toothpaste scandals and other stuff

While I read about the poison "Colgate" toothpaste being imported from China, I recall when the real Colgate toothpaste was made in Jersey City, New Jersey. The plant was, of course, torn down to make way for condos - but they left the famous clock as a landmark. You can see it from the NY side and it is wonderful at night when the red neon is lit. The condos are to the right of the picture; the water is the Hudson River. Click to enlarge the photo and you'll get a good look at it close up.

Blogger has been giving me problems, which is why I have not been able to post. It is still annoying and won't let me edit. The comments are wacko, too. Once you click on them, you can't get rid of them unless you close blogger down altogether. Argh.

I am packing supplies to leave this afternoon for Peters Valley Craft Center, where I am teaching a one-day soy wax class as part of Kerr Grabowski's 5 day workshop there. By the way, Kerr has just come out with a DVD on Deconstructed Screen Printing, which I understand is fabulous and is already almost sold out. I can't wait to buy it -- even though this is something I already do and also teach, Kerr is an original!

I'll be taking photos but not sure whether I will have Internet access at PV. Nevertheless, I'll be home on Monday and if I can't post before that, I will post when I get back.

back to real life

and back to the studio!! I warmed up the frying pan and played with wax again today. The piece below is really a pale lavender and the dye is one of the reds - but it may look brown on your monitor. As I write this, the fabric has stopped spinning in the washer and needs to dry. I steamed it earlier, along with this piece, which should look very different by the time it comes out of the dryer. Wax and dye on yellow fabric: the dye is rusty red and there are some areas where I mixed the red with some blue I had lying around. After I took this picture, I discharged it and the blue showed up as green. Hmmm. It will probably get a few more layers of something, but I will take it with me as an example for the soy wax class I am teaching this weekend.

Last year, when I was in Columbus, I bought a gorgeous book on Japanese calligraphy. Today, I finally got around to reading it while I sat in the eye doctor's office waiting for my husband to finish with his appointment. Looking at those pictures, I was reminded how much significance there is in the marks we make with our hands, and how much they communicate. More to ponder as I go back to work making some notes for the workshop.

point of view

Yesterday, Marty and I went to an exhibit of photographs at the NY Public Library. These photos, culled from exhibits held at the Midtown Y from 1972-1996, were works of art - primarily in black and white. Gritty urban scenes, family portraits, empty rooms that told stories; people doing ordinary things - a wide range of subjects, all of which spoke eloquently. Off in an alcove, they were showing the slides that had been submitted by the artists, from which they had been juried into the various exhibits represented. I was struck by the fact that each artist had an unmistakable point of view that came through in the five slides each had submitted. Point of view: a way of seeing and a way of expressing what you see. Strong, individual, and essential. Do you have a point of view? do I? I need to ponder this.

this morning

we walked around the harbor in Jersey City. Had breakfast in a local diner and came upon another festival on the way back. This time, a Filipino street fair. We returned later and had street food for lunch. In the meantime, here is the view from the harbor outside our hotel.

The building directly across from the third tall railing from the left is the World Financial Center. Directly to its right are two empty spaces. Directly behind us, as we looked at the emptiness, was this girder which was covered on the other side with still-heartbreaking remnants. Among the detrius were dozens of peoples' scannable ID cards that let them into the buildings each day, hanging like dogtags from a war. Nearby, a memorial with the names of Jersey City residents lost that day. Almost seven years have passed and it is still fresh for us.

Afterwards, we went into the city, saw a wonderful off broadway play (that's two this weekend!) and had a good anniversary dinner before coming back on the subway.

Tomorrow, home for a day or two of recovery from all the walking and eating and walking and eating...

NY Saturday

One of the joys of a day in NY is happening on a parade you didn't know was scheduled. On our way to cross 6th Ave. and go to Bryant Park, we caught the tail end of the International Immigrants' Day Parade - just missed the Tibetans but here is one of the colorful Vietnamese floats. We did so much walking yesterday that today was a more restful day. We had a wonderful brunch at Marseilles - a very French bistro that was so good we returned for dinner. Then we headed over to Bryant Park and plunked ourselves down on chairs and sat for more than an hour, people watching. Bryant Park, behind the NY Public Library, is an oasis that looks very French. In the 19th Century it was a reservoir and was called Reservoir Park, then was renamed for William Cullen Bryant. I remember it as a druggie hangout - a real needle park - but now it is beautiful. Even the restroom has been restored and has fresh flowers! They show movies free at sundown on Mondays in summer, and for a number of years, Seventh on Sixth - the ready to wear fashion shows have taken place here in tents. There is a lending library from which you can borrow books, magazines, and newspapers to read while you are in the park. And of course, kiosks for food and drinks. On one end of the park is this beautiful carousel.

There were too many pictures I missed because either I didn't have my camera out or the delay was too long. I didn't take a picture of a man wheeling a stroller with two DOGS in it - but apparently this is not uncommon in NY. Can you imagine??? Here are some I did get:

I loved the way this bike threw a shadow.

A shade of blue not found in nature. The symmetry of this fence. The Chambers St. Subway station.All the eyes were different. Here are a couple more. We walked through the station to catch the PATH back to our hotel. When we got to the World Trade Center I had to photograph these for you. I would have known this floor anywhere - without the sign. There were at least two weddings at the hotel today. Patel & Patel started early this morning with 450 invited guests. They were married on the pier behind the hotel and I did not take pictures of the gorgeously sari'd women. Tonight, when we got back at 11:pm the wedding was still going and I did get a shot of two guests who had come out for a breath of fresh air. The women were magnificent.When we came upstairs, we found this note from the hotel.How considerate. But it is quiet and I am going to bed.

Friday in NY

This is a view taken from the roof garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where Marty, Jessica, and I were this afternoon. The building with the diamond grid is the new Hearst Tower, where Jessica works (except on summer Fridays). I have yet to get the tour and lunch, but I will before the summer is over. Meantime, we saw the Clark Brothers' art collection at the Met, had tea in the patrons' lounge, walked our feet off, and then had fabulous Mexican food at Dos Caminos on Park Avenue South. When the bill came, there was no bill. Instead, an anniversary card from our kids. What a nice surprise! We are staying at the Hyatt Regency on the NJ side of the Hudson but the picture I took tonight came out fuzzy, so I will try again tomorrow when we get back to the hotel. We are one PATH stop from the World Trade Center, from whence we walked to the South Street Seaport (disappointingly more touristy and commercial than ever) and up through Chinatown and Little Italy, where we had lunch and picked up the bracelet we had left in May to be fixed. Took the subway up to 77th St. and walked to the Met - and this is where I came in. Today was a long day.

street art part II

Where was I? On my way to the Chelsea Marketplace, no doubt. This formidable building was the bakery for the National Biscuit Company until a couple of decades ago. NABISCO, to those of you who are too young to remember the real name - LOL. The whole first floor has been reinvented and is full of too-cool shops and a few wonderful food places: a fish market, a meat market from 1912 that has relocated to Chelsea, a few gourmet shopts, a restaurant/cafe that also sells trendy clothes and decorative objects, a gelato place, etc. I don't know what this WAS, but right now it is a waterfall in the middle of this huge open space. See the exposed brick wall? The whole place is like this: RAW and wonderful. Tired and thirsty and in search of something cold and not sweet, I came upon this wonderful tea shop with zillions of kinds of hot and iced teas. Here is what the tea bar looked like. The whole place was soo soothing and peaceful. I ordered a glass of lemon earl grey with lots of ice, put my feet up, and relaxed for a while. Hated to leave.

Nonetheless, I took my glass of ice with me and sat down at a cafe table to watch the crowd go by for an hour or so.The marketplace takes up 1 square block, from 9th-10th Aves and from 14th-15th sts. Upstairs, there are lots of offices: Channel 1 (NY News TV), The Food Network, and other companies. People walk through from 10th-9th instead of going outside to walk the long block. Here is what else I observed as I watched: 1) Most women were in skirts or cropped pants and a few in shorts & heels- but I would say 60-75% skirts. Young, old, slim,heavy - it didn't matter. Skirts - mostly full or tiered - knee length or longer. And sundresses. 2) Very few long pants on women. (I was wearing cropped pants, so - phew! I was ok) 3) Men mostly in khakis or jeans. 4) Many men with backpacks (oof - heavy, too) 5) in one hour and hundreds of working people, only one man in suit and tie. 6) Almost EVERYBODY either on a cell phone or with earphone thingies that were evidently PODS of some sort. 7) You could tell the tourists because they ambled.

I did not sit here, but it looked tempting for my next trip.

There were several of these marble couches, which probably are more comfortable than they look. Only in NY?

street art

I walked and walked and walked yesterday afternoon by myself. One thing about being alone in the City - you can observe because you don't have to be involved in conversation with anybody else. This was a day for observing and overhearing. "Excuse me, where did you get those shoes?" a 20-something woman wearing green rubber flip-flops asked a passerby wearing gold sandals. "I have no idea, they are my sister's" answered the 2nd young woman. Only in NY. Made my way to Chelsea, thinking I would go in and out of art galleries. My first stop was my favorite oasis, Jim Kempner Fine Art on 10th Ave. For a visual treat, go through his inventory on the website. This is the courtyard in front, which creates a sense of peace and zen for me every time I enter or leave through it.

Sigh...there was a Sean Scully aquatint on the wall that called my name, but it was $8,000. So I continued my journey. There is art to be enjoyed all over the city. Here is the first piece I saw when I left the gallery. Mixed media.

Here is a closer look. It is delicious. And I am going to do something with this image before I leave for my studio today.

More street art as I walked on 24th street west to 11th Ave. The area was deserted since it was a weekday. But even so, it is not a very welcoming area, considering it is full of art galleries. Would you ever know that this is a gallery? They might as well have a banner saying "Do Not Enter."

Several I had wanted to visit were closed for installations; I went up to the 9th floor of 210 Art to the Phoenix Gallery to see what was what, but they were painting the walls. So I had to be content with more street art. I passed this building, which turned out to be an Episcopal seminary behind walls and leafy trees around the corner. They are doing some kind of renovation, but these buckets looked like sculpture to me.

I made my way over to Chelsea Marketplace, which is an amazing building. But I'll save that for my next post or I'll never get to my studio today.

garden redux

This afternoon, on the way back from Ben's kindergarten graduation from the Boys & Girls Club, I stopped to buy some flowers to replace the ones that are gone. My garden will look better, I hope, after I plant them, although I must say it makes me feel happy just to see the pots interspersed with what is there. Perennials which may or may not get 1/2 day of sun in my postage stamp, overgrown, shady front - I can't really call it a yard. Garden? Here is how it looks now. The plant lady said I should feed them and spray them with deer-off or whatever it is called. And she wished me luck, which didn't sound encouraging. These purple and white things were already there. They are fine. I added some blue delphinium (and some purple ones somewhere) and red yarrow to break up my white. I always think yarrow is a weed. It reminds me of Queen Anne's Lace growing by the side of the road. I once tried to transplant the stuff - it didn't take. Neither does chicory, which I love the look of. That blue is the best color.

This red flower is I forget what, but I desperately needed red: not pink. I do not like pink. All in all, I bought 10 pots but some of them are mystery mixes, so we shall see what develops.

So that's it on the garden front - or the front garden, whichever. I need to marinate tonight's dinner and do some more research on the Internet so we can figure out how to spend our time in NY for the weekend.

murder in the garden

No corpses, just skeletons. Every single yellow daylily blossom and almost every bud - GONE! Cut off at the top of the stem. Et by the damn deer. Or the damn turkeys. Or rabbits on stilts.
Grrrrrrr! This happened a few years ago and then the last couple of years, the anti-deer spray kept them away. I sprayed this year, too - but they must be immune by now.

I HATE this and it has made me very grouchy. I am especially grouchy when I see everybody else's beautiful garden shots. Somebody around the corner has planted two plastic flowers under her tree. They really look cheesy, but at least they are still there in the morning.

silk road

Did some more wax and discharge yesterday on that piece of silk and steamed it tonight. The thing about discharge is that the two sides are always different - and surprisingly, it is often the 'other' side that discharges more or that you like better. Here is one example = two sides of the same discarged section: First, the "right" side, or the side where I painted the discharge paste into the unwaxed sections. Here is the "wrong" side of the fabric, which is quite different...I can't figure out why. I like it!
It is probably a 2 yard piece of silk broadcloth - it feels sandwashed; is heavy and delicious to the touch. Because it is so big there are large sections in the middle that I have not touched. Maybe tomorrow I can run over there for a few hours before we join our children for a barbecue late in the afternoon. Otherwise, Wed.