color and the city {№3}

soho.

marianne elliott was in the city on her book tour and we got to hear her tell stories from zen under fire.

hell's kitchen flea:  reflections of sky and scrapers and pucci.

a fortune teller in union square.

the citibike program was the most-talked-about issue during our visit.  it was only in its second week.  as the days went on i saw more and more people taking advantage of the blue bicycles to tool about town. click here to see what jon stewart has to say about the program and have a laugh.

what's not to love about a city full of dogs and food?

twilight walk on the highline.  a must.

new york is a city of languages.  all of them, i bet.

not sure why the need for a carnival in the middle of central park with its acres of rolling grass, duck ponds and zoo.  but still, a carnival!

i love the energy of the west village most of all.  i believe that i shall live here in my next life.

or maybe this one.

color and the city {the instagrams}

i wandered around the american museum of natural history for a good part of one whole day.  this is an unusually quiet moment as i was sharing the museum with about two thousand new york city school children.  it was good to see kids get excited about rocks and things.

we were in the city for ten days and it only rained once.  for about twelve hours.  torrentially.  like umbrellas-turned-inside-out-and-ankle-deep-puddles torrential.  exploring was not interrupted.  not for one second.

fashion district wall o' ribbon.

i shot about a hundred photos of subway tile.  because you've just got to celebrate good signage.  it's totally a thing of the past.

minerals are pretty.

i escaped the crowds on 5th and experienced peace and awe and mass at st. pat's.

next visit i am going to find all the murals.  all of them.

of all the jaw-dropping-amazingness at moma, this one was my favorite.  spanish head composition by george condo, 1988.

color and the city {№2}

color and pockets of peace in the city.

and tiny b rides the c train.

(part one here.)

color and the city {№1}

moments of brightness in nyc.

travel sketchbook

next month prof. parks and i are going to manhattan.  his days will be occupied with theatre work, so i will mainly be a solitary tourist (which is kind of my introverted preference).  i love having all the time in the world to explore and observe the (2nd) most beautiful city in the world (i am, at heart, a west coast girl, so san francisco takes first place with me).

i'm creating a travel journal and sketchbook to take along and capture memories and to keep me present within my surroundings.  i was inspired by:

(clockwise from top left)

1. painted pages by sketchbook queen sarah ahearn.  sarah was the first to introduce me to the concept of capturing ordinary and beautiful moments with sketches, color and words.  her book is like taking class with her, which i also highly recommend.
2. how to be an explorer of the world by keri smith.  i just love this book and its reminders to look at things differently.
3. side walks, a journal for exploring your city  and i was here, a travel journal for the curious minded by kate pocrass.  both of these books have amazing prompts and ideas for noticing and remembering the little quirks of your day in the city.

i started out planning to use a regular sketchbook but then i found a vintage book about new york city that was falling apart.  i couldn't wait to repurpose its amazing covers for my sketchbook.

i carefully cut free the interior pages (which will be saved for future art projects) and separated the front and back covers.  i repapered the insides of both covers, repaired the frayed edges and corners, and collaged over worn areas.  the book is bound with metal rings for easy access.  this is the inside of the front:

i especially love the vintage street scene on the back cover:

i added a pocket to the inside back cover for collecting little mementos of my days.  it's the receipt envelope from a recent anthropologie purchase decorated with some washi tape:

a variety of pages fill the sketchbook.  there are lined pages for journaling, printed pages for gluing in found ephemera and photos and watercolor paper for sketching and painting. i added a few printed prompts as well to capture overheard conversations and list all things teal (or yellow or green or rainbow...) spied on any given day.

a head start:

my hope for this project is that it helps me stay present in the everyday moments of each day in the city.  and i'll have a uniquely meaningful souvenir of my journey.