selected to portray the Blue Heron Mill in the Art Contemplates Industry show in Clackamas County. Artists were to document an old paper-mill that was shut down and abandoned. I was thrilled, because this was an experience of personal significance to me, enabling me to document buildings and structures that are often unrecognized and forgotten.
Hells Gate Bridge, NY. NY. Oil on canvas, 10” x 10”
The Hell Gate Bridge, originally the New York Connecting Railroad Bridge or the East River Arch Bridge, is a 1,017-foot steel through arch railroad bridge in New York City.
Lusted Road Bridge. Oil on canvas, 40” x 32”
Pennsylvania Truss type bridge.
Over the Sandy River, Clackamas County, Oregon. It was one of the original Trusses for the old Burnside bridge built 100 years ago in ‘till it was taken down in late 1920s and moved to the Sandy river. Portland Water works to the left.
Coronado. Oil on canvas, 45” x 34”
Coronado Bridge | History, Construction & Design | Study.com
St. John’s Bridge. Oil on canvas, 48” x 36” Currently displayed at Rental and Sales Gallery, Portland, OR
St. John’s Bridge with Railroad Tracks. Oil on canvas, 16” x 20”
Broadway Bridge. Oil, 24” x 36” SOLD
Marquam and Hawthorne Bridges. Oil on canvas, 30” x 48”
Marquam Curves. Oil on canvas, 36” x 24”
The Marquam Bridge is a double-deck, steel-truss cantilever bridge that carries Interstate 5 traffic across the Willamette River south of downtown Portland, Oregon. It is the busiest bridge in Oregon, carrying 140,500 vehicles a day as of 2016. The upper deck carries northbound traffic; the lower deck carries southbound traffic.
William Stafford Stones at Foothills Park in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Oil on canvas, 24” x 36”
Stafford Column - Perfect Stone in Lake Oswego, OR (publicartarchive.org)
Seen in the background is the lake Oswego Railroad Bridge. Lake Oswego Railroad Bridge - Wikipedia
Willamette Falls. Oil on canvas, 16”x 20”
Willamette Falls, Oregon City, OR. Finally got to finish this after an art jam in 2015 touring the Blue Heron Paper Mill that was shut down, and it is accessible to the Hawley Power House adjacent to the paper mill. The site of the Hawley structure no longer exists.
It’s actually the foundation of the now-gone Hawley Power House, and PGE is now calling it the Dance Floor. A great shame that the old structure is no longer there, but it has turned into a semi-accessible place to feel the spray of the Falls, from land.
Sellwood Bridge. Oil on canvas, 48” x 60”
The Sellwood Bridge is a deck arch bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. The current bridge opened in 2016 and replaced a 1925 span that had carried the same name.
Fremont Foot. Oil on canvas, 96” x 96” (four 48” square pieces)
Date Opened: 1973
Type: Steel three-span half through tied arch, with orthotropic upper deck.
Engineer/ Designer: Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas, New York, New York; Werner Storch and Assoc., Portland, Oregon (concept)
George Washington Abstraction. Oil on canvas, 60” x 48”
The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting the New York City borough of Manhattan with the New Jersey borough of Fort Lee.
Email: chrismooneyart@gmail.com
Phone: (503) 320-0518
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