wordless Wednesday (morning)

striking while the iron is hot

In a matter of speaking.  Trying to get this posted before I lose my internet connection; I am in a place tonight with no internet and I've happily connected to a network in a nearby café which is still open, but who knows for how long?

A quick(?) recap of my weekend.  The Gillman B&B had a guest over the weekend.  Marni Goldshlag crashed here unexpeedly on Satunday and Sunday nights because she had to drive north, unfortunately, for a family funeral.  Too busy talking and laughing to remember to take a picture, alas -- but it was a joy to see her and it was great to catch up since we last saw each other, about 3 years ago.

While Marni was with her family on Sunday, I headed in to New York (what, again??) with one of my other friends -- a spur of the moment decision.  Checking the Sunday Times for things to do, I found a klezmer concert -Yiddish poetry set to music: fiddles, guitar, accordian, mandolin --  at the Museum at Eldridge Street and we hot-footed it into the Lower East Side

Once an elegant synagogue among many in the thriving Eastern Jewish community at the turn of the (last) century, the synagogue opened in 1887 but in recent years had fallen into disuse and disrepair.  Now restored to its original beauty (with pews from a church and a rose window designed by Kiki Smith), it is a gorgeous space.

The concert was a delight and afterwards, we headed to the iconic Katz's delicatessen.  Here I am with my pastrami on rye.  Sandwich was so big I could eat only half last night  The rest was today's lunch.

Today was rather mundane.  It was soup weather, so of course, whatever was in he fridge and he dried bean jars.

 However, late in he day I decided to take my own advice (sort of) and slice up a bunch of fabric I printed and will neve use as-is.  I started cutting them into 2-1/2" strips, between 20"-30" (sometimes more, sometimes less and I am thinking about what comes next when I have cut a million of these (by hand).

So, here I am in another location and although I am wired, I need to go to sleep.  Ta ta for now.

the rest of the week

Tuesday was a busy day. I received an invitation from The Abruzzo School of Creative Art in Italy to teach there, Aug 1-7, 2012. Yes, 2012!  I'm really excited - and if you have airline miles, you can use them to treat yourself to a class with me in what looks like paradise! Check it out!!

Tuesday I also trekked to Brooklyn for a few special days with you-know-who. Practically the only time she sat still for long enough that I could get a photo, was when she was eating. This was an exception - she loves hats and I had bought this hand-knitted in Ecuador one for her at the Hell's Kitchen Flea on Sunday.  She roared like a lion as soon as she saw it.  I roared with laughter.

Thursday's weather required the hood - brrrrrrrr. We were on our way to gymnastics class a few blocks away.

Hanging from he bar --her favorite activity. In the meantime, all that exercise makes for good, long naps. I left for home while Emma was taking one and am still working on recovering!

is this art related?

You may wonder why I am so infatuated with the High Line, which runs on the old elevated freight tracks that ran from the west 30's in NY down the west side.  This is a section that has not yet been revitalized -- but will be completed in the near future.The whole line was slated to be demolished in the 1980's but the neighborhood residents who formed Friends of the High Line, saved it and the city made it into a park. For someone like me who loves urban grit and pieces of the past against the landscape of the future, this is paradise.

 The High Line is, to me, a work of art in itself and for someone who loves an unlikely juxtaposition of textures, pure joy.

 

 

Later in the day, a walk along Hudson River Park, from 24th St. to 39th St, more visual stimulation for this artist.  It was the first time I had been in this park --there is something magical about first times!

 I never did figure out what these things were. Things to tie the horses to?  Do you know?? In any case,  rust-lover's heaven.

The marks on the side of this old corrugated metal pier building...ahhhhhh.

By 4:30 it was getting dark on the west side of Manhattan.

Doesn't New Jersey look beautiful?

So, looking east where it was still a bit lighter, time to head to the Port Authority to catch the bus home.

Near he Port Authority bus terminal, reflections of one residential building in another.

Fuzzy photo because of the dark, but this is the only way to describe the day and the urban art.

almost wordless Wednesday - Part I

Some photos from my day in NY over the weekend.  Am in Brooklyn chasing Emma, no time to blog!

This installation was going up in the Port Authority.

The guy with the hat on the bike started to drive away just as I snapped his picture.  A typical NY street shot from the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market on 39th St. behind the Port Authority.

Caught in the act!  A guerilla artist at work.

More when I get back from taking the kid to music class...

I finally watched it

Thanks for all your great comments and emails about my interview with Alex Anderson.  Despite the lighting and color on my end and the iPhone resolution, I was pleased with what I saw.  I hate watching myself but it wasn't so bad.  I especially loved the second part, which took place off camera (or so I thought) after we were finished with the official interview - LOL.

In case you missed it, here are the links.
http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/blog.php/blog_id/4376
http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/blog.php/blog_id/4377

Alex will be taking a class with me in 2013.  I'll keep you posted on where, when it is official.

A city of contrasts

Compared to flying, train travel is a joy. Jess and I took Amtrak to and from D.C. and had four hours of pleasantness - a place to plug in our laptops and work - food available in the café car, pleasant restrooms large enough to be civilized, and no security hassles. Ahhhhh... And of course, icing on the cake: on the ride home, my brief, pleasant conversation with Paul Giamatti, who sat in front of us in coach. His grandfather was my Italian professor in college and was a complete charmer whom we all adored.

We stayed at the Willard Hotel, two blocks from the White House. It was lovely and all decked out for Christmas.

 The awards luncheon was a really nice event and although the publicist for Jeopardy won the award Jess was nominated for, she and George Clooney's publicist both received honorable mention. That was pretty cool, as was the fact that Jessica had been nominated at all.

I had the morning free while Jessica attended a seminar, and went for a walk. In the park by the White House, I saw this statue, which looked very much like a WPA-era piece of art.

and then I turned around.  Here is what was directly across the little pond from this sculpture...

Continuing on my way, I walked toward the museums and the monuments.

I didn't have time to go in all directions, so I headed toward the National Gallery, past all the other museums. 

I stopped at the Sculpture Garden before I ran out of time and had to turn around, go back up Pennsylvania Ave to the National Press Club.  This tree sculputre - concrete and steel - was my favorite.

 

This Roy LIchtenstein house made me smile.

I was less entranced with David Smith and Sol Lewitt, but here are their pieces, anyway. There was a lot more, but I had to get back.

 I never got close to the capitol - no time.  But here is a distant picture for your viewing pleasure.I think It is probably the most beautiful building in Washington.

Some of the quirkier architecture on Pennsylvania Avenue caught my fancy.  This is the old Post Office.

As I got a couple of blocks from our elegant hotel, I came upon Occupy D.C. They were in a small park on Pennsylvania Ave: mostly vets.Quiet. Dignified.  I saw a tent serving hot food, port-o-sans standing like soldiers at the end of the park, and an information booth.  They were looking for donations of tents, warm clothing, and the like. 

 

One of the occupiers handed me a copy of this newspaper.  I found the whole scene even more moving, for some reason, than the one in Zuccoti Park -- maybe because they were mostly vets or perhaps because of their location.  It broke my heart.

Amen

playing catch-up

Almost the end of November - a long, delicious weekend behind me and more fun ahead of me. How nice!
Trekked to Brooklyn on Th-day, cranberry-apple pie and butternut squash soup in hand.  Food was excellent and the company could not have been better. Need I say more?

I don't remember the details of the rest of the weekend but they included getting lots of household chores done; some of them, none too soon.  Saw the new George Clooney movie, Descendants, which was HIGHLY overrated, IMHO. It was just ok.  And I actually sewed a few therapy strips together, slicing up a couple of blah hand-prints I would never have otherwise used.

blah hand printed cloth

sliced and mixed with strips of shibori, hand-dyes, batik, and a couple of decades-old commercial fabrics

 Yesterday was an adventure: Alex Anderson and I chatted in an interview for The Quilt Show. Because my Skype on the computer wasn't working, I had to use my iPhone and without going into detail, the clip will need major editing to compensate for all the laughter!  Nonetheless, I'm excited to be interviewed for the show and will let you know when it will air. 
 
So now it's time for me to leave.  Jessica has been nominated as Publicist of the Year (up against George Clooney's publicist - LOL) and we're taking the train to D.C. to the awards luncheon at the National Press Club.  Jess doesn't expect to beat out the Hollywood crowd but it will be fun to get away and it was a big honor to have been nominated.

More when there is something to report.