NY through a tourist's eyes

I admit it - I am one big ACHE. We walked MILES!  I met my friend Cécile at 10:00 this morning at her hotel.  En route to meet her, a glimpse of NY's Finest on horseback.  I forget how many there are, but they are always a pleasure to see.  He/she (who can tell?) doesn't look too happy about this jaywalker but I have never seen anybody get a ticket in NY for crossing in the middle of the street.  (Or for honking - for which there is ostensibly a $300 fine.) And here -- the symmetry of a NY parking garage.

 We took the subway down to Greenwich Village, where we started at the intersection of W.4th St. and 8th St. (only in NY) and walked through Washington Square Park. Lots of men playing chess and a few desultory guitar players.

From the arch at leafy Washington Square, we could look up 5th Ave. and see the Empire State Building, about 1-1/2 miles away.

Everywhere we went they were doing construction, but at least it looked reasonably attractive. Do you think this was on purpose?

 We think the green stuff on this building was covering up some structural problems.  OTOH - maybe it was decoration.

  From the Village to Soho, where we found a little shop selling fabulous one-of-a-kind resin jewelry

furniture, and accessories(not that you would try to sit on any of it!)

On our way down Lafayette Street to Soho, Cécile managed to liberate some - uh - already broken construction fence. Made her day!  She expected to be arrested, but no worries there.

 Continuing down the street...
we came across this woman, who was cheerfully doing a public service.

In Chinatown these were so pretty I had to take a picture but now I forget what they were called.

 Little Italy, NoLita, Union Square and finally, we went gallery hopping in Chelsea. We saw an exhibit we loved by an artist called Amy Sillman and after that, everything looked like junk.  Here are a couple of pieces we especially liked.

Then, in another gallery -- now, really.  Because of the reflection I couldn't get a good picture of the white-framed fragment of carpet. So sorry you are missing it.

For me, the best art of all was on one of the walls we came across as we walked outside.

Afterwards, we walked up to Hell's Kitchen and had a lovely dinner in an Italian restaurant -  Cécile walked me to the Port Authority and we each went our separate ways.

That's the short story -- I am leaving out a lot.  It was a day of photo-taking, and getting the flavor of the neighborhoods, which Cécile noted changed drastically and often from block to block. Washington Square was serene - and a block away, traffic and people were noisy and busy.  She called my attention to the jackhammer in Soho("dig we must for a better New York") to which I had hardly paid attention; and then to the fact that Mulberry St. in NoLita was so quiet because there was no traffic.  Things I never thought about but will observe with new eyes next time.

I am putting my feet to bed: it was a glorious day!

Thurs - NY story to come later

On my way to the city to meet my friend Cécile who is here visiting from Zurich.  Who knows what the day will bring?
Will post tonight if I have any interesting pix!

Yes, the rain went away, but it is COLD.  Why can't we have it all?

P.S. Just to keep you busy in case you need your Emma fix...

Emma turns over for the first time and it's caught on film!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgB_K3Mfejk&feature=youtube_gdata

Spring is sprung

but -- rain, rain, go away.

feeling better

Didn't know I was sick, did 'ya?  Actually, didn't feel well all week -- too tired to blog or comment on others' blogs. Infection traced to fractured tooth, now gone. Today, feeling back to myself: amazing!

Today, Rachel Cochran and I finally went here to see the exhibit Art Quilts: Contemporary Expressions From the Collection of John M. Walsh III.

But first we stopped at the train station to pick up (l-r) Benedicte Caneill, Shirley Levine, Melly Testa, and Patricia Gaignat.  Here they are, all squeezed cozily into my back seat.

The museum was busy today: thundering hordes of marauding schoolchildren and a pretty substantial group of grownups who had come to see the exhibit.  Lo and behold, who else should we run into but friends Natalya Aikens and Vivien Zeph!  What fun - and what a coincidence.  I wished Benedicte felicitations on winning the SAQA Cream award for her quilt in Elements (another exhibit on Rachel's and my "to see" list).

We had gotten about halfway through the exhibit when I heard Jack Walsh's voice. I thought it was an audio tour and when I turned around, to my delight and surprise, there was Jack in person, giving a tour to a group of women his cousin had brought to see the exhibit.  Below, he is talking about Joan Lintault's Bee quilt.

After giving Rachel and me warm hugs and greetings, he invited all of us to join his "tour."  Although we had seen some of the quilts at his home several years ago, there were new ones in this exhibit we had not heard the back stories about.  Here, he is giving us the background to the piece he commissioned Valerie Goodwin to make for him.  It is a triptych she blogged about while she was working on it. Fabulous!

He clearly loves every one of his quilts and he enjoyed talking to a rapt audience about the details in the quilt Susan Shie made for him recently.  Sorry the picture is fuzzy.

All in all, a wonderful day with people we enjoyed -- and it was a feast for both eyes and spirit.  Rachel and I decided we need to do something like this for ourselves once a month.  Remind me.

untitled

That's the way I feel tonight. It feels good to sit and do nothing; tired but not too tired to blog.   I finally finished jurying a show and sent off the results to the sponsoring organization.  It is always a challenge and a learning experience - I really love jurying, despite the hard work.

Have unpacked the suitcases and am now trying to reorganize for my next trip.  Made a bit of progress in clearing off the tables in my sewing room, but you wouldn't know it unless you had seen the "before."  Déjà vu encore une fois.  It is an endless loop.

Finally uploaded all those wonderful urban graffiti pix I took in Montreal's Quartier Latin - the student quarter.  No matter what I do, I can't seem to shake my love of urban grit. Here are a few for your viewing pleasure.

They were doing lots of construction near the Musée d'art Contemporain and I think this is a most wonderful alternative to the usual construction fence.

Tomorrow, back to real life: paying bills, making phone calls, etc. etc.  I have not had time to read all my usual favorite blogs but will just have to pick up the pieces day by day.

More UFO fun!

Yes, I'm home.  Bleary-eyed and off to speak at a meeting today, which means getting out the door all-too-early.  Happily, my friend Aleeda is going with me so she can navigate and kick me if I start to fall asleep as I drive.

Last workshop was one I love to teach - and it was not printing!

Diane Shink,AQS appraiser and collector of wonderful antique quilts, came with a pile of vintage blocks she was never going to use. Here she is, auditioning them with her African fabrics and having a great time creating something completely new.  I can't wait to see what she does with all of them!

Here are Randi's new blocks from her fabric collection and I expect her end result will be fabulous, too.

Finally, Dianne Robinson's small piece, which she actually finished in the one-day class.

This should really be a two-day workshop but everybody at least got started on a new way (for them) of working -- and they loved it!

Off to make coffee, get on the road, and hopefully, will have some time to catch up tonight.

Québec

Last weekend, one of the workshop co-chairs for the Beaconsfield Guild and I had a mini-vacation in Québec City.  Here is the beautiful Chateau Frontenac, where we stayed on Saturday night.

I took the picture as we were pulling away from the port on the ferry, crossing the St. Lawrence.  Staying there has been a dream of mine since my parents raved about their stay there in the late 1940's and I was not disappointed. This is the view from the corridor right outside our room.

 
These few pictures don't begin to do justice to the fabulous interior and architecture.  The hotel was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1920's and was operated by them for many years.

Pam and I are off to Old Montreal today - more Quebec pictures when I get back.

Too much eating

Not enough sleeping.  Off to do a lecture tonight and last day of teaching tomorrow.  Today, gelatin printing but no pix.
Sorry to be so boring. Will catch up when I am feeling witty.
xo

Off to Quebec City

Yesterday's exhibit, which was a fund raiser for the Centre des Textiles Contemporain, featured 20 cm x 20 cm pieces for a silent auction.  The pieces were small and there were so many of them that I couldn't take pictures.  But here are a couple of felt pieces that I thought were quite cool.

These were the first pieces near the door, as we came into the gallery.

In the afternoon, after a delightful lunch with some Montreal quilters I had met on line, I came back to Pam's house and puttered around for the afternoon in her studio. Ahhhh...

This morning, off to Quebec and won't be back till tomorrow. I do not know whether we will be staying in a place with Internet access or not, so I probably won't post for another day or so.

What a lovely week

My second two day class in Ottawa was just as wonderful as the first.  I chuckled when I saw this piece of fabric Pat had made so she would remember where she had created it.

Blogger is not behaving itself so I'm not sure how far I will get before I leave for a fibre exhibit in Montreal today, but here are some of the fabrics created in the class I just finished.

And here is my friend Pam, with whom I am staying while I am in Montreal, with one of her beautiful pieces of fabric.

I was very moved to have received an unexpected gift from the Out of the Box students in both classes - a journal/sketchbook with a gorgeous handmade cover by Cathy Breedyk Law.  Thank you!!

Now, Pam and I are off to see an exhibit I will post about later.