November’s Second Saturday was as exciting as ever, with new works being hung around town and exhibitions opening in galleries and unusual places. This Second Saturday, I wrote in my calendar specifically (as opposed to falling into the serendipitous approach of going where the wind or free bus will take me) to go to Stanley Lindwasser’s opening of his 2018 collection of paintings at Oak Vino Wine Bar.

This is a man who has painted almost every day, ever since his teacher told him he was good at finger-painting. Stanley is 71 years old now, and had a career as a painter. “But I never became famous,” Stanley told me at his show’s opening. Stanley’s mantra was family first, and with several children in his family, that can keep someone comfortably quiet in their production.

To pay the bills, he was a full-time teacher. Teaching took him to different environments including a homeless shelter for teenagers at Harlem Hospital, schools for emotionally disturbed children, and a psychiatric facility, according to Alison Rooney’s article in the Highlands Current this weekend. 

Stanley is mesmerized by color and texture and feelings. The physical act of painting seems to produce the synapses that inspire where his brush goes and how it explores, which was my impression after reading the Chronogram article that describes Stanley’s artistic style.

Currently, he is also inspired by the expansiveness he feels in his backyard overlooking the Hudson River. While speaking with me at his opening, I asked him if anything around him inspired him when he is away from painting. “The density,” he told me. Stanley lives along the Hudson River and gets to sit with the sunsets each afternoon into evening. “We are able to see so much more of the sky here than when we lived in Hoboken, N.J..” Stanley and his wife Helen moved to Beacon two years ago from their brownstone.

Stanley gets out to walk his little dogs - you might see him this winter with his big fur hat on. But he doesn’t get out to exhibit his work much. I’m now most curious about the other decades - decades! - of his work that he has rolled up in various storage facilities. You can see a few previous years of his paintings at his website. His paintings - select pieces from 2018 and not even all of them, will be hanging at Oak Vino through January and are for sale. 

Glad to have him rooted in Beacon, and hanging on these walls.

Editorial Disclosure: We have worked with Stanley and Helen to help them complete Stanley’s website, via our design agency and parent company Katie James, Inc., as well as through our sister company Tin Shingle in consulting with them in how to get the word out. This article is one we wanted to bring to you regardless of the client connection, as we have gotten to know Stanley and Helen over the years in Beacon.