Bead collection

During our big studio clean out I came across this bag of beads, a collection from ages back, I probably started it in high school! It spans many years and lots of travels from my younger days. With many of the beads I know the stories behind them, and each is so lovely, yet I had never found the perfect thing to do with them.

Immediately I knew that Carys would love my old bead collection. She just loves little things you see,

I showed it to her and her eyes lit up. One of her favorite things recently is to string beads onto elastic cord, and that's just want she wanted to do with these,

Creating the prettiest exotic necklace, with so many colors that it really goes with anything, which is good because it has been on her neck for days now! I even found her asleep with it on the other night.

The perfect accessory for an almost four year old lady!

Studio clean out

I know it might not look like much but above is where we started, and here is where we ended the other day as our studio clean out continues....

Can you see our progress? It is slow and steady, as with most of the work we stop to photograph it, or reminisce about what was happening when we made each piece. It is hard to decide to throw pieces away, but I know in my heart when I am ready to let go of something, and I feel light as a feather when I surrender to that.

With Frank's help I was able to let go of some of the work that I created before I applied to Grad School 11 years ago,

I saved my favorites from each bunch along with the stretcher bars, so that I can go on to reuse them when I am able to work large again, I loved working so large! I was also able to go through and review more recent work, figuring out what I want to add to my shop. There are some great pieces including the large butterfly one here,

With a lot of my older work I found that there are passages within the paintings that still speak to me, colors and patterns with a lyrical flow like poems,

You can see that back then I was using actual pressed petals within the paintings and including sewn elements like beads and stencils and stitches in the canvas.

In an old box during the clean out we discovered a treasure, Frank's grandfather was an artist and we found his old sets of pastels,

A riot of color that I know the kids will appreciate in a few years, we carefully packed those away.

All of this sorting is getting us ready for a big art show/sale/goodbye fiesta that we are planning as a last blow out here in NYC before we move. We are planning the party for the night of May 7th, I'll be posting full details once we have made all of the plans. It will be at our studio space, with drinks and small bites, so if you are in New York we'd love for you to join us!

Future Memory Log: Prospect Park West

Newly spring, 

early evening, 

dusky light, 

joggers, 

rushing past, 

walking quickly, 

chill in the air,

I've walked this side walk countless times, 

roller blading (years ago),

more recently with babies in strollers and slings, 

walking them to sleep,

then with friends,

heading to play groups,

kids riding scooters and bikes, 

to the playground,

with every step,

a memory.

Tonight at winter's end flowers bloom,

a lush patch of crocuses that I have watched grow over years behind a chain fence, 

feel's so New York to me.

The sky, 

turning pink at the edges, 

the quiet colors of evening,

taking hold.

Tree silhouettes outlined by the light, 

naked stems turning toward the sun over time, 

visible without their leaves for this season.

Painting of the week: Unfurling

Unfurling

Even though we had what I hope is our last snow of the season today I can feel it, spring fever is setting into my soul. Getting my hands into the dirt to plant last weekend awakened my hibernating spring self, now I'm wanting to wake up to sunshine and sandals each day!
All of that for now is being channeled into the studio where it manifested in this new painting about waking up, taking a deep stretch, and unfurling into all of the potential with in.


As we have been unfurling into our new selves, the ones who are moving from Brooklyn in less than 2 months, I've felt myself needing more times in which I can be deeply pensive. Also, there is a heaviness that I know many of us have been feeling for Japan recently. I have been isolating myself from much of the news coverage, but I have seen enough to haunt me. Following the tsunami just after Christmas in 2006, I remember feeling similarly helpless and deeply saddened, imagining my own children being torn away from me in a wave of water as I had heard interviews with parents who had lived that nightmare. The horror that people in Japan are living right now is too much to bear.
Besides donating to the Red Cross I also came across this site, The 1000 birds Project, which was just begun by a Japanese artist and blogger living in England. She is making 1000 ceramic (and cute!) birds that she will sell online, donating all proceeds to the relief effort in Japan. I'm looking forward to getting a few when her online shop is set up, which should be any day now.

Spring Weekend

At the end of last week we were blessed with a couple of warm days into which we packed outdoor creativity that we've been longing for. Out came the side walk chalk...

We began some spring gardening in our large whiskey-barrel containers at the front of our house, planting purple pansies and cleaning out all of the leaves, acorns and twigs that had collected over the winter.

Then the kids decided that they wanted to do some painting outside on our deck. I have been painting on wooden panels lately so they wanted to paint on wooden panels too, which is fun since it makes their creations a bit more substantial and I can hang their paintings up right away and it makes them feel so proud!

My boy knows just how to melt my heart...

Although the weather has turned colder again after that colorful glimpse of spring I feel like I know that spring is coming, it is close, and that is keeping my spirits up especially as now spring is officially here! 

Happy Spring to all!

A few of our favorite things to do in NYC {with kids}

There are so many fun things to do in New York City with kids, and living here for 15 years, 7 of those with kids, I think we've learned a thing or two. New York is a surprisingly kid friendly place, with lots of excitement at every turn, and if you need a bathroom you can simply duck into one of the Starbucks that are pretty much on every other corner. There is so much to do in fact that it is hard to narrow down, but here is a sampling of some of our very favorite family ways to experience the city...

The Museum of Natural History
Riding the Subway
Coney Island and the Wonder Wheel
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Going to the Beach
Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
Strolling in Manhattan
Visiting the Statue of Liberty
Soho
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Moomah (a hip kid's cafe)
Central Park

Angel

Angel

I just finished this new painting, Angel. Each time I complete a painting I feel like I've had a love affair with it through the work, I stare at it and remember the application of each layer, each mark, the planning of each drip. I find every excuse to step into the studio for one more quick glance, or a long gaze. I am particularly happy with how the washes in the environment of this piece turned out. I wanted it to feel very light and airy yet to have a palpable weight to the space and I feel like I got there with it in all of the layers. I am especially happy with the black washes on the big butterfly/moth, they turned out exactly as I envisioned them in my mind's eye.

This week Frank and I have been working hard on space clearing in our big studio space. We have been doing the difficult work of sorting through years of our paintings and drawings, while deciding what we need to hold onto, and move with us, and what it is time to let go of. We are enjoying the lightness that comes with making space, while there is still much work to be done! I'll post some pictures of our big clear out soon.

I've also been missing my "Painting of the Week" postings, so I've decided to bring those back, this is the first one.

Cheers!

Namaste Sate

I wanted to share with you some of my favorite recent music. Frank and I have been into the band Aradhna, for years since we used to know one of the two band members Chris Hale from our old church here in New York. He would get up in front during the service sometimes and play the sitar and it was magic to listen to him. Now his band Aradhna has released a few albums and we have loved all of them, but the most recent album, released at the end of last year is my favorite and has been on constant rotation in our car and in my studio since January. Here is one of my favorite songs from that album in this newly released, and stunning, video all filmed on location in India, its too beautiful to miss...

Happy Weekending!

Taste of Spring!

When we were in Charleston we had a delicious taste of spring! Trees were blooming, petals were in the air, flowers where all around. 

The sun even felt strong, which makes such a difference in how I feel physically, if the sun is out and strong, I just feel happier and more alive.

The seasons there are over 2 months ahead of us here in New York, with a short winter and very rare frost.  Spring still feels far away here in Brooklyn, we are still wearing puffy coats, hats and scarves for outside, BUT....

to my delight, as I was poking around in our yard upon our return I discovered that we have some springtime visitors on the way,

and even a few in bloom already!!! Every year my early blooming Hellebores make me so happy, showing a happy blossom just when I need it most!

Back in the NY groove

It has been a quiet week here on my blog as I've been navigating our return to NYC, after our whirlwind of a time in Charleston planning our move. On our return flight we were treated to an amazing entry, flying in low over Brooklyn (we could even see our block!) and then across the East River and straight up the Hudson River with the stunning view of Manhattan above. Just thrilling, and reminded me of all of the things that I love about New York, how over the top stunning it can be sometimes!

Now that we have arranged the sale of our house here in Brooklyn, and the purchase of a house that we love in Charleston, now comes the waiting. Which, really I have been never good at this part, I always just want to get on with life and skip the waiting bits. None the less here we are, with a closing date set on our house in Charleston for the 23rd of May, so that's when we will move. That gives us two and a half months to enjoy our life here in New York, and two and half months to wait. I am trying hard to embrace the waiting right now, I'm choosing to see it as a gift of time to wrap up our full beautiful life here and to appreciate it for just how rich it is.

In honor of this, I have chosen not to talk about our house that we are buying in Charleston (even though we LOVE it!!) until we have moved in. Believe me, this is hard since I really just want to shout from the rooftops and jump into our new life there with both feet, but I feel that its the right thing to do, to help my focus remain on the present here and now in Brooklyn. That doesn't mean that I won't talk about Charleston, I want to show you guys how cool it is, I'm just going to hold off on talking about our house there.

OK, OK, here is one little peak, a shot of the backyard at the new house, where the kids were already having fun playing,

My gardening fingers are itching to get to work on that yard, planting and growing things! There is even a perfect spot for a small vegetable garden right off of the kitchen, but, let me stop myself or my thoughts will run away with me. All in good time my friends, all in good time.

Central Park

If you are standing on the crazy busy corner of 59th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan looking south this is what you will see, and if you then turn around and walk into Central Park behind you, after about 200 yards you will come to this serene waterfall. Isn't that wild, they look like they are on different planets but that's New York City for you, it is such a city of contrasts.

I've been having fun on these winter days going through our summer photos, this is one of our fun outings to do in Manhattan. Walking through lower Central park is a treat, it is a green oasis, and so well planned with its winding paths, 

pretty stone bridges,

and huge granite rock formations that the kids love climbing on. This southern part of the park is great for a warm weather picnic,

the carriage path goes right through this part of the park and we love to watch the horses and carriages go past, 

Coming out of the park on the corner of 59th Street and 5th Avenue is exciting, there are book sellers, 

street performers and ice cream carts,

The famous, and gigantic, toy store FAO Schwartz is also on that corner, and is always a thrilling treat for the kids. I have only taken Jasper and Carys there once and they were spellbound, seeing every possible toy and candy in one place feels pretty over the top, but the surreal nature of it makes it even more special. Jasper said that it was like a dream. And, as you can see, this costume section was pretty much Carys's princess fantasy come true,

VisionWise Interview

I'm so honored to be featured as the interviewed artist this month on my friend Lauren's soulful blog VisionWise. You can read all of our interview right here. Her questions were insightful, interesting and really fun to answer! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed doing it.

xo

Before and After: the front door, and conclusion

Here we are, the last and final post of my Before and After series on our Brooklyn home! The front door of our house was, of course, one of the first things that we noticed about the house seven years ago when we bought it. Here is the house the day we closed the deal,

After taking down those brown awnings that covered both of the entrances, the front door was one of the first things that we knew we wanted to replace, but, as we worked on larger and bigger projects, eventually renovating the whole house, we got tired of having work done and since the front door worked we simply painted it blue and left it. For seven years. It had gotten to the point where we still talked about replacing it, but really I hardly even noticed it anymore.

Then, in January, as we did the final renovations on the house in preparation for putting it on the market, we knew that the time had finally come to replace the front door. We just knew that a new door would make the house "sparkle".
It felt darkly comedic when we found out that the day the crew could come to put our new front door in was going to be one of the coldest days of the year. Note to self, do not ever replace a front door in the middle of winter! During the installation it felt like our house was having surgery,

Those guys really were so good to work outside in that cold! Once they had installed it, then Frank got to work finishing it off, sealing it and painting it. So, after a few days, much work and many coats of paint. Here is our new front door,

Again, before,

and after,

Frank and I both feel like the new front door is the cherry on top of the house, the finishing touch, the icing on the cake. We love the way it looks, and it feels like it ties everything else together, and gives major curb appeal.

Wow, I love seeing these before and after pictures all together here, I have enjoyed writing about our "before and after tale" so much! It gives a good idea of the scope of the project that we took on with this house. When I look back at the before pictures I tend to feel just how we really didn't know how much work we were getting ourselves into. I remember thinking, "Oh, a little demolition and then we'll just bring in what we want.", if only life were that simple! I think it's a good thing that we didn't have an idea of just how much work was involved, because we might never have started the project. This renovation has been one of the biggest, and most fun, projects that Frank and I have collaborated on. As I mentioned way back in the first part of the tale, renovating a Brooklyn brownstone was one of Frank's dreams. I'm so glad that I joined him in fulfilling that dream.

There are quite a few "old timers" who live in our area. People who have spent their whole lives living right in this part of Brooklyn, who have seen the neighborhood evolve and people come and go. One of them was recently talking to Frank about our house and he said, "You brought that place back to life man.". Which is a quote that I will always treasure. I think we did, I think we brought it back to life after years of neglect. We saw its shining core underneath years of dirt, dust and bad aesthetic choices, and we had the courage to do the work.

It has been the perfect place to live, and start a family. I will always be especially connected to the house as Carys was literally born in it. Even as we will go on, to live and grow in different houses, I will always think of it with deep and abiding love.