Brooklyn - not art related

A lovely day all the way around - and a perfect way to spend a Sunday.  If you will indulge me: first things, first.

Miss Emma on her play mat, interacting with the animals. And here she is with her happy Nanny, who couldn't get enough of her.

After Emma played, ate, and napped like a little papoose, we took the stroller out for a walk down Vanderbilt Avenue, around the corner. Grandpa pushed.

Vanderbilt used to be somewhat yeccch but is now getting trendy with good restaurants and some interesting shops. But happily, it still retains enough of its grit to keep it from being bland. This is the building that houses one of my favorite restaurants and I think the first one we went to with Jess and Tommy after they moved there.

You gotta love this sign outside the door: it made us all smile:-))). What could be bad???

 Another local place which we haven't tested yet.

When grandpa got tired we turned around and walked back up the few blocks to Joyce Bakeshop to meet Tommy for coffee.  As we passed the used bookstore, I told Jess and Marty I'd meet them at Joyce but had to stop in and see what books were there. There are very few of these wonderful places left and I could have stayed all day. Put me in a good bookstore (not the behemoths) and I am in heaven.

 

 Another wonderful sign: so polite! LOL.

 Could I resist this on the way back up the block?

Back at Joyce, Tommy admired his sleeping child, Marty had  biscotti and tea, and I surveyed the rest of the clientele.

The happiest mommy on earth.

  The second happiest headed home so the kids could have a breather before the next shift of admiring relatives arrived.

O frabjous day.

a quickie post

before I leave for Brooklyn to see you-know-who. Pix later. Meantime, Friday's experiment on the studio wall - I think it might make a nice little 12x12 if I ever need one. OTOH - maybe it should be larger.  We'll see.

On another note - remember when I posted those vintage propeller blocks that I thought were mistakes?  I rearranged one and here is the variation.  Not as interesting, I admit.

Shelley, one of my readers who commented on the block (and found out what it is called  - Propeller) - was so captivated by the block that she used up a pile of half-square triangles she had sitting around and made a quilt top of the pattern.  She hasn't quilted it yet but she did send me a picture. I love it! When I first saw it, I thought it was an antique - but it's a new one - inspired by my blog post. Ya never know...

Ok - off to fight traffic -- will check in later. It is beautiful out -- enjoy your Decoration Day - now called Memorial Day-
weekend (am I showing my age? Yep)

oh zen-ness

Spent most of the day in the studio - hooray! A good part of the time, I sorted and ironed and even got some things up on the wall.  This looks better here than it did at home, but the light is better and the wall is bigger. I also used a better camera, although iPhone is ok in a pinch.

I also shot it in black and white, to make sure the values were varied enough. I think it's okay.

While the other things on the wall were random, at least I didn't need to take them down before the day was over.

I managed to lose two pairs of glasses today - I hope I left my driving glasses in the studio. Will have to check in the morning; they are probably buried.  I had to dump out my purse to find something and I hope I forgot to put the glass case back.  Past my bedtime.

time and a brick wall

Time getting away from me since I'm home.  A few more pix from my Ithaca trip I haven't had a chance to post.  Aafke, my host, simply had to show me these antique implements before I left:

You can see what's in her left hand - a GIANT scissors that is at least a foot long.  Real.  We think these were tailor's tools once upon a time.  The item in her left hand --well, it can't be anything else but a rotary cutter.  There is nothing new under the sun.  These items must be 100 years old.

Then, en route home I couldn't resist taking this picture.

I spent a couple of hours Tues and again on Wed. in the studio. It was not enough time either day and I felt pressured and frustrated because everything I put up on the wall looked awful. Brick wall: I've hit it.  Last night, at home, I found some gelatin prints that have been sitting around for 6 or 7 years and put them up on the wall at home. Here's what they looked like last night; by this morning, half of them were on the floor.

After breakfast, out the door again to the studio to get a fresh start.

more of Ithaca

Today, after class, I got a slight tour on the way back to where I am staying. Ithaca has a few waterfalls and we stopped at two of them.  I can't remember the name of the first one but what a lovely scene!

The second waterfall was less dramatic but lovely nevertheless.  Buttermilk Falls - isn't that a delicious name?

 

Nearby, an old house that called to me. I peeked in the windows and was sad to see that it really was abandoned. It must be owned by the parks department but I suspect it will sit there forever more,untouched and uninhabited. As always, I find these buildings much more captivating than the beautiful landscape. Why?

Earlier, the gelatin printing class had been a big fun fest. Botanicals were abundant: here are just a few.  Look at that detail!

Not botanical but very organic-looking.

broken pieces make an interesting composition.

And then there was the syringe work. Here's Maureen at work.

And here is one of her results.

Other people loved the syringe, too. And it added some nice accents to a number of pieces.

Weekend's over and in the morning I will stop to see my friend Bill, who lives here. Then I'll continue on my merry way and will hope to be home before rush hour hits.

off to class

But before I go for the day I want to post a few pix from yesterday's  Carve Your Own Stamps workshop.  You'd think that carving your own stamps was so basic that everybody had done it in kindergarten.  Well, maybe not kindergarten, but you know what I mean.  Not true.  I don't think I ever did it till I was a grownup almost-artist -- and it turns out that lots of other people had never done this, either. They loved it! Here is June with one of her pieces.

Without further ado - here are just a few more results from people who had never carved their own stamps before yesterday. 

I had asked the participants to bring some of their own work to show me because I like to see what they normally do.
Ruth brought these two glorious pieces.

Sherry, who took a class with me at QBL last year, brought the quilts she had made with some of the fabric she had printed in class.  I LOVE when that happens and I can actually see the results.  So many people print fabric and then never use it because they can't figure out what to do with it. Not Sherry!   The dancers in this piece were made with freezer paper stencils and a screen.  Cool!

 
Her cartographic piece features a screenprint that is just perfect for this.

And this house quilt (Sherry loves houses) made the most of more fabric she had screen printed. What fun!

Ok - my ride is here and I have to leave for another day of class.  Later.