New York to Tucson

We're on the road again, leaving the chilly NYC Spring for a little desert sun. We'll keep you posted...look for an update on Wednesday!

View from the car on 10th Avenue

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Photorealist mug of joe from StumbleUpon

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Richard Estes, 14th Street Subway Station from Marlborough Gallery

Primary Lines

A stop to see mom this weekend ended up being a mini-art tour at the Columbus Circle station. Upon looking back to the exit from the A/C trains we saw an amazing Sol LeWitt installation that had escaped us during all these year in Manhattan. Titled, Whirls an Twirls, the piece was reminiscent of Post-painterly Abstractionist Frank Stella.

Sol LeWitt's Whirls and Twirls at the Columbus Circle Station, 2004

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Frank Stella Harran II, 1967

Frank Stella Polar Co-Ordinates VI, 1980

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Frank Stella Color Maze, 1966

Frank Stella Furg (State II), 1975

A Stich in Time

We loved the collection at The Cloisters. One of the highlights were the textiles---from enormous, wall hung tapestries to the intimate embroideries featured below. Woven with silk and metallic threads, these devotional narratives are as spiritual as they are masterful.

Saint Martin and the Ass, silk and metallic threads, South Lowlands, about 1430

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Panel of an Orphery, silk and metallic threads, Bohemia, early 15th century

The Flagellation, silk thread on canvas, Italy , mid 14th century

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21st Century Summer Kitchens and Outhouses

Exterior of a 1785 colonial in New Hampshire.

The "kitchen" with soapstone sink...and not much else.

Our latest house obsession is in New Hampshire--a 1785 colonial with original wide plank floors, doors, built-in cupboards and mantels. We haven't made the trip yet to see it live, but we wake up each morning thinking about the possibilities of this historic home.

The catch? The kitchen and bathroom (note there is no "s" on that last word) are totally bare. While some might see this as a serious downfall, we see it as an opportunity. But the restoration purists in us are having a hard time figuring out what these rooms should like--18th century references of kitchens and bathrooms don't exactly meet with modern day standards. Here are two restorations that have us thinking and that compliment the aesthetic of each home:

1795 colonial in Connecticut with updated kitchen, bathroom and laundry room

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1810 federal upstate New York

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The Illuminating Cloisters

On a rainy Sunday, we decided to visit The Cloisters, part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Washington Heights. The grounds, structure and collection are inspirational: a stone fortress filled with stylized Medieval art and craft. Astoundingly, we never gave much thought to stained glass when we happen upon it in our journeys, but with even limited light yesterday, these 15th century works illuminated the stone rooms with color; their figures taking on an unearthly glow.

A chamber of art and sculpture from the Middle Ages at The Cloisters

The Virgin of the Apocalypse, Germany, approx. 1480

The Circumcision

Man of Sorrows [detail], Master of Launtenbourg, Rhineland, approx. 1480

Man of Sorrows

Mourning Virgin [detail], Master of Lautenbourg, Rhineland, approx. 1480

Mourning Virgin

Implied Narratives

There are many stories being told on the streets of Manhattan everyday--tragedies and comedies, melodramas and obsurdities. The best store windows capture all of these stories in order to bring life to the products they sell. The best of the best? Bergdorf Goodman.

Even squirrels need to accessorize

Shopping can be dangerous

The Devil Wears Platforms

Out for a Walk

Film Noire

Color Blocked: Soho

Obscene tongue on Lafayette

Nanette Lepore on Broome

At 8a.m. there isn't much beyond a cup of coffee that seems palatable. Last week however, the MOMA store in Soho had a shot of color in their windows...it gave us a smile. So, we decided to take "color block" literally and see what color pops we could find within one square block around Spring and Crosby--here's what we found:

Built at MOMA

Beside the MOMA store on Crosby

Crosby and Spring

Nike high tops on Spring Street

L'Orange Bleue, Broome

MOMA

Spring Street

ALECART on Crosby

Outside Cafe Select on Lafayette

Pylone window

Chuck Taylors on Spring

On Lafayette

Nanette Lepore lantern

Spring Street 6 station...pretty malfunction