today: brrr

holly and snow


my favorite annual pdo:
public display of ornaments


black white and red


souvenir images behind plastic


stark

yesterday: the warmth of museums

yesterday i ventured down to the end of the island
to the george gustav heye center, national museum
of the american indian to see

identity by design: tradition, change and celebration in native women's dresses

and the
fritz scholder show
indian/not indian

scholder's figurative abstract paintings and sculpture,
vivid, powerful and moving
are on view in new york until may 2009 and in dc until august 2009

instrumental in turning the cliches that were "indian art"
before the 1960s end over end, scholder was a
charismatic and provocative figure who never intended
to create (or recreate) "indian art" but wanted to be taken
seriously without the modifier of his background before the word artist.

there's an introductory film that captures his passion and humor.

my next cultural stop was the museum of modern art for the show
artist's choice + vik muniz = rebus

a guest curated exhibit pulling 82 seemingly
arbitrary objects from the
museum's collections of photography,
sculpture, painting, drawing and design.
there are no labels to distract from appreciating the
objects and it's terrific fun discovering the threads that connect
them - by subject, texture, color, theme...

one of the more obvious examples...


William H. Johnson's delightful
tempera painting 'Blind Singer' next to


Charles Sheeler' silver gelatin print
'African Musical Instrument' beside


Pablo Picasso's
'Maquette for Guitar'

outside, the late afternoon light was seductive and irresistible.

signs and symbols, paris

the post no bills sign
reminded me of signs, symbols
and street art i photographed
in paris years ago









the list of names - a mystery.

aimless wandering

ah, something i do well.



i love this sign - the
handmade quality of it
makes the message seem
more urgent.

the street sellers are ready
for wednesday night...





i think those glasses worked
in 2000 - the novelty and
in 2002 - the symmetry...
2009 not so much

vacationing at home...

helps when home is new york...

i will not use that newly minted word
for this sort of stay at home holiday.

the only recent smashup word that i really like
is shopportunistic. be shamelessly shopportunistic.
as in: buy with an eye for bargains.

not exactly what i was doing
prowling the ground floor at abc carpet
like an archaeologist:
this is the urban souk
of a wealth-infused reality
on a seriously different plane
than my own.



the children's department is the dream of a childhood
that never existed: i walked around as in a fog.

lifting my camera to document the curiosities.

i left feeling like a tourist
departing brigadoon...

it was another country.
a well appointed, beautifully displayed,
infintely colorful and exquisitely designed country.

i think abc carpet is,
for me,
like tiffany's for holly golightly:
nothing bad could ever happen there.

unless i wanted to buy something...


they sell magic in jars


and large wooden angels...


docile goats rest


offerings are made to ganesha


and everyone...father christmases...


...storks...


...raccoons...


and elfs in red
look better in groups

deleting the tangible

books out the door
papers discarded
photos winnowed

if only it could be done with a mouse click.









the drawings from when i was five seem exquisitely spontaneous.
at six i became more representational
and much less interesting.

personal archaeology

early resolutions:
preserve the relevant
eliminate the extraneous
figure out the difference

i'm scanning drawings i made as a child

i like them as they are
and i want to transform them.

hohoho

that covers it, right?

okay, here's a bit of red and green...

twas the...

how many posts, emails, tweets,
broadcasts, will begin with those words?

i guess i'm adding to the glut.

not a merry day here in the city with the
rain and the warm
and the smell of
wool in the subway.

sigh.

No tree this year...

nice jewish girl that i am why did i ever have a tree?
i fell in love with ornaments
at a christmas shop in san francisco in 1974.


there's usually a froth of cotton fog
shrouding the gg bridge...

so instead of a tree i've begun scanning my ornaments...

posh squirrels

...irresistible...





...to photograph.

seriously resistible
shopping-wise.
(sorry janye - the bag was $699
at filenes basement!)

yesterday's icicles are

wet gray fingers



todays rain
pinstriping the bus windows
capturing,
chameleon-like
in each drop
whatever hides behind

the color in between

snow yesterday and
snow tomorrow
they say.
today:
gray.

okay, and a few flurries.

so i thought i'd inject a bit of color
into this monochromous blog...

a rejected holiday card design



based on the colors in this photo:



festive but too obvious i thought.

and a card i sent in 2006...

let it snow!

12.19.08
central park
two fifteen to three
before the sleet