Andrew's Explorations

Great Day in NYC: Part 4 of 4

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:32:00 +0000

November 15, 2010 - Author's post publishing note: During yesterday's artist studio tour at Westbeth, I met the artist who did the wonderful dalmatians on the wall in the "tunnel" between Bethune Street and courtyard. I have added two photos at the end of this post.

This is the fourth and last in a series covering the one-day city trip.

With 5Pointz as the starting point for my return back to the West Village, I proceed to head for the subway station. It looked like the way back to the station was much better marked with signs. It was almost as if they wanted us to get out as quickly as possible, but I don't thinks so. I just wished that the way to the PS1 was as well-marked - I was a bit lost despite my excellent sense of direction.

I noticed the cool street graphics on this security door below, and also saw the similar images on the 5Pointz building. I wonder if these are the works of the same artist.

Right next to the storefront above is another gallery, Space Womb. I wanted to go inside, but for some reason, I didn't.

Please observe these photos closely above and below before going on to the next one - look at the fluid, organic negative & positive shapes.

Now, look at this building...which I saw after I rode the E train and walked out at the 14th St. & 8th Ave. When I took these two photos (above and below), I was not thinking about their similarities, but I found it to be coincidentally interesting that both of them have the same wavy & organic theme.

As I was walking south on Eighth Avenue toward Hudson Street, I saw this cool white taxicab-like car with the word, Soapology on the top.

I immediately assumed that it was parked across the store, so I turned my head 180 degrees, and my hutch was right. I didn't go into the store, Soapology, but I am thinking of returning to this place for holiday shopping next month.

And I walked past several favorite stores in the same area: The InkPad, a magazine store, and House of Cards & Curiousities whose store front display of imported Mexican art immediately made me think of Michael deMeng. I didn't go into any of these stores as I was already suffering from sensory overload - thanks to my visiting too many book-related venues.

I was walking through Abingdon Square Park at the end of Eighth Avenue when I saw these bulbs either laid out carefully or placed randomly. I am really looking forward to next spring to see these bulbous blooms.

I was going to go back to Chelsea Market to pick up food for dinner at home with my mom. My mom loves it when I go to NYC and pick up dinners for ourselves. But I decided against going to Chelsea Market because of the weekend afternoon crowd. So, I decided I would go to D'Agnostino in the West Village district instead, and saw several cool sights in the residential area.

After I picked up balsamic grilled chicken (very overcooked) and broccoli knish (delicious!), I went back to Westbeth. I saw the flyer (photo #1) for the flea market held in the basement and decided that since I have never been in that building (white number 8 on the map above), I decided to go in just to find out what's like inside. After I visited the flea market, I saw on the way out another flyer in the lobby for the holiday show (photo #4). I couldn't go to that reception as I had to go home.

Turning left to go to see the gallery and community center in Westbeth's arts complex, I saw these Superior Ink townhouses (photo #2) designed by Robert A.M. Stern. As soon as I think about his name, I remembered watching a television series, The Pride of Place: Building the American Dream, which he hosted. I also remembered seeing the old Superior Ink Company building before it was demolished.

Walking through the "tunnel" to the Westbeth's courtyard, I saw these wonderful running dalmatians on the right wall, and it was a nice visual surprise as I was so used to seeing blank walls there (see post-publishing note below).

I walked through the courtyard, passing the gallery on the right, and this theatrical display (photo #5 below) at Cherry Pit theatre caught my attention. My goodness, what a fantastic sight! Looks like puppets and I could not find any plaque that would tell me about this wonderful display. Cherry Pit is one of the three theatrical spaces of Cherry Lane Theater - never been in any of them, but I hope I will some day. One show is currently running (Imaging Herschel), but as far as I know, I did not see any date for the open-captioning performance for this show - I checked TDF's list of available open-captioning performances. It will be very difficult for me to follow without any open-captioning device. As for my theater-going experiences I will write about them only IF there are enough blog readers who are interested.
(Author's post publishing note: Someone left a comment below that provided the information about the creator of the wonderful puppets below: Ralph Lee. Please take a moment to read the comment below this post - it's interesting!)

Now back to the map...you may wonder why this place is so significant to me. Especially in that building #4 (white number) which is the Westbeth Community Center. Go on to the next photo and you will see why.

The first time I was in the Westbeth Community Center was back when I was taking Autumn Hathaway's Art Journaling class (organized by The InkPad) six years ago. It was where my creative spirit was resurrected and revitalized after being buried heavily in soil contaminated with toxic waste for seventeen years. I was a designer for several years, and due to economic challenges and job discrimination, I quitted that field in deep frustration to go back to school for a masters degree in computer science.

It was also the same place that I took Michelle Ward's Roll With It class where I learned her acrylic techniques done urban style. Since then, I have traveled all over the country, nurturing my creative spirit replanted in much more organic & nutrient-rich soil. Thankfully, it is still growing wonderfully and healthy - all because of all these wonderful people that I met during my creative journey.

On the lighter side, while I was taking numerous pictures (150 photos!), I didn't even notice that my shoes were mismatched until I saw this photo two days later! Good thing I didn't notice them sooner or I would have gone home right away.

While I was at Westbeth, I wondered to myself as to whether their studio tours have been/will be given. The answer came to me last Tuesday when I found out Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation is giving a studio tour this weekend. YES!

Anyway, this concludes the 4-part series, and I thank you so very much for your taking the time to read my NYC stories - all of them are about just one day! What a great day it was - I went home very happy, refreshed and inspired.

November 15, 2010 - Post publishing note: After I got down to the basement of Westbeth Artists Housing for the Sculpture Studio, I unexpectedly met the artist, Karen Santry, who did the installation on the "tunnel" wall. I was very happy to have met her, and I told her that I did take a photo of her wall, but didn't put in her name because I did not find it. Well, after she told me where I could find it, I walked back to that wall, and lo & behold, it was there...how could I miss it?

AND, after I read the description on the above plaque, I did not notice that Astroturf was also used - I first thought the grasses were photographs. See? I'm not always as observant as many people think I am.

Either return to main menu or go back to the beginning,Part 1.

Great Day in NYC: Part 3 of 4

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:14:00 +0000

This is the third in a series covering the one-day city trip.

Twentieth-third Street. That's where I was as I was heading for the "E" train that will take me to Long Island City. This thoroughfare street - lots of personal history for me. Back in 1962-63, I was attending the Saturday morning classes at New York League for the Hard of Hearing as part of my parents' effort in obtaining the best professional help in speech therapy and auditory training for me. I remember my father driving on the old elevated highway (now demolished - yah!) and looking through the car window at the nitty-gritty appearance of the city streets.

And I also remembered the other time that I was a designer working on toy showroom projects at the former International Toy Center in the Flatiron District.

This street is now refreshingly and totally different. NY League for the Hard of Hearing has moved south and changed its name. International Toy Center is no more.

Good memories, yes. But things were changing. For the better.

As I left Printed Matter store, I walked up 10th Ave and got onto 23rd Street to head for 23rd St-8th Ave station. On the way, I encountered a number of sights that caught and held my attention momentarily. The first one is Art-Bridge, and even though I have seen the name before, I had forgotten what it was all about. I read the description (pretty long considering the fact that people walk fast), and still could not figure out where I could see the art. If the words, "...on the scaffolding panels..." were added, I would have immediately find them. But I completely missed them somehow but later saw them in their website.

Under the scaffolds, I found a couple examples of the most beautiful graffiti calligraphy I've ever seen!

Very, very cool building facade!

That building with the male figure - that's The Cell Theater. Please don't think I'm crazy, but somehow this figure seemed to move slowly as I walked east. It might be optical illusion or did it really move?

Love that colorful and sculptural element on top of the marquee...that's SVA Theatre(School of Visual Arts).

Beautiful mosaic lettering!

E trains are the best - they have electronic signs that kept me informed as to where I am - no worries about whether I actually arrived or missed the destination because I couldn't hear the announcement. No, not all subway trains in NYC are the same and I would love to see that all of them have the same electronic displays as E trains. Oh by the way, I did visit NY Transit Museum last summer in Brooklyn Heights. It is actually underground and very COOL! Oh, another story...Beatrice Coron's paper cut art work was exhibited there, and I took her papercutting class at Peters Valley Craft Center last July. I see I'm getting carried away, so let me get back on track with this story...

No, I am not passing this tract to you - I'm keeping it for myself. I found it on the subway seat on the way to Long Island City. The reason I wanted to keep it is that it reminded me of a very interesting book, God Bless This Circuitry by Andrew Salee and Tate Shaw, which was displayed at The Center for Book Arts' exhibition, Ear to the Page (ends on December 4th). This book contains images of the tracts that were passed out to the public. I ordered this book on October 30th and as of this writing I have not heard nor received anything from the vendor, Preachers Biscuit Books, despite my payment ($80) and two emails. I hope to find an amiable way to resolve this issue (big smile). Author's post-publishing note: about two hours after this post was published, I got an email apologizing for the delay, and it will be mailed out to me today. Thank you so very much, Preachers Biscuit Books!

Got off the train at 23rd Street - Ely Avenue. Yes, this station name is highlighted and linked to an entry in Wikipedia. I love Wikipedia - it has so much interesting stuff.

Walked up the exit stairs and suddently encountered the stark glass building. Don't know the architect nor the building itself. There are just way too many new buildings everywhere...

Another architecturally interesting site - I like the pyramids, but what are these meant to be?

Ah! Good to see you again, PS1, after a long time of no see!

Not two, but THREE floors of pure biblioeuphoria at NY Art Book Fair! The third floor plan is on the back of large stiff paper. Much better and easier to handle than thin paper or folded brochure.

Picked up cool newsprints, brochures, and ephemera. Never saw a book fair of this size! I felt much more comfortable there than at the one in Chelsea even though I had to steer clear of some sections that did not suit my sensibilities well. Any area with a warning sign for parents with kids, I don't even want to go there (smile). But, the rest of the fair was just GREAT!

Bought these three books from Mark Batty Publisher at special show price. That huge book, Notations 21 is based on John Cage's Notations - creative use & display of traditional musical notations as well as non-traditional ones. I remembered learning about John Cage at the "Creativity: The Human Experience" exhibition back in 1970s, and the reason I bought this book was to prepare myself for the class with Barbara Tetenbaum, Artist Book Strategies: Exploring Music and Musical Scores,at The Center for Book Arts.

After a little over an hour of walking and exploring three floors of publications, I started to experience a little bit of both claustrophobia and ochlophobia, and I had to leave a bit earlier than planned - it was pretty crowded. I saw this vista, and the photo looked like the graphic elements were pre-arranged to create a visual composition. Interesting...

Turning my head 180 degrees, my eyes were drawn to the graffiti letterings on this 5pointz building. Oh, what a pure visual ecstasy!

Wow, it was so cool to be that close to the incredible art - so much different from seeing them in the books or magazines. 5Pointz' website - wicked cool!

This was the best part of the whole trip. Either return to main menu or go to Part 4 which covers the return journey back to the West Village.

Great Day in NYC: Part 2 of 4

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:13:00 +0000

This is the second in a series on Andrew's one-day city trip.

After exiting out from the High Line's 20th Street stairway, I saw this interesting plaque at the bottom of one tree.

On the left, I then noticed a "shrine" that was attached to what it looked like to me a metal sign post.

I also noticed a chain-attached, laminated sheet, read it and got a good chuckle out of it. Not that I am laughing like an atheist or an agnostic, it was just that it talked about the shrine having a high "customer satisfaction" and its warning to use "energy" responsibly & in moderation. Well, I don't really need this shrine as I know whom I have believed and I am already persuaded that He loves me deeply and already gave a lot to me without my having to use any shrine. Thankfully, I'm not bored, and I have plenty of things to keep myself busy. Let's move on...

Oooh, another plaque? Who created these two that I just saw? So, I looked up to find out...they're from a non-profit organization: Root for Trees. Interesting...

I love looking down and hunt for anything interesting...

I looked at Lori Bookstein Fine Art's window display, stopped for a brief moment, made a mental note to visit that gallery next time, and walk toward Star on 18th diner. I passed it to see if the other restaurant, The Park, is open. Nope, so I walked back to the corner diner and looked at the menu offering. I decided that I would have Greek omelet for brunch...

It was very good...just enough to keep the hunger away for seven hours. I was going to walk up 10th Avenue and turned left onto 22nd Street, but I decided that I should go through the 18th street and walk up 11th Avenue instead. I looked at The Kitchen's sign and it seemed interesting.
More mental notes made. Turning my head to the right and saw this yellow painted building. I didn't remember that bright color, so I used Google street view. I was right - it was light grey the last time I saw it.

Further down the street on the north side, I saw another gallery, David Zwimer. It was not open because of the new installation, but from the announcement taped inside on the window, I found out that there's a Phaidon book store in Soho. Phaidon is one of my favorite publishers of art books, so I added this store to an already long list of places I must visit.

At the end of this 18th street are two buildings of interest to me. Reflected on the glass of IAC building (designed by Frank Gehry) is a luxury condominiums designed by Jean Nouvel.

Shown below are the details of the front of Nouvel building. I found out later that this new tall building is actually blocking the view of Knox Martin's art work painted on the exterior wall of a correctional facility. I have seen his work every time I drive up the 11th Avenue on the way back to George Washington Bridge, and I find it coincidental that on the next day I was watching the PBS' Sunday Arts on November 7th and it featured Art Students League of NY that Knox attended.

These looked beautiful to me...so clean and shiny.

Shown below is one of my best accidential discoveries. After I passed a building I later learned that it is a correctional facility, I saw this entrance to another gallery. I saw the name, and had to see it again. I did not know that Edward Tufte has his own gallery in Chelsea, ET Modern. Even though the gallery visits were beyond the scope of the plan that I had for this day, I decided that I would go in anyway and see what's there. As I was walking around, someone told me that Edward will be coming soon and he is giving a tour if I am interested. "If I am interested?" I asked myself quietly and responded silently, "Oh that would be nice!" I owned four of his books and I love his analytical approach in art & design. He came a few minutes later, I spent almost an hour listening to him talking about his sculptures and photography - especially, the reflections, the movements (water, wings and waves), the shadows, and the changing sunlight.

I left his gallery with handouts and booklets, not believing that I actually met and talked to him. I have gone to Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art last January and viewed his exhibition there, but missed an opportunity to attend his lecture there. This museum was one of the four places that I visited in one day as mentioned in my January 2 blog post.

I love this "cartoon" (shown below)

On the next block, I encountered a number of interesting street art.

This looked like "paper graffiti" and I strongly suspected that these pieces in two locations on the same street (about 100 feet apart) were done by the same person.

Very cool and colorful art on the corner of 11th Ave & 21st street.

Lovely graphics on the door - I didn't get a chance to get closer to find out how this was done.

Next to the door with the flowering plants are the drawings which I find fascinating. I'm assuming that someone did the drawings for communicative purposes.

I finally arrived at E/AB Fair site around 11:15 am. I walked up the stairs to the third floor. Lots of prints and limited editions. Lots of representatives talking on the cellphones or looking at their smartphones. It was an interesting learning experience, tho - my first time there. I hope next year will be better.

Got the guidebook and couple of ephemera & postcards. Interesting to see the one from Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art where Edward Tufte's work was exhibited. It is a very nice postcard - here's the other side.

I walked east on 22nd street, and I was on my way to the next stop, Printed Matter when I saw this street art on the sidewalk. I detected some dark humor there.

I went on, and then I thought I saw something architecturally unusual - some sort of a tunnel. I found out later on the internet that it was an entrance to the high end Japanese designer clothing store, Comme des Garçons. I did not even try to enter as I saw a big guy that resembled a bouncer in sophisticated clothing.

I believe that these "paper graffiti" on the wall were part of the "anti-store" look - no window display, and I have to admit I was very confused by the overall appearance - especially the lack of "retail store look"

This is the first time I see paid parking for bicycles. I guess free bicycle parking is now becoming a thing of the past.

Ah! That's Printed Matter, Inc. store! Finally, I got a chance to get in as I have walked past this place so many times before 10 am - too early for the store to be opened.

Printed Matter runs this show at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City (Queens).

From this store, I got three nice books (from Ireland) published by Red Fox Express. I love these "Dada/Fluxus" books.

This concludes my mini-tour of Chelsea Art District - you may want to return to main menu or go to Part 3 which covers the 23rd Street walk and subway trip to MoMA PS1 for The NY Art Book Fair.

Great Day in NYC: Part 1 of 4

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:47:00 +0000

It was a cool and crisp morning when I left home for the day in the city. Since both book fairs in Chelsea and Long Island City were not open to the public until 11 am, I decided that I would take a serendipiditous walk through the far west section, West Village. Instead of taking the notes the old fashioned way (paper and pen/pencil), I had planned to use the camera in such a way that the images will have just enough visual and textual data that will lead me to various links on the Internet. With the aid of Google maps, search engines, and Wikipedia, I have mined a wealth of additional data which provided new opportunities for further enrichment of my own cultural and creative life. Please bear in mind that just because I inserted the links below does not mean that I am endorsing or recommending them - I was just giving them cursory shout-outs, however, they do provide interesting information on various sights that I saw. But please be forewarned that a few of them may contain a number of "ahem" items.

Anyway, after I found a parking spot for my car, I started my preambulatory exploration before commencing my "urban hike" on the High Line. I found a photo on the wall of Automatic Slims restaurant which is a local watering and eating place on the corner of Washinton Street and Banks Street.

Number 1 in the left side of the photo above is where I started my walk. #3 is where I found the map (red star) of the building, formerly Western Electric (number 4), which was converted by architect, Richard Meier, for re-adaptive use as artists' housing and arts complex for the non-profit arts organization, Westbeth. You can read more about this building by clicking on Westbeth's history page. And number 5 shows the elevated freight track that used to go through several industrial plants. This track below Gansevoort St was demolished, but fortunately, the rest of the northern part was saved for use as an elevated urban public park, The High Line.

Oh, that number 2 shown below is where I found this cool metal pumpkin between these two locations (#1 & #3). And I found out later that Roy Lichtenstein Foundation is located on this block - their website is really cool, but beware of that menacing dog on the computer screen, and you will also need to enter an on-line "agreement" requiring you to respect and honor their copyright ownership of Roy's artwork.

I also found out that Baby Buddha restaurant on Washington and Bethune is now closed, and I was saddened to see that. That place provoked a wonderful memory of a luncheon with an art teacher (from Texas) whom I met on-line.

As I was ambling northward toward the High Line's Gansevoort entrance, I found these two cool facial images which I later placed them together side by side with a striped piece of wood inserted in between.

I love these cobblestones, but do watch out for potholes...

...especially when you're riding on a bicycle or scooter. Oooh, these Vespas! A mental image from Portland popped up in my head when I saw them. Portland? Yes, in Oregon. Last September, as I was driving on the way to Northwest District, I saw a Vespa dealership. Oh, I haven't gotten to telling you these third-visit-to-Portland stories, but I will at a later time.

I walked up through the stairway, turned left to go to the southernmost end. I was not expecting any blossoms, but these asters of pretty purplish colors - shown in the middle of far right side of below photo.

I love walking on the High Line - one gets to see what's below. For example, when I first saw the "black wall" (photo below) near Standard Hotel, I was not sure whether the whole wall on 13th Street was a billboard or an art installation. By using the the website information on the far right of the black wall (The Details Guild), that's how I found out that it was painted by Slater Bradley. I particularly liked the statement written on this wall - it was hard to read, but I think it said, "America's full of loudmouths shoutin' tryin' to make themselves heard". You can view the installation in progress by clicking on this The Details Guild's video.

Anyway, these asters, even though they looks all the same to me, they're actually different variations - just like roses, but the differences are much more subtle (to my own untrained eyes). I believe that the flower in the photo is Symphyotrichum oblongifolium ‘Raydon’s Favorite'. But if I am wrong, please tell me right away before I get myself in trouble with any horticultural expert. High Line has a great pdf file showing what's currently in bloom for the month of November 2010, so be sure to check it out before you go there.

The public furniture - they're simple but elegant. I think I need to do more research as to where these grey/lime green chairs came from.

Further up the north, and looking down from the track, is Chelsea Market. I always enter through the 9th Avenue entrance, but this time I wanted to enter the other side (10th Avenue) for different visual perspective. (okay, okay, I am fibbing just a little bit. I just needed to get to the restrooms more quickly).

Look at the clever repurposed use of the whatchamacallit (not that candy bar but this doorhandle) - I know what it is, but don't have the word at the tip of my tongue for this object cut in half, but I hope you know what I mean...

After I entered into the "lobby", I looked at the map on the left side. Oh my goodness, what a clever way to embellish each location with something specific from each store, miniature books & shelves for a bookstore, utensils for a cookware store, etc - you get the idea.

Look at this closeup of three stores - bookstore, cookware, and Moroccan imports. What a beautiful and coincidential combination! I love books, love to cook, and have gone to Morocco (Casablanca, Fez, and Tangiers). To whoever created this map, thank you so very, very much for doing a great assemblage job!!

I love walking through this place. I always find something new or different as it is truly a treasure trove of ideas for repurposing found heavy or industrial materials. And thanks to this market, I discovered Yeehaw Industries last year. At The Center for Book Arts, I took a printing class last June with Bryan Christopher Baker, not knowing that he was a Yeehaw alumni (his prints are so wickedly AWESOME!! - you should look at some of his prints - he used game dice) And I even stopped in Knoxville, TN last July to visit Yeehaw Industries' print shop (that's another untold story - to be told later). And yes, Yeehaw Industries is going to be selling their wares (posters, postcards, stationery) at Jill Schwartz' Jingle! Pop-up store event at Chelsea Market on December 8-24, 2010. Oh yes, you can count on me to be there to do some holiday shopping next month.

As I was returning back to the elevated park by using the 9th avenue exit and turning left, I decided that I would walk through the "unexplored" block, and then I saw this sign. Mmm, what's that? Oh, that's a place for mostly nighttime entertainment. I later checked out their Highline Ballroom website - very interesting and yet, I am having trouble figuring out what the musical genre is for most of the performing artists. I even might find myself in that place some day (or should I say some night) but I'll never know.

A couple of sights on the way back...

Ah, that restaurant viewed from the park..no, it's not a parking garage even though that sign gives the erroneous impression. I was thinking of going there for brunch, but was not open. And their website, The Park, is not available at the time of this writing.

Turning my head to the other side - the northwestern view. Ah, that Frank Gehry building - IAC/InterActive Corp. That name, Gehry, I could never forget one thing he mentioned in Stanley Pollack's interview in the DVD, Sketches of Frank Gehry. One thing I find extremely fascinating and ingenious is that he designed one architectural entity based on the composition within a medieval oil painting that he saw at a major art museum! I never thought of that! When I go to any art museum in the future, I will look for any ideas from the old masters paintings for the re-landscaping of the backyard of my home. Oh by the way, I got a really cool book on using the repurposed local materials for the backyard - I will do a review of this book later...

And...stay with the photo above for a little while longer. That tallest building in the near middle, it was designed by Jean Nouvel. For some reaons, I have never heard of that name before. I will tell you later in the second part as to how I managed to find out who its architect is. As for the other two new buildings, I will have to do more homework and deeper "info-digging". But as far I am concerned, I consider this group of buildings to be one of the greatest vistas from the High Line.

Going past these four modern buildings, I encountered another wonderful vista - it looked so very Charlie Sheeler-esque! I love Charlie Sheeler's industrial paintings and also his contemporaries, too. Sometimes,
these two contempories reminded me of Edward Hopper. Oh, that reminds me to be sure to visit his museum in Nyack, NY - yes, I knew about exhibitions of his work elsewhere. As a matter of fact, he was featured in PBS's Sunday Arts. And, through a friend, internet links and connections, I came across another artist with similar urban style, Alberto Mielgo - the background paintings that he did for various animations were simply awesome. See? one thing leads to another thing...that's why I travel a lot, read lots of written materials, and watch a good number of documentaries/interviews on TV. That's my way of compensating for my inability to obtain information through hearing and phone conversations as I am depending very heavily on high technology to obtain information and make mental connections.

Now, I was at the end of section one of the High Line when I saw this map below. This gate marks the beginning of the second section of High Line which will be opened next year(2011).

Shown below is the soon-to-be-opened second section - just before I started to walk down the exit stairway for my brunch at a diner.

The third and last section is not open to the public, either. BUT, I was on it for High Line's sketching class more than two years ago - ooooh the wonderful memories of being there before the construction of the first section was completed. Here's the link to my old blog post about the sketching class

Return to main menu or go to Part 2 which covers a mini-tour of Chelsea Art District.

Two Unusual Sites in Oregon

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:16:00 +0000

Last year, I read in one book about various visionary artists' places, and I decided that I would visit two of them.

One day last August of 2009, I decided to go for a long ride within northwestern Oregon and the first stop I made was Peterson's Rock Garden in Redmond, Oregon.

I drove into the parking lot, and right in the middle of it is a huge structure with a peacock on top of it (see blue arrow). I noticed that a good number of rocks looked like it came from a volcano.

I paid the admission and walked the grounds. I took quite bit of pictures, but I decided to show you a few and let them speak for themselves.

The next stop I made is the "The Fun Farm" in Bend, Oregon. It's a combination of junk, antiques, and costume shop. I drove into the parking lot, and unfortunately the store was not open when I arrived. It's really an interesting place, but since the store was not open, I did not feel comfortable going into the back of the store to see the huge installations visible from the main road (more like a highway).

These two are truly fascinating places. I hope to go back to "The Fun Farm" again, but I go there again, I will find a way to contact them and find out the store hours. You can get more information about these two places in the book (Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations) below:

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Exploring Fort Mason

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:14:00 +0000

This is third in a series covering a day long tour of San Francisco with a friend.

We went to Fort Mason Center in San Francisco specifically for the American Crafts Council show, but we wanted to have lunch first at the Greens restaurant.

We walked through the entrance, and we saw this really cool theater. I could not believe that car hoods could be recycled for this purpose.

Even the inside is cool, too.

Various electronic components were used as decorative elements in this theater.

Even the seats looked cool, too!

That's me looking through the back of the theater - nope, that's not a gigantic beehive.

That's my artist friend, Vicki, taking a picture of me - she took the photo above.

We went to Greens restaurant first to make a reservation for our lunch - I was shocked to see that we could get a table! We had some time to kill, so we went to this bookstore - a mixture of used and new books. I had to get out before I buy any books - I didn't want to spend the rest of the day carrying heavy books all over the hilly streets of San Francisco.

We also went to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's Artists Gallery where we viewed the exhibition, Pipeline: Art, Surfing, and the Ocean Environment. This is where I learned about the Hawaiian influence on the Californian surf scenes and clothing. We then went back to Greens - part of this warehouse was converted into a rather large vegetarian restaurant.
We were admiring one of the beautifully sculpted wooden tables.

This restaurant has a beautiful view of the marina.

We looked at the menu and placed our orders.

While we were waiting for our lunch to arrive, Vicki showed me her visual journal. I thought that it was clever to use the green plastic piece for holding business card from a Japanese restaurant that she went to.

My first course came - Grilled Fingerling Potatoes, Sunburst Squash, and Torpedo Onions on rosemary skewers with charmoula and Maldon salt.

Main course: Summer sampler - Filo turnover with rainbow chard, leeks and feta; farro salad with sweet 100 cherry tomatoes and cucumbers, lemon and mint; summer beans with tarragon; hummus; spicy tomato jam; olives; grilled pita.

I am not a vegetarian, but the food was absolutely delicious and you can see on my face how happy I was to be in this place with Vicki.

When I first ordered the summer sampler, I was not sure if I liked the spicy tomato jam. My goodness, it is summery, sweet, savory and acidic at the same time - perfect with the grilled pita. I liked it so much that I bought the cookbook (below) there at the restaurant. After I got home, I looked up in this book for the tomato jam recipe, and made two batches. It is divine.

Everyday Greens: Home Cooking from Greens, the Celebrated Vegetarian Restaurant

Coming soon in next issue: Crafts Show and more of Fort Mason.

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A Day Tour of Four Artful Sites

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:53:00 +0000

I decided that the first thing I would do on the day (Jan 2) after New Year's Day is to go out on a day tour of several places close to my residence. So, with the help of Google, I mapped out a route where I would go down south to car service place first for 8 am appointment for the oil change and for the repair of the gas cap door hinge. After I got my car serviced and the door repaired, I crossed the Hudson River and went up north to Katonah, NY for the first stop.

Destination #1: Katonah Museum of Art - Katonah, NY

I have been to this museum several times before - the last time being over three years ago. It is a small museum but it never failed to inspire me to see or think in a different way.

The main exhibition, Walt Whitman and American Art of the Civil War Era, has a big impact on my perspective on what is like to go through this country's difficult time. Last year, I have watched the PBS' documentary on Abraham Lincoln and the enormous challenges that he faced during his presidency. I did not realize how unpopular he was during the Civil War. And this exhibition gave me insights into how deeply divided this nation was - even within the families. I am amazed at how this nation managed to stay together after this horrible war - I could not believe the amount of destruction and devastation this single war had caused. I learned that Walt was involved in the care of the injured soldiers and how enraged he was at the people who tried to take economic advantage of the soldiers and their families' sufferings. I could not remember the names of all of the artists represented except one - Winslow Homer. Their paintings did tell me a LOT of stories as told by soldiers, slave-owners, families and politicians through their facial expressions, their body language, and their attitudes. All of the paintings were done during the Civil War, and also displayed is one item that is of special interest to me is Walt's book of poetry collection, Leaves of Grass.

The Civil War exhibition took up the space of two large galleries on both sides of the building. After I went through them, I went to a smaller gallery in the front - it used to be a museum shop and it was one of my favorite museum shops. On view in this small space is Alison Moritsugu's Hudson River Trilogy - one whole wall is covered Alison's wallpaper - it looked great, and then when I looked at the accompanying info sheet, I was surprised to learn that all of the "beautiful" plants from the Hudson River milieu are actually invasive ones that are threatening the current native flora. On other walls are unusual paintings done on the surfaces of cut pieces of tree trunk. Also on view are Brian Zelnick's illustrations for a childen's book on Walt Whitman - in another small room which is used as a classroom. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to see his work as for some reasons, I have never felt comfortable entering into any classroom if I am not taking a class. But I will try the next time I pay another visit there.

The museum's "backyard" contains a collection of sculptures (shown below) created by Chakaia Booker which happened to be one of my favorite outdoor sculptors. My first encounter with her tire art happened to be at Storm King Art Center in Mountainville, New York, and ever since, whenever I see any of her work in other places, I would immediately recognized it as hers.

You can see her other works in her website.After I viewed the exhibitions above, I drove out and saw the building across the driveway from the museum, and ...

in the front is a mailbox repurposed as a flag drop. I never thought of that!

After the above snaphots were taken, I drove on to get to the next stop:

Destination #2: The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum - Ridgefield, CT

The road from Katonah to Ridgefield was truly a picturesque one - a fresh blanket of snow fell a couple of hours earlier. I have never been to this museum, and also even though I have been in Connecticut's Fairfield County many times, I have not seen the northern part. The town were full of old homes - some Victorian, and some dating back to colonial times. I was surprised to find that a contemporary art museum would exist in this quaint town. My main reason for wanting to visit this museum was that I wanted to see the Bike Rides: The Exhibition before it is over (Jan 17th), and I also wanted to find out what Edward Tufte is exhibiting there.

This bulldozer caught my attention, and I was determined to find out who the artist is.

I walked around a little bit, and I could not find a plaque that would tell me the artist's name.

Looking up at the front wall of the building, I noticed a hole. I didn't know what it was until I went inside and upstairs. It was for the camera obscura ("dark room") - I could see the faint image coming in from the outside even though it was cloudy.

The bike exhibition starts outside in the front with three installations:

Bike Rack, 1998-2009, Tom Sachs

Cotter Pin Bike Rack, 2009, Studio Track Architecture

Bike Crab, 2009, David Gelfman

Before I entered the building, I noticed the poster on the exterior wall.

I picked up various brochures and after looking at the bikes (one of them is made from bamboo!), I viewed other exhibitions:

1. Gerard Hemsworth: Hidden Agenda - Gerard's from England and it's his first solo exhibition in United States.

2. Pretty Tough: Contemporary Storytelling A group exhibition of works done by nine female artists - some of the work reminded me of American Craft Musuem's (now Museum of Art and Design) Extreme Embroidery exhibition in New York, and one artist's (Kate Clark) sculptures reminded me of the movie, Mirrormask.

3. Edward Tufte: Seeing Around - I went into this gallery, and I did not expect him to do any sculptural work. The more I look at them, the more sense it made to me. I had recalled reading two of his books, and after looking at the sculptures in detail, I said to myself, "Yeah, that's him!"
From one of the brochures below I was also surprised to discover that all of the outdoor installations (except the ones relating to the bike exhibition) were conceived by Edward Tufte.

From that brochure, I also found out the name of the conceptual artist (Edward Tufte) for the bulldozer in the front. I bought two books by Edward many years ago, and based on these books, I got the impression that his field of concentration is on the science of displaying information and on how the information is communicated to the public.

I also discovered that he authored two additional books which I later ordered and got them in the mail last week.

I went outside from the back of the building to look at Edward's installations. I don't think the warning sign below is one of them, though.

Here are the photos of his sculptures:

Looking at the end of one of the rusted steel sculptures above, I could not help but think, "Buck Rogers". I went back inside the museum, and made a beeline for the gift shop (now one of the best museum shops for me to visit). I bought a couple of items and paid $88.88. When I saw this number, thought about the tour route looking like the figure 8 and the time of my car service appointment (8 am), I got the goose bumps as I did not know what to make out of this repeated occurences. Anyway, I love this shopping bag with the words: look. look again. Perfect word for developing observational skills.

Here's what I bought: A Pentagram typography center - it has short descriptions for each month's featured typefont.

That envelope on top of the above calender is a paper flower/leaves garland that can be hung from a ceiling. This "Fairy Tail" garland was designed by Tord Boontje.

When I first saw the above garland, I immediately remembered the book that I acquired a while ago:

Tord Boontje

I also bought three books. I could not get a brochure on Gerard Hemsworth, so I was happy to get a book on his work. The other two...umm...I will explain these in later posts. :-)

I went outside to hop into my car for the next stop. But I decided to walk around a little bit more to see more of Edward Tufte's installation. I regret to report that I could not stay there longer for Edward's lecture at 2 pm as I had to visit other two places before I get home.

After looking at the "backyard," I hopped into my car for the drive south to the next stop:

Destination #3: Center for Contemporary Printmaking - Norwalk, CT

I found out about this place through a website, Connecticut Art Trail, whose Art Pass (15 museums for $25) was mentioned in the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum's webage. You can see that one thing leads to another. Anyway, this printmaking center is situated in the Mathews Park.

This building used to be a carriage house - the main house is right across the street which is now a historical museum.

I entered in, and encountered a very nice lady. After I viewed the prints done by Alice Candiana and Sandra Ramos as well as several monoprints done by others, the lady offered me a tour of printmaking and papermaking workshops on the first floor and upstairs. I was very fascinated with the arrangements of these shops, and I am impressed with a variety of presses and equipments for making prints.

On the way to upstairs, I saw three long prints done by Ibrahim Miranda, a Cuban artist. I have never heard of him, and I was already mesmerized by his complex but beautiful prints. I will have to do more research on this artist to find out more about his style. Show below is the Helen Frankenthaler Printmaking Cottage which is used as artists' residence.

I wished I had the time to tour the other two museums in the same park, but I had to get in the car and head for the next and final stop:

Destination #4: Bruce Museum - Greenwich, CT

This museum contains a mixture of both artistic and scientific exhibitions. Of special interest to me is Calder's prints.

After I parked my car, I walked around and took several snapshots of the building and the outdoor sculptures.

Since the grounds were covered in snow, I could not find the plague that would tell me who created this metal installation.

Totem pole...

The museum building on top of a hill...

The museum's entrance...

Listed below are the exhibitions that I viewed in this building:

1. Charles Addams: Cartoonist - some of his cartoons were exhibited in the lobby and the rest in a large gallery. I enjoyed a good chuckle from his quirky and sometime macabre humor - and duh, I didn't know that he was the creator of the Addams family.

2. Alchemy: Magic, Myth or Science? - I saw this exhibition two days before it was closed. For some reasons, I was not impressed with this exhibition.

3. Alexander Calder: Printmaker - I was very surprised by the fact that he created many prints. An excerpt from this exhibition's introduction said: "... attention paid to Calder's innovation in sculpture has obscured his prolonged engagement with other media including painting, drawing, jewelry design, set design, and printmaking." Well, this is so true, and whenever I think about Calder, I automatically think mobiles, wire sculptures, and large metal sculptures.

4. Eat or Be Eaten: Animal Survival Strategies - When I first saw this title, I sarcastically said to myself that a new exhibition could be created with the title, "Eat or Be Eaten: Human Survival Strategies in the Business World" (smile). Anyway, this natural science section provided me a fresh insights into the form and design of the animal kingdom.

As usual, I went to the museum shop to get an electronic copy of the Alexander Calder exhibition brochure - the paper copy is not available. I also bought a sticker book - it's not for the kids only - the adults could benefit from it, too.

I walked back to the car tired but satisfied with a full day of art. As I was driving down the hill, I saw this sculpture and I had to stop and take a snapshot. I have no idea as to who the artist is, so I do hope I will find out the name at a later date.

Wow, what a great tour. I did experience a little bit of sensory overload, but I felt enriched by such a wealth of cultural treasures. Look at the variety - old paintings, contemporary paintings, cartoon drawings, illustrations, prints, printmaking facilities, sculptures, nature, and architecture in only two counties - Westchester (NY) and Fairfield (CT). And all of these are within 60 miles from my home. What a great tour!

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On the Way to Fort Mason

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:20:00 +0000

Note: This is second in a series on an impromptu day tour of San Francisco with a friend last summer of 2009. For the first part, click here.

After we picked our cups of individually brewed coffee from Blue Bottle, we decided that we would walk through the ferry terminal as I have never seen it before in any of my previous visits. While my friend was waiting or our cups of coffee, I was admiring the beautiful mosaic squares with food sources as the central theme.

While walking around, I noticed these three posters explaining to the consumers the differences between trash, recycle and compost. I found it interesting that most of we consider to be trash could be either recycled or composted. Bins were placed under the posters which I thought to be a great idea, however, I knew that due to space limitation, it would not be practical to use the same idea everywhere.

Vicki and I love to look at signs - the typography, the graphic elements, the colors, the size, and what they are telling us.

So many flowers, so many different textures, and I have no idea what kind of flower this is.

Aren't these vegetables, beautiful?

Mushrooms! One of my favorite foods.

I didn't realize there were that many different mushrooms.

On the way to a farm market outside, I saw this exquisite round sign. Very elegant.

My mind's seams threatened to come apart when I saw a plethora of wonderful vegetables

Figs! I normally don't care for them especially when they're not quite ripe, but this one is juicy and delish.

I asked my tour companion if we could leave the market only because I was getting frustrated with not being able to buy any of the vegetables and cook them right away. Keep in mind that I'm from New Jersey and I was visiting the city. After we left the market and started our walk toward a bus stop that would take us to Fort Mason. I saw this makeshift sign, and that's my current sentiment.

We were crossing The Embarcadero that is in front of the ferry terminal, and I noticed how much this street landscape reminds me of the waterfront cities in Italy and Spain.

After we crossed the Embarcadero Plaza on the way to Montgomery Street, I encountered some type of garden, and I took a closer look. Oh, wow, most of the plants were edible!

One of the best garden designs with edible plants I've ever seen.

I spied something bright green on one of plant stalks, and moved closer to it. It turned out to be a caterpiller.

After my discovery, Vicki and her friend went out every day during their work breaks to check it, and after a month, it turned into a butterfly and flew away.

About a couple of blocks west, we hopped on a bus, and then transferred to another bus that took us through Chinatown and brought us to the corner of Bay Street and Laguna. As we were walking toward Fort Mason, I noticed a huge mural on one side of Safeway supermarket.

Vicki took a picture of me for me so that you can see how large the mural is. The title of this mosaic art is "World Sources of Food" and its artist is John Garth (1959). (Source: SF Mosaic)

Here we are - at Fort Mason's entrance for our lunch at The Greens and for visiting American Craft Council's fair.

It was still morning when we got there. I will show you the photos of the Fort Mason 's premises in the next issue.

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Powell's City of Books

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:17:00 +0000

Blogger's note: This is second in a series on a day long tour of Portland, Oregon on August 7, 2009. You may want to see the first destination before reading this post.

After I got a cup of coffee from Beaterville Cafe, I headed south for Powell's City of Books. I have gone there about a year before (see earlier post), and I wanted to go back there - especially the art & design section. Powell's is actually a group of buildings occupying a whole block - it should be on any book lover's list of places to visit/see when in Portland. I found a place to park on the street and then paid for the space. As I was walking toward one of the Powell's entrances, I noticed a wild display at a women's store, and I wish men's stores were more like this.

What an amazing display, eh? Anyway, here's the corner entrance, and take a closer look at the "post" - it's a stack of humongous books. I entered and made a beeline to the elevator that would take me up to the floor where shelves and shelves of art, architecture, design and style books could be found.

Since I have a very limited amount of time to spend in this store, I decided that I would go to the sale table first. Boy, did I find a great selection of books at great prices. I had to find at least 10 books so that I could pay a fixed price of 12.89 for shipping. You can see from the picture below that there's no way I would carry that heavy load to the airport. Oh by the way, two books were missing from this photo - I could not find them in my house as they're somewhere buried under piles and piles of other things.

The first thing on top of the stack actually contains a book, not food, and it's actually about food! Clever packaging, eh? Here's a list of ten (10) books that I bought at Powell's.

2398 G: A Book About Food (Italian Edition)

Making Great Papercrafts, Origami, Stationery and Gift Wraps

Rubber! Fun, Fashion, Fetish.

Typosphere: New Fonts to Make You Think

Bible Road: Signs of Faith in the American Landscape

Northwest Coast Indian Painting: House Fronts and Interior Screens

Paper Illusions: The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave

Concrete to Canvas: Skateboarders' Art

Foliage

Karl Blossfeldt: The Complete Published Work

Wow, what a wide variety of subject. I will do book reviews on some of the books above and publish them in later issues. The box arrived safely home a couple of days after I got home from the west coast trip. Powell's is definitely one of my favorite indie book stores. You may be able to find the above books in their website, Powell's Books.

Next destination (in next issue): The Japanese Society of Oregon

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Update for Fellow Explorers

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:47:00 +0000

Happy New Trails to you! I hope you had a nice New Year's Day, and indeed, it was a great start for me. I'm so excited about the new year as January is always my favorite month: a new beginning, a new leaf, and of course, new travel plans!

I just had a great day last Saturday (Jan 2, 2010) touring four different museums in two counties: Westchester County, NY and Faifield County, CT. Yes, I did take a lot of pictures.

I'm now taking an on-line class on Photoshop given by DJ Pettit, and wow, it's really great. Oh, most of the photos in this blog were processed with Microsoft PhotoDraw, not Adobe Photoshop or Elements as many people thought. I am now finding Photoshop Elements 8 (a.k.a. PSE8) to be much more powerful, and I'm trying to harness its humongous power.

Anyway, I am currently working on a multiple posts, and I decided that I would publish a bundle of them as "e-mag" instead of publishing them singly. In Andrew's Creative Life blog, a table of contents containing links to various posts in three blogs ("e-articles") including this one will be published. I am also planning to publish them as biweekly issues - sorry, twice a month, not twice a week. Of course, they will always be positive, colorful, exciting, inspiring, informative, and educational!

New Year's Greetings

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:29:00 +0000

Travel Memoirs - August 2009: West Coast

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:26:00 +0000

I happened to be eating breakfast in Vancouver, WA at a restaurant across the Columbia River from Portland, OR. I was reviewing my car trip plan for exploring Portland - the information came from a book and from my previous trip (October 2008). I don't remember why I did not plan on having breakfast at Beaterville Cafe, but I did go there and got a cup of coffee. I read about this place from the book, Rare Visions & Roadside Revelations, and I was intrigued. So I crossed over the river, and headed for this spot on North Killingsworth Street.

When I saw this car, a wave of memories of my first car came to my mind. I could never forget my first accident - my beloved VW was hit by a rhinoceros at a drive-through safari in northern New Jersey.

As I looked around, I noticed a number of vintage cars parked close to the cafe. I wondered if a car club meeting was being held there.

I also wondered if Jay Leno went there at all - he would have loved to see all these cars!

This truck below's a real beau!

AMC Gremlins...interesting colors...

Red truck - oh look at that cut-off car on the metal wall!

I love the colors of this car on the wall...

Cool truck - I'm afraid to drive any red car. I used to have one and I have been rear-ended twice. Never again will I own another red car.

Looking back at the front, I noticed another entrance - bold colors, indeed!

Corner of the cafe - I did go in and bought a cup of coffee. I saw a number of people in the back room - I'm assuming that a car club meeting was being held there. No, I did not take any photos of the interiors - too many people inside.

I love the typography of these hand-painted letters.

Picnic tables on the side of the cafe - bright colors.

Car hoods were used as awnings - very clever idea!

And these are clever, too!

What a HUGE planter!! I love the way the cars were reused and repurposed.

Fifteen years in business! Congratulations, Beaterville Cafe, and I do hope you will remain in business when I come back again - hopefully with a local friend to have a lumberjack breakfast with.

What a cool spot! My time's running out fast, and I need to get going to the next destinations: Powell's and Japanese Garden Society of Oregon.

Notice: I got the information on this cafe from the wonderful reference book below:

This Morning's Quick Trip to NYC.

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:07:00 +0000

Few days ago, I got a catalog that I requested on-line from MacKenzie-Childs. I remembered seeing their storefront on Madison Avenue about a decade ago, and I saw their furniture and ornaments at a department store in Short Hills, NJ. After I turned the catalog's cover page over, a photo of "Fantasy on West 57th" appeared. It made me decide to go there to see the "dining room" some day. Today, despite the rainy weather, I decided to take a quick fun trip across the Hudson River to visit this store between Fifth and Sixth Avenue in New York.

I entered, and walked toward the elevator that would take me up to second floor.

Look at that floor of the elevator - I love it!

I got off the elevator and walked toward the front to see this fantasy room.

Oh wow! What a table!

That tree in the corner below left - Grand Shard Tree - is one of a kind and yes, it's for sale. Shown below right is a close-up detail of the same tree. I have no idea how heavy it is.

I have an origami friend in Raleigh, NC, and she collects mooses. I wonder if this moose is suitable for her collection.

I really like this lampshade - look at the edges below.

I just don't quite know how to describe the combinatorial style but I do like the eclectic look of this chair.

That male mannekin with lampshade head. Look at the nice pants.

Another mannekin - the female one. Nice legs.

I bought a couple of ornaments for next year's tree - nice bag, eh?

After I exited this wonderful store, I crossed the street (57th Street) to take a look at Bergdorf Goodman's window displays (on Fifth Avenue) designed by David Hoey and his team.

I saw 5 or 7 displays, and took several shots of each one. Most of them did not come out good - too many reflections of the buildings across the streets. But I got good shots of my favorite one - everything's made from paper! Oh wow!!!

Yes, this porcupine is made from paper. Love the trees that appeared to pop up from the book.

Nice paper rendition of the extinct bird, dodo.

Birds out of folded pages...

Cuckoo clock on the left and turtle with dog's head on the right:

Close up detail of dog's head.

This looks like some type of terrier - stunning!

After I viewed the above displays, I went to Museum of Modern Art and saw how packed their lobby was. I decided to go straight home. I went to the subway stop (5th Ave & 53rd St), and walked down. While waiting for the subway to take me back to Penn Station, I saw this on the wall. Interesting texture, eh?

Behind me on the platform is a photograph of one artist's work. What a contrast between these two walls (above and below from the same spot)! The photo below shows the advertisement for American Craft Museum which was moved to Columbus Circle and renamed as Musuem of Art and Design (MAD).

You will probably never find me without a camera. Shown below is a mirror image of myself with a camera glued to my hand.

I got home around 1 pm. What a great rainy morning!

A Very Christmasy Day in Pennsylvania

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:46:00 +0000

I woke up early Sunday morning, December 20th (about 7:30 am), and decided that I would shovel the sidewalks for my friend Gordon who happens to be the owner of Carriage Corner Bed and Breakfast place in Intercourse, PA. I arrived there early yesterday morning as previously mentioned in other blog, and we put my tarp over my car to make it easier for us remove the snow off the car.

After I was finished with the removal of the snow from the sidewalks and my car, I went back inside to take a shower and pack up my stuff to be put in my car. Gordon started clearing the drivewy with his snowblower. After I took my shower and put on cleaner clothing, I went outside to take a couple of shots of the house and its surroundings.

Note that the sign was missing from its post - Gordon ordered a new sign and it is now being custom-made by Village Signcrafters at Kitchen Kettle Village. It was just spray-painted when we arrived at their workshop the previous day.

Across the street is a snow-covered field with tire tracks, and Gordon told me that there were a lot of noisy snowmobiles running around the previous night. Since I always remove my hearing aids before retiring for the night, I did not hear a thing at all from outside. After I was done with the snaphots, I went back to the driveway, and lo & behold, the driveway's all cleared.

In front of the b&b is a gazebo.

Gordon shoveled the front walk twice on the previous day (Saturday), but I shoveled it the next day (Sunday morning).

I got back inside, took my sneakers & coat off, and went upstairs for breakfast with Gordon and his wife, Gwen. This table below looked very festive and inviting.

I forgot to show you what I had for breakfast the previous day, and I almost forgot to take a picture of the Sunday morning breakfast - blueberry waffles with bacon! I had a very nice conversation with both Gordon and Gwen - Gwen will be assuming next Jaunary her new position as a CEO of Friendship Community which is non-profit ministry serving the developmentally-challenged people in Lancaster and Lebanon Counties.

After a wonderful breakfast and long conversation, I left the place for the greenhouse at the Longwood Garden in Kennett Square. Although the roads were snow-plowed, some of them were still slippery and it took me over an hour to get there.

I bought the ticket for the timed admission, and a map which I did not really need - I have been to this place several times before.

Here's what it looks like when one walks out from the back of the entrance building - what a view!

Shown below are the two of the decorations that festooned both the front and back side walls.

Hiding behind the trees is a conservatory which is what I was heading for.

Normally, one enters this conservatory via the right side of the building, but due to the construction of the new plaza, the main entrance is in the middle of the front.

As soon as I got in, my eyeglasses got all fogged up and I had to wipe them. Good thing the camera lens was not fogged up. Here's the first room that I entered - oh wow! I think I'd better be quiet and let you go through the photographs yourself.

Oh, psst, some of the butterfly wings do actually move! No, they're not real but they're animated to make it look real.
(whispering): These little trees (above) were done by children from local schools. Aren't they cool? And look at the purple kale tree (below right) and the bromeliad tree (below).

I LOVE these Moravian stars - I have one at home which was given to me by a friend.

Aren't these displays GORGEOUS?? Now you can see why I made a point to go there when I am in the neighborhood. As I was walking on my way back to the parking lot, I encountered this rather large tree outside.

From a distance, these white long sticks looked like icicles, but they're actually painted seed pods.

I hopped into my car and headed for the next destination, Brandywine River Musuem which is off the Baltimore Pike (Route 1).

Shown above is a former grist mill which was converted into gallery spaces.

I walked through the entrace "gate" (above), and then went up the steps and walked in.

In the lobby is a tall tree that goes up from the first floor to the third floor. On both sides of the tall tree are smaller trees. Across from the trees on the first floor is a beautiful view of the Brandywine River.

Here are the photos of the smaller trees decorated with "critters" made from natural materials by volunteers.

I bought the above ornament as a gift for my mom, and the below book for myself. I might make a few some day - only if I have the time!

The next destination I went to is a wonderful shop - Terrains at Styer's. It is not a typical garden shop - it's more of a lifestyle store - all kinds of things relating to the garden, plants, nature, and food.

I bought several star-shaped ornaments for one of my themed collections.

I also bought jars of prepared food as gifts for my mom: pickled green beans, red pepper pesto, organic Mediterranean spices, and spinach-artichoke bruschetta spread.

After I walked out of the "greenhouse", I saw this cool container filled with water and floating berries.

I got into the car again, and headed for the final destination - Bee Shay's studio for the holiday open house. Look at these colorful cookies made by one of her guests! There were plenty of food on the first floor.

I went upstairs to see the studio again - it is one of my favorite places to visit. Each time I come to this place, I always find something new - the objects were often moved or re-arranged. Umm, it seems like that I am developing an affinity for round objects filled with anything - shown below is the third photo with round shape - a bowl full of shells.

I love this old drafting table placed in one of the corners.

Various objects - natural and man-made - beautifully arranged and placed together.

I sat down and skimmed through Bee Shay's new book, Collage Lab (below). It's great book - as soon as I get a copy, I will be writing a book review.

If you want to see more photos of Bee's studio in Lynne Perrella's new book, click on the left image below. As for the book (shown above) that I was skimming through, click on the right image below.

After I went through the Collage Lab book, I went back home safely. Wow, wow what a great day!!

Day Trip to New York State - Dec 12, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:18:00 +0000

Last November, I got an email from one of my book arts instructors at Center for Book Arts about her holiday show schedule, and I noticed that Carolyn was having a two-day open studio last weekend. I was one of her students in an independent projects class last winter. I decided to go up to visit her studio and to buy one or more of her handcrafted boxes, and at the same time, I wanted to visit other places that I haven't been to for quite a while. Last Saturday morning, my first stop up at the foot of Catskills near Kingston, NY was Carolyn's book arts studio (below):

I was the first visitor, and she was very happy to see me. A pot of water was heated, and we poured ourselves cups of tea. We sat down and chat for a while, and then I looked at the books & boxes that she made (right side of the photo - on black cloth). After I picked three boxes, I asked her if I could take pictures of her studio, and while she was writing up the sales slips, I took a couple of shots.

Here's what I bought from her - one box that will hold 150 photos, and two boxes - one with NYC map, and one with San Francisco map. Since I have gone to both of these cities several times this year, I am planning to go through piles of ephemera and stuff, and select the ones that should go into these boxes.

Here's what they looked like when opened.

Happy and satisfied with the purchases, I left the studio for the village of Woodstock, NY to do more shopping. It was good to see snow up there as we have none at my home - it felt more Christmasy.

I have been to this town several times before, but it has been a while since the last time I came. One of my favorite stores in this country happened to be Tinker Toys Too! which I considered to the BEST indie toy store in the country. It is a small store, but it has a great selection of cool and interesting toys - especially the construction toys, puzzles, and metal windups.

The displays on both sides of the store were festooned with paper cutouts.

Here's what I bought - that teddy bear is for my mom - one of my Christmas gifts for her. The rest of them are gifts for me (smile).

I have stopped at this holiday ornament store, but for some reasons, I didn't go there as my time was very limited. I already have way too many ornaments at home, though.

Look at that metal sculpture painted in day-glo colors - it does show up a lot more against the snow. And I went into the art supply store.

Across the street is a candle shop which I have visited several times before. It is really a delightful place - and there's one huge column of wax - several candles held together with drips.

Ye Olde Hippie Shoppe? I had to laugh. I remembered that one of my cousins went to Woodstock Music Festival in Bethel, NY in a hearse! I was not old enough to enjoy the hippie culture.

Several houses/shops were painted in several colors...

I have seen several clothing items with the name, "Life is Good", elsewhere, but this is the first time I saw a shop full of Life is Good clothing and stuff.

I noticed a sign at the right side of the sidewalk, and thought about picking up that house. But I don't have much room at home, and regrettably, I had to pass.

I decided to enter this gallery to check out the latest artwork.

There was a holiday sale, and also a group exhibition of various local artists. In one room is a special exhibition of one ceramic artist, Craig Wood, and I really liked his style. I bought a catalog there.

I noticed a sign inside of what it looked like to me, a coffee shop.

As I was walking on my way back to the parking lot, I noticed a discarded Apple box. I was amused because coincidentally, while I was at her studio sipping my cup of tea, Carolyn was telling me about a beautiful Apple store in the Chelsea section of New York City.

A chamber of commerce building - it has to be the smallest one I've ever seen.

I hopped into the car and headed west on Route 212 - never been on this section between Woodstock and Mt. Tremper.

It is a very scenic route - it ends at Route 28.

I got onto Route 28, heading north toward Phoenicia, and stopped at Emerson Resort & Spa. This silo below was actually converted into a large kaleidoscope. I was hoping to find the same firehouse-themed restaurant that I went for lunch a while ago but it is no longer there.

I decided to go inside the kaleidoscope store and see what's there.

As I was walking by, I noticed a nice small model - the memories of my travels in Switzerland came to my mind as I have seen several of this in Zermatt.

I got inside and I was wowed by the great variety of kaleidoscopes in various sizes and designs. I picked up a CD containing software for drawing your own kaleidoscopic designs on the computer. I haven't used it yet, but I will let you know what I think of it after I try it.

After picking up my lunch at Emerson Resort's cafe, I went back east on Route 28, and stopped at this bakery, Bread Alone, to pick up several loaves of artisan bread.

I also picked up toasted bagel with cheddar cheese - it was superb. I then continue to drive eastward, and got off Route 28 to visit Crafts People south of Ashokan Reservoir.

This place has four buildings full of handcrafts such as pottery, metalcrafts, baskets, glassware, jewelry, ornaments and many more. Don't let the external appearance of these buildings fool you - the interiors are really nice.

I showed you only three of the four buildings - the one not pictured here was the smallest one. I was so surpised to see the parking lot pretty crowded - never saw anything like that before. Anyway, the last building (above) that I entered happened to have a great collection of pottery, and I decided to buy a couple for myself and my mom as I was getting tired of white dinnerware.

What a great day trip it was. I went home happy and content with my purchases. I immediately got the dinnerware washed and ready for supper - my mom and I had a nice vegetable soup with sliced peasant bread from Bread Alone.

Notice: No compensations were received for visiting any of the places mentioned above nor for the endorsement of any product or food purchased.

December 13, 2009 - A Great Show at Pier 94

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:55:00 +0000

Author's note: this post was moved to here from another blog as I realized that this is more appropriate place for it.

Last Thursday night, I picked up the December issue of the ReadyMade magazine from the coffee table in the living room, and found this ad for a crafts show. I hemmed and hawed over whether I should go there or not. I then found out that this is the first time that "One of a Kind Show & Sale" is being held in NYC - it was held in other cities as well.

Based on the weather predictions and plan for going upstate New York, I decided to go there last Sunday. So, I got myself to the ferry terminal in Weehawken, NJ and while waiting for the 10:00 am ferry, I took several shots of the waiting area.

Right across the Hudson River is Pier 94 where the show was held - as pointed by the yellow arrow below.

I arrived on the other side of the river (Pier 79) and started my walk from 39th Street. I noticed a sticker behind a sign - very cool contruction toy-like model. What's CHC? I dunno. Do you know?

The Hudson River Greenway is both bicyclists' and pedestrians' heaven.

Right after I took several shots above, the batteries in my camera went dead. Oh, great! So, I kept on walking up to 55th Street, entered into Pier 94 terminal, picked up the show guide book, and showed the ticket which I printed out at home. By buying the ticket online at home, I got a 50% discount.

I went into the wearables section first, and then went to another section. Near the back of the terminal was an Esty.com counter - all kinds of "freebies" were on their table. I picked a beautiful letterpressed calender, postcard, two buttons, and a bumper sticker.

As I was walking around, I picked up postcards and business cards. Here's a few that I picked up:

1. furnace & flame - what I saw there were marine life beautifully crafted in glass: octopus, fish, seahorse, jellyfish, and others. They're unbelievably well-detailed.

2.aviva stanoff - I have seen her books and pillows elsewhere, and I was pleasantly surprised to see them there at the show, and I got a chance to meet the designer.

3. tabbatha henry - what's interesting about these ceramics is that they can be used as either luminaries or vases.

4. nancy nicholson - I love her stained glass works - urban scenes with architectural details painted in.

Oops...I forgot to put the number for the postcard below #2 & #3 (and above #6 - that's from Rebound Designs. Clever re-use of bookcovers as purses.

5. Monkey Chow - I love, love, love the illustrations and prints from aaron kovalcsik. Take a look at them in his Etsy shop.

6. glassboxguy.com - fun, funky & colorful glass boxes.

7. Case Island Glass - beautiful and colorful fused glassware - loved the squares!

8. rochelle weber - INCREDIBLE! At first, I thought they were done in tiles, but no - they're individually handpainted right on the canvas! That's a good thing, otherwise, the artpieces would be much too heavy for one person to carry it alone!

There so many more, but the above are some of my favorite ones, and I wish I could buy one or more items from each one of the above. So, I had to be content with a few. I was walking by one booth (The Storymatic), and I noticed a stack of cards in a box (below). These cards were used for playing games or as prompts for writing or telling stories. A few cards were placed on the small table, and one of them said, "deaf person" and my reaction was a bit mixed - I was both amused and a bit annoyed. So, I picked it up, showed it to the seller, and pointed a finger at myself as if I was telling that I am a deaf person. I wondered what kind of stories people with normal hearing have with a (or more) deaf person. Then we started to talk and I decided to buy one box.

As we were walking to a spot so that the credit card processing could be done, we talked a bit about ourselves, and I found out that she lives in Brooklyn. It's funny to see that there's something about the people from Brooklyn - they're so friendly.

The other thing I bought is a set of magnetic metal leaves, and this designer's from Montreal. I was telling a friend from New Hampshire that I am thinking of going this city next January or February, and she was there recently. I am hoping to go there soon. And the last things I bought were three books (two photo albums and one notebook) from another person who will be opening a new store in Brooklyn next year.

I was hoping to leave the show early enough to beat the rainstorm, but it was too late. The rain came sooner than expected, but I was smart enough to bring a small umbrella with me. Anyway, the show was really great, and I hope to go back there again next year.

Disclosure notice: No compensation have been received for the endorsement of any of the products or vendors above.

City Walks - New York City - Oct 11 2009

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:36:00 +0000

Last week, I went into the city for lunch with a friend from Texas that I "met" through emails. A friend of hers told her about my blog, and after she read my blog, she wrote an email to me and told me about her art students with hearing impairments. She came to the West Village for a mixed media class, and I decided to spend about two hours walking around the area before I was due to meet her at the Westbeth Community Center.

I have been wanting to get on the High Line. The last time I was there, there was a long line of people waiting to walk up to the elevated path as reported in my previous post dated June 21, 2009. I was just thrilled to be able to get on it so that I could see the city and its buildings from a different perspective. Shown below is the southern end of the High Line.

This is where I started my walk - on Gansevoort Street in Meatpacking District.

At first, everything seemed to be in various shades of gray...

until I got to the top of the stairs. That's where the colors started to change from somewhat drab grey to warm hues.

I walked south, and encountered a wonderful and peaceful oasis. I could not believe that it was actually an elevated train line.

Turning around and facing north, I started to walk up the path.

I love how the tracks and plants were blended together.

Interesting bench design.

At various locations, tables and chairs were placed for walkers' pleasure. Looking at the bright green chair, this described exactly how I felt in some social situations - being the odd person that stands out too much.

This structure holds up one hotel - The Standard Hotel. Love this "window" - a sure hit with many photographers.

I have no idea as to what it is, but I saw this cool structure on top of a building. I have seen it before - from the sidewalk.

Nice lounge chairs, eh? But it might not be comfortable after a while.

However, the chair provided a perfect background for the various ephemera that I got from the organization, The High Line, which I happened to be one of its charter members. I bought a map and a book - the other two were picked up from the "free" information table.

The line runs through the building which houses the Chelsea Market - a food and wine festival was in progress, but at this moment, I was not interested in food.

Details of the building - a former cookie factory.

Inside a tunnel is a wallful panel of glass. At first I thought they were old glasses, but after looking at the colors more carefully. I had a feeling that they were intentionally placed.

I walked further on, and found a plaque - I learned that the whole artwork was done by Spencer Finch. The title is "The River that Flows Both Ways", and the artist took hundreds of photos of the water's surface while on the boat that went up the Hudson River for 700 minutes (11 hours 40 minutes) - one photo per minute! You can read more about his work in this website. The whole thing will remain there until June 2010. As I came out of the "tunnel", I encountered many new buildings in this section - look at the colors! This building below is on the right side of the path going up north.

On the left is Frank Gehry's design. I have been watching the construction of this building, and I strongly suspected that it was done by Gehry, and after I got home, I watched a DVD documentary about his works and creative process, and found out that indeed, the design was done by him.

I looked at almost everything everywhere - the plants, the steps, the buildings, the public space, and the signs.

I was extremely impressed by how ingeniously this was designed for the public to enjoy the view of the street - I plan to be there so that I can get a good window view of the traffic jam during early evening.

And the stairs and ramps (wheelchairs and strollers) are cleverly placed in such a way that it is accessible to everyone.

Details of the thin wire fence...
I liked the way the chairs were arranged - by color.

I took several photos of this long sign and stitched them together.

After I passed the Chelsea Market, I went down the staircase just before the Standard Hotel.

After I walked under the High Line, I saw these cool windows and found out that it was the hotel lobby.

I love this form/texture of the window "screen".

The section that I walked on is the High Line's first section that was opened to the public last summer. Next section (second) is scheduled to be opened next year. Last year, I have been on the northernmost section for the sketching class. This last section is currently closed to the public, but you can see the photos that I took in this post. I am so pleased and impressed with the overall design - it is so well-done!

Getting a Cup of Really Good Coffee

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:24:00 +0000

Before I left New Jersey for the trip to the west coast last August, my friend, Vicki, asked me if we could get together for dinner in San Francisco with friends. After emailing back and forth, we finally decided to spend a whole day touring the city by ourselves as our friends had other commitments. I went to Millbrae BART station to catch the morning train into the city. As I was going down the escalator, I noticed several sculptures on the columns and this particular one (below) caught my eye. It captures beautifully the general mindset of many commuters - too many things in mind to think about while on the way to work (and back home).

I also noticed the nice benches nearby - nice juxtapostion of buildings along the single track - all done in multi-colored stones.

I got off at the Embarcadero station, and as I was going up to the ground level, I noticed a rather large fabric sculpture. I was in a bit of a hurry, and did not find the names of artist/sculptor for each piece that I saw in the station.

Vicki also took the BART train - but she was in a different spot. She took this photo below and that's exactly our sentiment!

Just before I took the stairs up, I noticed this sign, and don't recall seeing a sign with the word, "No Graffiti" included.

Since I took an earlier train than planned, I was going to walk around and kill the time while waiting for Vicki to appear. Right after I took this photo below, we saw each other in no time! Perfect timing, indeed.

As we were walking on our way to the ferry building to get our own cups of coffee - she was raving about how good the coffee is there. She said the words, "Blue Bottle Coffee". I said to myself, "Blue Bottle Coffee? Is that what she said to me? Or did I misunderstand her?" We passed this sculpture which I immediately recognized as the work of Jean Dubuffet.

And this is the first time I saw the water flowing out of the ends in this fountain. I have seen it several times, but without the water.

I love this trolley car - it's a vintage one. No, we're not getting on it - we're waiting for it to go by so that we could cross the line.

Ah! The Ferry Building. That's the one that I have been wanting to see for quite a while.

The interior is awesome - lots of natural light coming through the roof.

Oh my! Look at these heirloom tomatoes!! Aw shucks, I couldn't buy some as they're heavy and we are going to be walking a lot. No, I am not going to carry them all day.

Ah! Yep, that's the blue bottle sign...

I see that I didn't misunderstand at all - it is indeed "Blue Bottle Coffee"! But I thought it was a strange name, tho. Vicki had warned me that it will take a while to get coffee brewed for us - and also we might have to wait in a line.

Oh, look at this embroidered sign -

We got in the line, and while we were waiting to place our orders, Vicki suggested that I get out and walk around.

I went to the back of the building, and saw this sleek-looking ferry boat.

Turning my head to the right, I saw this bridge - it did bring memories of my past visits. I was on this bridge three months before one section fell down during a severe earthquake.

I got back, and I realized that I had forgotten to introduce you. Hey, this is my friend, Vicki, and we met each other at our friend's studio in Seattle before we went separately to ArtFest. I was trying to take this picture the same way my nephew did with himself and his wife wherever they go - even right after their vows were said! Well, I have to say that my nephew did a much better job than I could!

As we were waiting, we looked at the nice arrangement of bags.

After we placed our orders, we had to wait a while as coffee is brewed individually.

Vicki wants another picture of ourselves, and she had a stranger take one for us - so, here's a clearer photo:

We went to the backery across from the coffee shop, and looked for something to eat along with the coffee.

Oooooh, look at these! Which one to have for breakfast?

I finally made a decision and bought the scones for ourselves. While we were waiting to be called, I was admiring these beautiful mosaic pieces on the wall.

Finally after half hour or so, we got our coffee, and oh wow, look at the cool swirls on the surface.

The coffee was DELICIOUS, and it was worth the long wait. And that was only the beginning of a great day in the city!

Checking In At The Squam Art Workshops - Sept 16, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:42:00 +0000

After a long day of touring the area, I finally arrived at Rockywold-Deephaven Camps about 3:30 pm. With several cars behind me, I followed the signs leading me to the registration area at Long House.

I drove all the way down to the end of Deephaven Road, parked my car, and walked into living room of Long House.

I was greeted warmly by Elizabeth, and picked up my bag. Included in the bag is the hat as everyone else got the headbands with the bright colored feathers which would not look appropiately on me - whew! (Andrew whispering: "thank you, Elizabeth!").

The photo above was taken at home on the front yard sidewalk. It just occurred to me that there were no concrete sidewalks at these camps. Also included in the same canvas bag are various postcards, freebies, maps, guidebooks, magazines, and various ephemera trying to entice you to visit this or that. I see that these will serve as the perfect fodder for my mail art project!

After I signed up for the potluck supper and got my parking assignment slip, I took the luggage out of the trunk of my car, and carried them to my room in Long House. The below photo shows the porch right front of my room.

My room...

and selected one bed to sleep on for the rest of the time. Yes, these dark green covers are filled with down, and you can see that it is not a heated room - no insulation in the walls. I could have brought my own small electric heater, but I decided against it as I knew that these dark green cover will keep me warm at night.

After I was done with the settling and moving my car into the assigned parking lot, I decided to pay a quick visit to the bench where I first met a group of SAW instructors last year.

As I was walking toward the bench, I briefly looked at the cabin where I stayed in last year. I remembered being in this cabin's small living room with the logs burning in the fireplace - what a wonderful memory.

After I passed the above cabin, I made a beeline to the bench by the lake.

I got there, walked around, and found a bag.

I was puzzled by its mystery, and an internal dialogue ensued.

After hemming and hawing over whether I should pick it up or leave it alone, I finally opened it and saw this note inside Christine Mason-Miller's book, Ordinary Sparkling Moments. I later told her at dinner time, and she was thrilled to hear that I picked it up for myself.

I also wrote a story which included my internal dialogue, and emailed it to Christine. It will be published in her blog soon. After some private moments by the lake, I decided to walk around, and find the Sugar House so that I can figure out how much time I will need to walk there for the classes with Christopher Frost.

On the way to Sugar House, I looked at this Bell Tower with fond memories, and once again, I was tempted to pull the rope. Aw shucks, the parent in me won the battle the inner wild child.

I did not remember seeing this banner last year or even last spring, so I'm assuming that it must be new.

This spot somehow reminded me of Swiss chalets where the window boxes were filled with bright colored annuals.

I looked inside the Deephaven ice house to check how much is left since the last time I peered in last spring. Sure enough, winter's coming very soon, and ice harvesting will be done on the first or second month of next year.

All of the paths within the camps are pretty well-marked.

The white "gooey" stuff above is actually the sap from the pine trees not the birds. And the flowers below - I have no idea as to what they are, but they're very delicate and beautiful.

I love this half-circle window of the dining hall.

I never saw that many mountain bikes, and oh boy, they triggered a lot of wonderful memories from my two mountain bike touring trips - one in northern Arizona and one in Idaho. I have not ridden my own hybrid bike for a very long time, and I would very much like to get myself back on the bike some day.

I walked to the main boating pier in the Rockywold section, and took several shots of Squam Lake just before dinner. I had them stitched together to create one panoramic picture.

I had my first meal at the Rockywold dining hall - the photos of the meals were posted in another post. As I was eating my dinner alone, I was listening to the sounds of people talking and feeling the mood in their voices. Wow, what a big difference between last year's and this time - it was much more festive, and full of excitement joy over seeing each other again. Just before I left the room for the gathering at the Playhouse, I looked at this grape stem, and I was fascinated by its structure and form, so I took a snapshot.

The atmosphere at the playhouse was also pretty festive - look at these lights. Sorry about that ugly flash - it nearly ruined the ambience of the room.

The instructors were introduced, and then Elizabeth's opening speech was given. Then the special guest speaker from Somerset Studios, Jenny Doh, gave a wonderful speech entitled "Something from Nothing" - she told us about where she came from, and how she got involved in crafts. Soon after, many attendees went to the bonfire where Jonatha Brooke provided musical entertainment. I had to go to bed early as I was pretty tired from a whole day of driving, shopping, touring, and walking. It was a great day.

Great Food and Wine at the Winemaker's Cookoff

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:13:00 +0000

Early that day, I took the first morning flight from Portland to San Francisco. I got into my big bright red rental car which to me looked more like a "1940 milk truck". From the San Francisco airport, I drove down south on El Camino Real for three hours to visit my friends, Jerry & Jeri, in Paso Robles. I met them at ArtFest about three years ago, and they invited me to come down to visit the area. I have driven through this area last April - I stopped there one time for breakfast with Jeri at a local restaurant. I was so impressed with the town that I decided I should stop by again later. I arrived in Paso Robles some time before 3 pm in the afternoon. At my friends' house, I was greeted heartily by a big dark grey poodle, and then I was shown the room where I will be sleeping in. Oh by the way, let me tell you something about this dog - she is very polite. Even if you put a bowl of food in front of her, she will wait until you sit down at your table to eat your own meal! I wished my small dog would do the same thing years ago - instead, he literally gulped the whole bowl, sat down next to my mother or me, and beg for more food even before I touch my own food! He was a garlic fanatic, yep, as soon as the chopped or sliced garlic was being cooked, he came into the kitchen and went crazy. Anyway, for dinner Jeri took me to the winemakers' cookout, oops, I mean, cookoff. Actually, it was a cooking competition between local winemakers.

I gave the ticket to the attendant at the entrance, and got a booklet, a clear plastic plate with the wine glass holder. The wine glass itself was really big, and I was sure that I will not get a full glass of wine.

The first thing I did was to eat dessert - yep, before "dinner".

That's Jerry, Jeri's husband, on the right side of the photo below, helping his son-in-law with the grilling of the mini-burgers.

Their daughter and son-in-law are owners of Mitchell's, one of the local winemakers in the region.

As you can see from the photos below, it's very organized. I love the plating list - that's a great idea for determining the order of the food placed on the plate. I have a lot of cookbooks, and very, very rarely do I see anything like this plating list.

This is really, really a delicious and elegant burger.

The photo below does not show the crowd - that's because we got there early. It got really crowded an hour later, and the waiting lines were longer.

In addition to the wine samples, look at all these beautifull prepared food that we got -

The shrimp (or is it prawn?) in the right photo above was placed on top of mashed blue (should be 'purple') potatoes. That seafood piece was HUMONGOUS - one could make a meal out of a single piece alone.

While we were walking around, drinking and eating at the same time, I encountered an unusual sight - a fire hydrant on top of a grill!

What a fun fundraising event! Even though I have gone to many tasting rooms, this was my first time that I went to a winemakers' cookoff where I can both sample the wine and eat their food. Proceeds from this event went to a scholarship fund for the local high school students.

Road Trip in New Hampshire - Sept 16, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:50:00 +0000

I woke up early on this day after having gone through too many dreams, and asked myself as to where am I right now. I went to the deck to check out the surface of the lake and the weather.

I sat down for a while to enjoy the view, and after breakfast, I decided to go outside for a little walk in the small neighborhood.

I saw the above town decal on the public works truck, and took a photo. Very nice one, eh? And I was looking around, looking for something colorful or interesting to take snapshots. By looking at the mums next to the entrance door of my friend's house, I can see that fall is just around the corner. And then I walked on, and spied that thingamigjig in the flower bed, and discovered later that it was created as a practice piece in the welding class at the local school.

My friend told me that there's a path leading up to another street on top of the "hill", and I looked for it. I found it - it's like a plank on top of a "drainage" bridge.

I walked to the top, and took several photos - mostly close ups.

This unusual mushroom below looks like a cantaloupe with burn mark.

I walked around, and then went back to the spot where the path was.

The sign above points to the Lake Winnepsaukee, and I walked down the hill.

I got back on the road, and then saw this perfect picnic spot. I have to keep this a secret spot.

There were so many beautiful gardens in front of many homes. I found this combination of two flowering plants very interesting and cool.

I saw a large garden glass ball, and I snapped a picture. Can you find me in the reflection?

After about an hour of walking, I headed back to my friend's house and walked around to get closer to the lake. I would have liked to go out kayaking, but the weather was a bit too cool for me.

My friend and I went to Laconia for lunch, and I spied this rather large "clock". I made a point to remember to come back to this location to take more pictures.

We went to Lanna Thai restaurant for lunch, and my friend ordered this Thai iced tea for herself. I got a little taste and decided that it was a bit too sweet for me.

The lunch was really delicious, and I am amazed at how good it was - after all, the restaurant's up in New Hampshire, and I did not expect it to be that good.

After we ate our lunch, we parted - she has an appointment, and I was on my way to Squam Art Workshops (SAW) at Rockywold-Deephaven Camps. I stopped at that location (below) in Laconia, and took several snapshots.

Near that huge metal sculpture is an interesting sight (at least for me) on the pavement.

On the same pavement is a pile of discarded painted bricks - I don't even know what the heck they were put there for, but it did provide some sort of nice visual dessert after a great luncheon meal.

I drove up north to Meredith to visit a bookstore that my friend has been meaning to take me there. Last year, as she was taking me to Center Harbor to visit a quilting store, she saw this spot and immediately told me that she HAS to take me there and show me a book that she thought I might like it. I immediately guessed (I am NOT a mind reader) it was "Wreck this Journal" by Keri Smith, and she was spooked. We have never discussed nor mentioned the title, and she could not believe that I made that wild guess as to which book she was thinking of showing me there.

Anyway, I pulled into the parking lot, and walked past the Adirondack-style furniture & home accessories store, and saw that it was a nice cluster of stores, restaurants, and gardens. They even have a list of flowers on the large bulletin in the center of this shopping area. The beautiful spot (below right) near the waterfall made me wish that I have some company to enjoy a meal al fresco. Perhaps, next year, I might find someone or a group to have either lunch or dinner with in this spot.

After I went through other store, I finally got to this bookshop. I should have been there sooner - I passed this store way too many times for the past five years!

Not realizing that it was a bargain book area when I picked up several books that I thought I'd might like. I saw the prices, and oh wow, they're really bargains.

I got a restaurant (Vancouver, BC) cookbook, artists' studios book (I haven't looked through it yet), and Adirondack style book (pure heaven!). On the way back to the parking lot, I decided to walk through this store, Adirondacks of Winnipesaukee - through one door and out from another door. I saw many pieces that I wanted to buy, but this time, I can only dream.

One of the furniture on my wishlist is this bent willow chair. It looked beautiful, but I didn't sit down on it and find out whether it was comfortable or not.

I drove on to Holderness, NH, and found this spot. I have seen this sign last spring, and promised myself that I will stop by before or after SAW retreat. What a wonderful surprise - it was loaded with a wide variety of plants.

And look at this list of birds - that many different birds in one small area!

I didn't know that Kirkwood Gardens was part of Squam Lakes Natural Science Center. The admission to the gardens is free (donations gladly accepted, of course), but there's a fee for entering this center.

I parked my car, walked up a little hill, went through its gift shop, and paid an entrance fee.

After going through the welcome center, I studied the trail map and it was larger than I thought.

I went through several exhibition buildings, and below is one of them.

As I was turning and walking into this area below,

I was frightened by the sudden and unexpected encouter with this moose, only to find that it was NOT live! Wow, so realistic!

All other animals in the area are real and most of them were sleeping. It was between 2:30 - 3:00 when I saw most of the animals.

I wondered what this animal below was thinking...

The natural center has several areas showing the different topographical features, and below is a marsh. I love walking on the "boardwalk" through a swamp, marsh, or sand dunes (not in this center, tho).

At the end of the trail, I checked my watch (3:00 pm), and it was time to go to Rockywold-Deephaven Camps (next post).

New England Road Trip - Sept 15, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:38:00 +0000

Two weeks ago, I left New Jersey early in the morning for the trip to my friend's house on Lake Winnepsaukee in New Hampshire. I went up north on the New York State Thruway, and then entered into Connecticut by going east and crossing its western border. In Hartford, I turned north and went up to Vermont, and at the same time, I was tempted to get off the highway to look at historic towns in Massachusetts. After I crossed Vermont's southern borderline, I needed to stop at a rest area in Guilford. I don't recall stopping at any rest area in Vermont, and this is a first time. It was a good thing that I did as I realized that this was not an ordinary one.

When I entered the rest area, I was very surprised and delighted by how beautifully designed the whole place is.

I made a beeline for men's room, and after I was done, I decided to browse around for a short while. I admired the timber frame and the farm tools hung on the ceiling reminded me of the unusual museum (Mercer Museum) in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

I walked to the back, and went outside. I saw the "formal" garden on the right side of the "barn".

Back of the barn is a walking path with various farm implements placed in different spots.

At first, it looked like a miniature golf course with gravels as "greens".

I walked on the path and admiring the intricate construction of each farm machinery, and immediately, they reminded me of my friends (Jeri & Jerry) in Paso Robles, California. They have a collection of similar implements in the front of their Victorian house. Shown below are some of the two-wheeled objects that I viewed:

I have been to so many rest areas/stops, and this one is the MOST beautiful I ever seen. The one in Pocono, Pennsylvania is one of the best and most modern, but what made this Vermont stop different is that it has more charm due to "historical" and country feel. I got back on the road and went through Brattlesboro, VT. This town has a lot of galleries and an art museum, and I plan to stop there next year. I continued on and arrived in Keene, New Hampshire to browse one of my favorite independent bookshops. I picked up four books, asked myself if I really, really need them. After hemming and hawing over whether I should buy them or not, I decided to put them back on shelves and left the store without buying a single book!

I finally arrived at my origami friend's house in the afternoon, and of course, I walked to the large window to admire the view of Lake Winnepsaukee. I then told her about my walking into the Keene bookshop and coming out without a book. She was shocked - and her face seemed like she was telling to herself that this is not really Andrew.

After I got the stuff out of the car and chatting for a short while, we went to the public library in Gilford, New Hampshire. I thought it was pretty odd that I was in Guilford, VT, and after about two hours later, I ended up in Gilford, NH. And my friend, Anne, told me the story about the NH town name - it was supposed to be spelled Guilford, but due to a clerical error, it was named Gilford instead.

Anne wanted to show me the origami exhibition that she was working on, and when I entered the library, the first thing I saw was the fireplace. Oh, how nice! And I'm jealous! I wish we have a library here in my town where I could go up to the fireplace and enjoy the warmth while reading a book! Anyway, turning to the left is an area where three display cases are located. What? THREE display cases, and my library in NJ has only ONE?!? Uh oh, I gotta keep my jealousy in check...

Anne made a very nice introductionary sign for her origami exhibition.

She used all of the three display cases for the origami exhibition - the first one is focused on the paper used for folding, the second one on the traditional origami model - the crane, and the third on the modern & nontraditional origami models. For some reasons, I did not take photos of the first case, but I did take the ones on the second and third cases.

Anne sewn these crane images on the placemat - a stack of small origami paper and metal crane were placed on it. Note the thickness of the thread - an interesting embroidery technique.

Ceramic rests for chopsticks (note the crane images on them), placemat, and paper crane as a party favor "cup".

Stickers, fabric, and logos...

I was surprised to see the images on the toilet paper that Anne brought home from Japan. Also shown are the printed crane image and the metal crane that she welded in a class at a local community college.

Sixteen cranes were folded from one sheet of paper without having it cut apart - slits were cut but all of the cranes were held together with spaces of uncut paper in between wings, or heads & tails.

The other display case shows the modern, nontraditional models from Anne's collection. Normally whenever any model or a collection of models are shown, the labels are created to show the creator's and the folder's names. Anne did create the labels after I left her house for the SAW (Squam Art Workshops) the next day.

After we left the library, we went to a supermarket to pick up some food for dinner and breakfast. We got home, and she started to make blueberry jams which I wrote about in an earlier post, and I went out again to pick up two bottles of blueberry milk and some apples. All of a sudden, it was time to prepare food for dinner, and look at the place (below) for grilling. I was enjoying a beautiful view of the lake while I was grilling - I could not ask for anything better than this!

Here's what I cooked: roasted corn on the cobs (freshly picked), grilled vegetables and Portobello mushrooms.

I also prepared a plate of pita bread triangles with hummus and tomato jam which I made at home. About the tomato jam - I had them for lunch at Greens, a vegetarian restaurant at Fort Mason in San Francisco, and Anne pulled out the same cookbook that contained the recipe for this jam. I was surprised to discover that she was there last November, and she got the chef to sign the cookbook for her. But she did not get a chance to have a meal there, tho. Oh, yes, I will show you the photos soon - I was there last August with my friend, Vicky, for lunch, and that's where I discovered the tomato jam.

Even though we are not vegetarians, we do enjoy meatless meals occasionally. While we were eating our dinners, I was enjoying a nice view of the mountains.

It was a long day for me, but I had a great time, and I was all set for the next day - going to Rockywold-Deephaven Camps for Squam Art Workshops.

Food, Glorious Food - Sept 16-20, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:04:00 +0000

I have been to many summer camps as a kid, and a couple of other camps as an adult. The food at most of these camps that I went to was usually not so great - some of them are really yucky. But the food at Rockywold-Deephaven Camps' dining halls is simply and superbly delicious. I have gone to several expensive restaurants in New York City (and other cities), have taken culinary classes, and have many cookbooks at home (over 1,000!), so, I am not exaggerating when I say the RDC food is really that good for a camp crowd. I have cooked in a camp kitchen in another New Hampshire camp (my friend and I raised the bar for food quality), so I know how difficult it can be to cook for that many people. I happened to be at Rockywold-Deephaven Camps for Squam Art Workshops, and the photos show how much I have eaten there.

The photos above and below looked eerily familiar - a famous cartoon rodent.

The missing photo above - oops, excuse me!

At this time, we, the SAW attendees, picked our luncheon choices from the bowls and placed them in our paper brown bags. I took a turkey wrap, two bags of chips (oops, I'm supposed to take only one!), one banana, one bottle of water, and one snack bar. I walked to the Long House and ate the lunch on the porch by the lake...

Since dinner was not being served at Rockywold Dining Hall for the SAW attendees, many of us signed up for the potluck dinner (at additional but reasonable cost) in the large living room at the Long House. Of course, it was delicious. Note that the fork and knife shown below in the photo are actually PLASTIC not metal! But the plate is not paper but ceramic-glass.

Oh, I forgot to mention that in addition to the dinner shown above, I had a pizza slice plus a corner piece of cake (below). Yummy!

I'm sure that you can see that I am NOT over-fed but well-fed. I burned a lot of calories by walking about five miles a day, and the cold weather prompted my body to generate additional heat. Plus the fact that my bedroom was unheated the whole time which help my body burn even more calories. Oh, yes, I did have down blanket which kept me warm during the night. Once again, the food at RDC camps is FANTASTIC and much better than all of the camps that I have gone to!

I'm still alive and traveling...

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:20:00 +0000

Yes, it has been a long while since the last time I updated this blog. I am doing fine in spite of several challenging situations that I had since I came back from the west coast. I am now in New Hampshire, staying at my friend's house for one nite before going to Rockywold-Deephaven Camps tomorrow (Wednesday) for Squam Art Workshops. Yes, I still plan to write future posts about the west coast adventures last August as well as the classes that I am taking at SAW this weekend. Stay tuned!

New Travel Stories Coming Soon!

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:51:00 +0000

Yeah, I have been very busy visiting many great places - Painted Hills in Oregon, various sights in Portland and Vancouver (WA) vicinities. Also, I was in Paso Robles area, and my goodness, what a GREAT place to visit - so loaded with visual candy, wineries, galleries, studios, and shops! Right now, I am working in San Francisco area and will get to writing about my travel adventures when I get home next week. Stay tuned!