River Cruise on the Hudson

Last night, I decided to go on a dinner cruise with a friend at the last minute. It was a nice summer night, although a little chilly for cocktails on the deck. 

We looped back and forth in a "U" shape up the Hudson River and the East River, swinging from the Empire State Building and around the tip of Manhattan to the Brooklyn Bridge.

The sky was clear, the sunset, spectacular, and being on a boat afforded me a different perspective on the city I roam daily.

Encounters with Greatness - Louise Bourgeois

I just learned that famed sculptor, Louise Bourgeois, passed away yesterday at the age of 98. I can recall a visit with her a few years ago. Louise held informal open house sessions called "salons" regularly on Sundays at her home in Chelsea. Oddly enough, she was listed in the phone book, and if you wanted to attend a Sunday Salon with Louise, all you had to do was make the call and say that you would be showing up. I went on Halloween, 2004; a seemingly perfect fit for such a dark woman.

The session was like being in art school all over again. We talked about our work in a room full of other artistic hopefuls and in front of Miss Louise who would make the final judgement as if we were standing in front of the proverbial Pearly Gates. There was also a team of filmmakers ever-present and recording every moment for a future documentary. No one else was allowed to photograph or videotape any portion of that session.

For some artists in the room, she would ask tough questions and cast aspersions on their creations. I was one of the last people to present and was quite nervous. Miraculously, she showed me some mercy, and actually liked my work. We had a big discussion that I can no longer recollect, but I sailed on the knowledge of that moment as inspiration for my next few paintings. At the end of our time with her, she permitted me to photograph her just before I left her building. I knew one day that I'd be happy that I captured this moment in time. Rest in peace.

Escape from New York - City Island

Ok, we never really left the city. Believe it or not, this is the Bronx. When my mom comes to visit me, we often get together with my cousin and have a "girls' weekend" loaded with many activities. Amazingly, we've almost never repeated any of these activities. A few weeks ago, before the beaches were officially open, we welcomed an early summer with a short jaunt to City Island and Orchard Beach. This area consists of a small peninsula just beyond Co-Op City. The air was surprisingly fresh and cool. It had the brine-y fish scent of the ocean and city smells no longer invaded my nostrils. You feel like you're thousands of miles away, but somehow, you can still see the spires of the city off in the distance.

We drove around for a while taking in the beautiful scenery, the aroma of someone cooking garlic shrimp wafting through the marinas, and dreaming about having our own cottage so close to Manhattan; the best of both worlds. After some ice cream, we then saw the very enjoyable movie of the same name which was filmed around City Island (starring Andy Garcia and Juliana Margulies). I highly recommend it. Having been there earlier in that same day made the movie even more fun to watch.

The film opens with the concept of the "clam digger" vs. the "mussel sucker". Translation: someone who's family has lived in the quaint fishing village for generations vs. someone who is just visiting and decides to settle down here. Despite the pejorative connotations, I can very easily see myself being the latter.

Have an enjoyable Memorial Day, everyone- and an official start to a great summer!

A Walk Around the Neighborhood - SoHo

After a particularly long week, I went to catch a matinee of the newly released Sex and the City 2 with a girlfriend to mindlessly drool over some clothes. I won't go into Samantha's gratuitous one-liners or the fact that there will be no Oscar for the screenplay, but we certainly did enjoy the fashion. After the movie, I still needed to go for a walk to get my mind off of some things and headed to the SoHo area of downtown to take some photos.

This is one of my favorite ever-changing walls in the city. There's something new here just about everyday. I haven't been here in a while and enjoyed taking in what's on the mind of the city's street artists.

As the sun started to dip in the sky, and was walking down Crosby Street in search of some interesting wall pieces, when I ran into an interesting character instead- graff writer, Jaes. He was just coming from a job, and wondered if I just saw common friends of ours, the Plaztik duo. Coincidentally, they were right around the corner.

Mimi's shoes and Jaes's colorful cans.

We all decided to convene and relax at Plaztik's secondary space, affectionately called "the Lab" where we sipped strawberry-flavored vodka with lemon, ordered up some of the best pizza I've ever had (with truffle oil!), and watched stupidly funny movies. What better way to welcome in summer and the holiday weekend than an unplanned soiree with friends?