Whirlwind Weekend

The weekend was a blur of baking for various activities, future feeding of IT boys, and party flavors. Yes, you read that correctly, flavors, not favors. From apple bread loaves, to zucchini chocolate cake, to Bamboolzer brownies, and home-made crackers, I may have overdone it with the flour and arm power. Some of these treats got packed up for work, some for the party (more on that in a moment), and somehow some of these little packages ended up around the neighbors (and my door) with this little poem.

A surprise gift for the entire X Floor
For neighbors as closely packed as can be-
left late one night in secret outside your door
A little cake that’s quite sweet and healthy.
A kitchen elf mixed the apples in the cake 

Which you’re (hopefully) sure to find a treat-
One was super easy for the elf to make, 
Just so you they could welcome--nay Greet!   
As we pass each other on the stairs or halls,
Or see each other out on the busy streets,
Let’s take a moment to this gift recall:
Happy neighbors might leave more treats.

Someone is not a poet, and they for sure know it.

After a day of literally slaving over a hot stove, I packed myself and my bags onto the train up to Christine's for a party. Not just any party, but a party with a purpose. I love intriguing Paperless Post invites from friends, like this one: 

Clean out the closet for a jewelry and accessories exchange party.

Great chance to relieve your wardrobe of stuff you don’t want. Bring jewelry, scarves, pocketbooks, belts (no damaged items, please). For each item you bring, you’ll be able to exchange it for a new-to-you item. High end items may be sold for a modest price, too. Remaining items will be returned or donated to charity.

Christine has a knack for making any space and party special. Not only is it her livelihood, but it seems to be a gift.

I have seriously seen boutiques with less merchandise than all the items a bunch of us purged from our closets. Most of us found a few trinkets and scarves and odds and ends to exchange, but I have a feeling a sizable donation will be being made to Dress for Success, My Sister's Place, or another similar womens' charity.

As a bonus, I also sold a few hats from the Attic stash, caught up with friends, and stuffed my face with some of Christine's deliciously, scrumptious nibbles. As the two of us will be having a non-traditional Thanksgiving, I better start losing some weight so I can put it back on while eating her pasta and other cooking!

Thanks for hosting Christine. I had a blast and will enjoy wearing my new accessories.

Retroblogging: Falling for Crafts in Chelsea

Now that spring has sprung, the proliferation of street and craft fairs has blossomed. I'd like to keep exploring the various festivities, but time gets away from me. (Plus I am being careful with the budget for future fun - so if I don't go to "window shop" and "idea browse," then I won't accidentally end up purchasing anything.)

What I really like are the little crafty homegrown events, where you can really get close to the vendors and makers. Fairs like the one Jane and I went to in October in support of P.S. 11 partially sponsored by Etsy.

Crafts in Chelsea, Fall Festival 2012

We picked up buttons, brochures, and stickers, oh my.

It was a beautiful fall day, a warm, delightful, perfect Indian Summer day. It was almost perfect weather for sandals. Isn't this display adorable?

Since the funds being raised were for P.S. 11's arts curricula and other vital education programs, I just loved this vendor - who re-purposes old musical instruments and cases into a variety of lights and shelves.

I know of at least one saxophone and trumpet that could be put to good use. If my brothers even still have them.

The light was just so great in spotlighting the various jewelry displays. I had to walk away from some gemstones, minerals, and glass art pieces  - like these.

These little critters kept calling our names. Displayed adorably in old vintage suitcases and trunks, these stuffies are made from old cashmere sweaters - and considering the materials and hand-crafted-ness, were pretty affordable. Jane almost rescued a few friends. I had to stiffen my spine and walk away. My attic is already filled with a flock of stuffed friends.

There were other adorable re-purposed sweaters on display from other vendors at the market. The dress on the left was super cute, with a frilly lightweight skirt added to the top. A very similar scarf to the one one the right made its way home with Jane. The fleece leaves were warm and a season accent to otherwise boring fall coats.

As fun is it to look at the wares, remember to look at the "set decor" too.

Fun buntings

Bestowed with buttons

Finally, we almost missed this display with a vintage sewing machine, bobbins, and sewing table.

It was a really a great day, including a bout of dress up ... with fripperies ... and fascinators.

Retroblogging: Chicago Trip 2012, Art Institute

This should wrap up our brief tour of the Art Institute of Chicago. I didn't cover nearly all of it's collections, installations, or exhibitions, but it did whet my appetite for a return visit. Not to toot my own horn, or anyone else's,

but it's a great place to see art from many vantage points. You never know who might mosey on by while you are taking a rest to take everything in.

 

Vater Staat..
By Thomas Schutte [German, born 1954]
2010/ patinated bronze..
Vater Staat, which translates to “Father State", Schuttë’s ongoing interest in the effect of totalitarian regimes on the human condition.

The marker read..
The sculpture of Thomas Schutte mines both his own earlier work and the art of previous eras - particularly monumnetal and memorial genres - to address the burden of traumatic history. He is primarily concerned with human condition and the effect that contemporary political structure have on the lives of individulas. In Vater Staat [which translates as "Father State"] an imposing bronze statue towers over the viewer, immediately establishing a power dynamics within the space. The Patriarchal figure, representative of a totalitarian regime or state, is shrouded in a cloak that binds his arms, rendeing him helpless and immobile. Schutte selection of material, in this case, patinated bronze, allowed him to address the historical use of the figure as a staple of public art. Here, is in other works, the artist engaged in the tendency toward monumentality in order to subvert it - this figure is actually an antihero.


The Gift Shop is also stocked with lots of fun trinkets and souvenirs. Sadly, my favorite pieces, and the ones I really wanted to take home, were not available. If I could only use these various accessories to warn people of my mood, maybe they wouldn't bug me when I wasn't in the mood.

<====  <======
This is the "leave me the hell alone" accessory.







The one below means you might approach.

Henry Wilson
English, 1864-1934

"Diana" Diadem, c. 1908
Enameled gold, rock crystal, moonstones, sapphires
6.4 x 16.5 cm (2 1/2 x 6 1/2 in.)
Restricted gift of Quinn E. Delaney and Kathryn and John Gilbertson, 2002.16

Summer 2012: Island Hopping, Part 5

After leaving the Ferry terminal I headed up Broadway to find the second of my "islands" for the day. I felt so welcomed by the open arms of Saint Elizabeth - who apparently was the first American born saint (according to the sign there.)

I don't feel as comfortable below 34th, or 14th, or Canal Street, for that matter - so lower Manhattan is way out of my comfort zone. Added to the fact that the landscape of lower Manhattan was changed irrevocably in 2001, there's the added psychic weight that we all try not to deal with while being downtown. Perhaps regular visitors have built up a level of comfort/coping mechanism, but I haven't been downtown often enough. Now that I know how ridiculously easy it is to do the Ferry, and how much I need to be on the water more often, I'll be down a lot more.

By the time I reached the corner of Broadway near the Museum of the American Indian at Bowling Green, I was ready to be distracted by the bright colors of a street market. After being on the water, peering through the haze, bright colors were good to shock my senses back into a state of awareness.

I was initially drawn to the ruched flowers on the red scarf and that drew me into the other wares. Then I found the hand-crocheted embellished (but made in China) wraps. It's a seriously good thing I only had $12 on me for the whole day - and that was earmarked for the last part of my daytrip - so I had no money to spare. There were so many pretties and this magpie wouldn't have been able to resist.

Ooooooh. Glass. OOOOOOH. Blue baubles!

I am seriously going to have to blow this one up and frame it.

Then I found more scarf stalls. Was I in Manhattan or in India at a bazaar?

There were so many tables and racks just full of stones. I love these hanging displays. I just wanted to brush them like harp strings. I also really liked these stretchy bracelets. I have large wrists, so stretchies are better for me. Not that I would wear them. I have my heirloom that I wear every day without fail, so I don't wear additional bracelets. But don't they look inviting?

I couldn't stare at these too much. I was getting sleepy.

So many colors. So many patterns. So much fun. I think I'll play with these pics and make some new cards and prints. I'm lucky these came out. It was so hazy and bright, I wasn't able to see anything on my little screen, with my shades on or without. I had a headache from the heat, humidity, and haze and all the squinting.

I had to pull myself away from the stalls and head back up the Canyon of Heroes. I'm sure I looked like an idiot, but I was totally reading the inserts into the sidewalk. So many historical names and dates - as well as a familiar name. Why Hello Mr. Cliburn. (Yes, I was one of *those* people. I totally stopped in the middle of the flow of traffic and shot these. I do realize the irony of me acting like a tourist.)

The more north I traveled on Broadway, the more I really remembered why I don't like lower Manhattan. Narrow streets. Wall Street. Traders. Tourists. People doing obscene to the Bronze Bull. Tramps aka the Occupy Wall Street "protesters" hanging out at Trinity Church. The construction vibe due to the rebuilding of the Trade Center areas, not to mention the huge transit project expanding the Fulton Street subway hub. I think I might also have been the teensiest bit claustrophobic. The towers in my area just don't seem to hem me in the same way as the walls of this "canyon."

No matter how beautiful the skyline contrasts are (r: St. Paul's dwarfed by skyscrapers and One World Trade) it was hot and I was sticky. I was also way out of sorts to realize that a) my "island" destination, Cookie Island, had been pushed out by the Fulton Street hub construction and the website didn't tell me that [freakin' Google] -- it's a Payless now and b) I couldn't find the subway entrance because of the scaffolding for the Fulton hub and I walked around the block 3 times until I found it.

All the cheery street art in the world didn't cheer me up, but a long cool subway ride north to "island" number 3 of the day did help. I headed up to another unfamiliar area of NYC, the upper reaches of the East Side, to El Museo del Barrio for the exhibition, Caribbean: Crossroads of the World. Pardon the lack of pictures, but El Museo is wrapped up for reno of its own. They also didn't allow photography in the exhibition (which is a shame because I don't draw).

I'll have to do a review of the exhibition at a later time. It's actually a three-parter, spread out between El Museo, the Queens Museum of Art, and the Studio Museum in Harlem. I have a passport to the other 2 now, since I paid admission to El Museo. I can see getting to Harlem, but I don't know about Queens yet.

1 day trip = series of islands
Manhattan
Staten Island
The "lost" island - I think it's on Long Island now, but I'm not heading out there for a cookie
artistic renderings of the Caribbean Islands - Cuba, Puerto Rico, and all the St.'s etc.

Pretty good for:
unlimited trips on my monthly MetroCard
$5.00 student admission to the Museum, cash
$3.75 beverages, cash
And some plastic money in the Museum Gift Shop for trinkets for the kids and to make-up for saying I was a "student."

Better than airfare and accommodations, right?