Zakopane

This past Saturday I took a bus out of Krakow to the Tatra Mountains. They are the highest mountains in Central Europe. I went to a town called Zakopane which is a tourist haven especially for skiers in the winter months. There is a rich collection of museums and houses that show off the Zakopane Style of wood cutting/carving and architectural design and decoration with wood. This decorative style, the motifs represented in the museums and throughout the town, had me captivated. The beautiful hand carved decorative touches add an extra level of personality and warmth to already beautiful buildings. I was struck by the use of positive and negative space in the designs and how the light played in and around the designs within the buildings. I went in for a lot of close up photos but I also couldn't help but take exterior photos so that you can get a sense of what the overall buildings looks like. There are garden photos too so that you can see how the flowers and plants outside some of the homes look while mingling with the lines and dimensions found in the fine wood designs. I went to the Villa Koliba Museum, which was a highlight for me. It was created in the Zakopane Style by artist, Stanislawa Witkiewicza.  I also went to a renovated traditional Tatra highlander house which houses the collection of Marii i Bronislawa Dembowskich. Their collection was the source of inspiration for Witkiewicza from which the idea of pure Polish style in architecture called Zakopane Style was born. Please enjoy...








All the above photographs were taken in this house, Stanislawa Witkiewicza, Zakopane Style Museum, The Villa Koliba Museum.





 Above are a collection of shots I took while walking around the town looking at the interesting sights.






The last three photographs were taken at the traditional Tatra Highlander House which houses the collection of Marii i Bronislawa Dembowskich.

Six Senses Friday: Krakow II

Drive back to Krakow from Korczyna

Feel:
- ...that summer feeling.
- sweat on my skin
- some familiarity now with this new city
- excitement about connecting with the ethnographic museum and spending time there
- my heart growing and expanding with good feelings as I make connections with family, people and this place

beautiful music

Hear:
- an accordion player on a side street playing beautiful music down off of Wawel Hill
- air vibrating over my head as a pigeon takes off right in front of and over me
- church bells awaking me on Sunday morning after a good night's sleep in the parish house where my cousin, the priest, lives
- singing and chanting beginning early Sunday mass
- fellow students in my Polish language class trying to wrap their brains and tongues around this new and difficult language

Church bells at Cousin Karol's parish

Smell:
- fresh laundry hanging on the line on my balcony to dry
- heated dish of kielbasa in the cafeteria
- fresh dill picked from my cousin's garden
- black currents steeping in hot water
- clean and refreshed after cool showers in the evening

great cafe where I ate a great salad

Taste:
- many delicious, homemade meals prepared by my family and shared with me during my two days in Korczyna 
- compote, fresh black currant and cherry juice... fruit picked right from the tree..
- delicious salad with melon, asparagus, proscuitto, cheese, olives, lettuce, arugula and sun-dried tomatoes
- eating bread and feeling ok after mostly avoiding it back in the states

mineral water from an ancient spring at the Paulite Church "On the Rock"

Touch:
- roots of trees as I walk up a path to visit rock formations near Korczyna
- rough limestone forming a beautiful, historic castle
- cool mineral water from an ancient pagan spring that is now a part of a beautiful Baroque Paulite Church in Kazimierz
- ripe sour cherries hanging from the branches of a tree


formal gardens at Pieskowa Skal/a Castle

A connection is made: Ethnographic Museum, Krakow

Last Thursday I wrote a letter to my art history professor requesting to make a connection with Krakow's Ethnographic Museum and stated in it what I wanted to research and learn there. She immediately got back to me the next day and said she was working on the connection. On Monday she asked me to meet with her there on Tuesday after class so that she could make a formal introduction for me with the curators of the museum! I feel so blessed to have all this go so smoothly. 

After speaking with a couple people we found someone who speaks English who was able to help make the introduction and connection with the director. I now have a letter in my hand which allows me access to the museum whenever it is open for visitors. I can sketch to my heart's content and take pictures (without a flash). My new connection, who is a specialist in customs and rites, gave me a quick tour of the permanent Polish collection and will connect me with other specialists once I become familiar with the collection and formulate specific questions. During the next couple afternoons I will be there so that can ask my questions and she can direct me before she leaves on summer holiday.  It's a beautiful museum and I look forward to becoming very familiar with the collection.

Here's a brief description of the exhibit: " The Ethnographic  Museum in Krakow houses the "Polish Folk Culture" permanent exhibition, which presents traditional building techniques, housing interiors, craft workshops, a gallery of folk dresses, exhibits illustrating family and annual ceremonies, as well as professional and amateur Polish folk art."

Korczyna


This is my cousin Anna's home in Korczyna where I stayed last weekend. My cousin Lukasz brought me to his mother's house on Friday where we met up with his wife, two little girls, mother and sister. It was a hot and sultry day in Krakow and I was exhausted and sweaty upon boarding the bus. After 15 minutes of down time, with eyes shut, I was able to talk and laugh with my cousin and take in the beautiful countryside as we drove out of Krakow. The last hour of the ride was particularly magical as the landscape became even more hilly and rural. A thunderstorm had rolled through the area. Lukasz and I were talking about growing roots and connecting to place when I spotted a double rainbow out the window. What a wonderful way to enter the land of my ancestors. We rolled up and down over hills to our destination, Krosno, which is the county seat of Korczyna.  What I was seeing, the green hills, huge gardens and orchards, wooded land, cottages and houses looked like home...the ideal homeland that I've been carrying in my heart for a long time. Interestingly, it reminds me a bit of the hills I call home in western Massachusetts. 

My grandmother was born in Korczyna. She left this place in 1939 at thirteen.The church is in the center of town with grassy pathways webbing and connecting to people's properties so that it is an easy and pleasant walk to Mass. Huge gardens filled with vegetables and fruit couple with almost every house in the village. Along with her vegetable and flower garden my cousin also has cherry, walnut, apple, elderberry, currants, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries in abundance. I met other relatives, connections to my great-grandmother who had 13 siblings. Descendants of these siblings still inhabit the village in family homes or on family property. I met some of these cousins as we took a walk on Saturday evening and one man pulled out old photos which included photo's of my family....mom, dad, cousins, aunts, uncles...in the Philadelphia area. I don't want to say to much. Now I want to share my pictures with you.

I felt a real connection to this place and was so warmly and graciously welcomed by my family who are also new friends. I will be back there in two weeks to go on a mountain hike and visit more with family.
 








Six Senses Friday: Krakow

My first week's synopsis of sensory experiences...  a bit delayed as I try to get into the groove of my schedule and time spent with family...

See:
- the arm of Cape Cod twinkling on the Atlantic right after take off
- a watermelon carved to look like a rose in a dessert shop in the town square
- wild, loose plants and gardens tucked away everywhere...along streets, in courtyards, on balconies
- limestone and brick building the city up in layers
- sun rise as we head east, four hours into my flight which took off at 8:20pm...a very short night indeed
- a break in the rain after arriving and laying my eyes on the beautiful sight of Market Square
- Romanesque and Gothic architecture showing it self in the structures and places we are visiting in Krakow

Hear:
- jet engines as planes and people fly off
- soft sz, cz, s, z, rhythmically sounding in the Polish language all around me
- my newly met relatives Paulina, Renata and Mariusz laughing as they pet a friendly poodle in the park
- traffic of the city bustling outside my dormitory
- a single trumpet calling the time from the tower of the Church of Saint Mary in the Old Quarter in Krakow

Feel
- moments of nervousness as I figure out new routines and situations like navigating around on buses and trams
- very tired from the busyness of the program and from adjusting to being in a new place
- wet clothes clinging to my body as I walk during classes on a rainy day
- my heart welling with the love I am feeling for this place
- invigorated and stimulated by what I'm learning and experiencing

Smell
- a distinguishable sent as I step into the air at Munich Airport to board my plane to Krakow...it smelled like Europe
- rain, wet earth, snails and worms during the rains last week
- chicken being fried by my newly  met relative as she graciously cooked me lunch on Thursday
- foreign perfumes and detergents on clothes and people

Taste
- Sweet Cream and Pistachio Gelato
- cafeteria food, which is not too bad but definitely more processed than I usually eat
- lots of cabbage dishes, red, green, with bell pepper, warm, cold
- simple potatoes boiled, covered with butter and fresh dill
- golumpki, pierogi, potato pancakes

Touch
- blisters on my feet as a result of all the walking around town
- feel my feet hitting uneven sidewalks and coblestone
- wet, heavy clothes and book sack after a day spent out in the rain
- my hands around a cold glass of beer on a warm afternoon
- hands connecting in greeting as I meet more and more of my Polish relatives

Awake In My Dream, Krakow

I am here, Krakow. I've been anticipating you and dreaming about you. Wondering what, how, why, when? A relationship has begun and my thoughts and feelings well up in this place.  My heart has that feeling when one falls in love, interest builds, anticipation for the moments I'll share in your presence and the sensation I am becoming involved with this place and dusty parts of myself that want attention and stimulation. I am curious and want to explore through my senses this place that I will call home for a number of weeks this summer.

Do you like this contemporary sculpture, of a big and heavy female visage who appears to be in a dream as it rests in the center of the action in the town square (Rynek Gl/o'wny) which was designed in the 13th century? It's placement reminds me of how Krakow strikes me as a spiral or an onion. There are layers and layers to discover of the town itself along with myself in this town. 

For me the sculpture represents something that has become apparent relatively quickly during my first week here. Time mingles, layers and spirals in and out, around in this place. Evidence of habitation in the Paleolithic Era rest within Wawel Hill. The hill houses churches and palaces where within beautiful representations of Medieval, Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque and art nouveaux architecture, religious art and decoration reside.
My Art History class, which is called "Polish Art Past and Present" has been walking around this town looking at these places and how they came to be.  On Tuesday we walked to the top of Wawel Cathedral and looked out over the town beneath us.

A bell lives at the top there. It is called the Dream Bell...you touch it and your dreams will come true. I wonder if it's really that easy, like in a fairytale, however it never hurts to reinforce one's dreams with a positive thought, wish or prayer.
I look forward to sharing more layers of Krakow with you as well as layers of myself that are revealed as I experience time in this place. Dzie,kuje,!

Summer Solstice Lanterns Fill Sky in Poland

Imagine this... floating candle lit lanterns...thousands of them quietly floating through the sky like gigantic fire flies or luminescent jellyfish under the sea. 11,000 lanterns were released at twilight on the longest day of the year in Poznan,Poland.  What a beautiful sight as people gather and create this moment together in celebration of summer solstice. This video fills my heart as I am about to depart on my quest to Poland on July 2nd.  Being in a country that creates moments of beauty like this will inspire me in ways I haven't even imagined yet, I'm sure.

This video came to me after just having a conversation earlier last evening about fireworks and the 4th of July.  Although I love watching fireworks, my friends were saying how toxic they are to the environment and that it is time to find another magical alternative.  I think the people of Poznan, Poland have found it! Take a moment to watch this beautiful moment on video...

"Glad Man Singing"

...another song about a river running wide.  Love this song by Iron and Wine.  It's captured me. There is just something about the grove, the synth, the piano, the vibraphone and harmonic whoo's.  It's a a great song for the long, warm days. Enjoy and happy summer to you all!

Twilight on the Bridge of Flowers

Twilight is a time when colors take on a special element of magic.  I turned my flash off on my camera to capture this in between time (except for the picture above).  We spent a lovely holiday weekend in our garden then with our folks who came to visit from PA.  Above are photographs that were taken Sunday evening on the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls, MA.  I believe the bridge was an old railroad bridge that was transformed into gardens in the 1930's.

Find the River


There's no one left to take the lead,
But I tell you and you can see
We're closer now than light years to go.
Pick up here and chase the ride.
The river empties to the tide.
Fall into the ocean.

The river to the ocean goes,
A fortune for the undertow.
None of this is going my way.
There is nothing left to throw
Of Ginger, lemon, indigo,
Coriander stem and rows of hay.
Strength and courage overrides
The privileged and weary eyes
Of river poet search naivete.
Pick up here and chase the ride.
The river empties to the tide.
All of this is coming your way.
 
 
I love the poetry of this song and it's lovely melancholy. The river is a muse of mine... imagery, the feel, meaning and metaphor. The lyric including the luscious names of plants and fruit makes for something beautiful. Like the sound of these words, I can smell and taste them: Bergamot and Vetiver...Ginger, Lemon, Indigo...Coriander stem and rows of hay.
 
"Me my thoughts are flower strewn, Ocean storm, bayberry moon."

Lilac Wine

It's that intoxicating time of year again...

My senses are filled with sweet and heady scents, colors and feelings during these misty spring days.  I think I'll go cut a bouquet of Lilacs to bring in the house right now.  I'm off to sing and make music with friends tonight and as always, I'm thinking about music... "Lilac Wine" is a song I sing with Josh from time to time.  I love Nina Simone's elegant version. 

It's Mother's Day, May and time to work in the garden!


May is here! Hooray!  Tomorrow is Mother's Day...Hooray!  Happy Mother's Day to the Moms out there!

I've been so full, working on plans for my trip. I began a campaign on Indie Go Go to fund raise for my artistic pursuits,education and travel plans. I am out in the gardens working hard.  This burst of activity may explain my quiet blog.

I'm getting back into the grove of gardening and I've been putting in full days. My body is feeling it.  That tired, physically worked all day feeling.  Which is so good... so is the sunshine, the sound of bird songs, gentle winds, and rain drops.  I feel pretty lucky to work outside all day most days of the week.

I had a lovely visit to Pennsylvania a week ago.  Although Mother's Day is tomorrow, I got to see and spend good time with my mother, mother-in-law and my grandmother which was all a real treat. I also got to spend time with my dad and father-in-law and my aunt and grandfather.  My plans for my ancestral, folk art trip this summer has inspired interesting conversations about family.  I looked at pictures with my Grandmother Stella who was born in Poland and moved to America at thirteen. She returned to Poland in 1985 on a trip and she shared images of places and relatives I will meet and see when over there. Images of great-great grandmothers and great-great-aunts who are no longer with us were in the mix of photos as well as images of cousins, as kids, that I will see when I am in Krakow.  One evening my mother pulled out old photos of her family which were nice to look through and prompted more stories and connections to be shared from mother to daughter. Stories were shared about my tug boat captain great grandfather, my English ancestry from northern England, my mothers' grandmother, grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins who I never really knew. My husband's grandfather and mother were excited to share stories about Grandfather Morris' familial connections to Poland. 


My grandmother and I spent time in her Philadelphia row home garden. She pulled some wildflowers by their roots for me to take home and plant on my land. I remember sitting out there in lawn chairs as a kid and playing with my cousins. Grandmom Stella still loves to garden and at 86 spends time out there most warm, dry days. She likes to weed, rake and admire her flowers.  Her tulips are beautiful as well as her primrose. She keeps a statue of Mary in the garden to look over her plants. Last summer she came up to my place here in Massachusetts and loved looking at my garden.  The garlic that I harvested inspired her to plant her own garlic last fall which is now growing. She gives me a garlic report on every time we talk on the phone. All the photos were taken last week at Grandmom Stella's garden.

Quest To Poland and Hungary

Krakow, Poland (photo from google images)
What a winter it has been.  Actually, what a year it has been!  Last year, as I began taking my personal development and artistic development a lot more seriously, a message came to me loud and clear...

"This is your life, create it, live it."

I've been aiming and reaching to embrace this kind of outlook for awhile now. However, this year I am taking it up a notch. At some point I realized how I was living a little too passively by taking jobs I didn't fully love for the money, jumping on other peoples creative projects and not fully developing my own vision while deep inside I knew I wanted to step out and define myself more on my own terms. I am the co-captain of my ship along with the mysterious force that is with me every step of the way. I've had to be patient, I've had to trust and just put one foot in front of the other. Ultimately, I'm learning how to trust myself. The work is paying off and the path is becoming clearer. I feel aligned with it and on it now and feel excited, actively co-creating with what the universe gives me. I'm learning that hard work and patience are two keys to self development. Something I think I understood intellectually but am just starting to really understand in practice. 

I'm excited to announce my plans that I believe will have an impact on me for a lifetime. I am going on a creative and educational quest to Poland and Hungary. I've been working this past winter and spring by clarifying my creative, educational and travel dreams. I enrolled in an art class, I created an independent study project, I got in touch with friends and family in Central Europe, I bought a plane ticket, I arranged for places to stay and I created a fundraising page on IndieGoGo, that I will launch shortly, to help me meet the study and travel costs of this quest. I will be posting regularly regarding this quest and the fundraising. I especially can't wait to continue blogging from over in Poland and Hungary in July and August. In the following text you'll find a more in depth description of my plans. I'm so looking forward to sharing this quest with you!

Study & Travel Plan

I arrive in Krakow, Poland on July 3rd to attend a four week long study program at Jagiellonian University which is the second university to be founded in Central Europe way back in 1364.  The course, which is organized through The Kosciuszko Foundation in NYC, is called "The Art of Poland: Past and Present" and covers the art history of Poland, folk arts, poster art and contemporary art.

While in Krakow I plan to forge a connection with the Ethnographic Museum to do independent study on the folk arts of Poland. I will be taking photographs, sketching ideas and researching images, stories and music that will be influential to my future creations. I’m also looking forward to meeting and visiting with my family who reside in and around Krakow, as well as sight seeing to get a glimpse of the culture of my ancestors.

In August I will spend time in Hungary with friends and split my time between Budapest and the countryside. I plan to explore various Hungarian folk/peasant art traditions by visiting museums and attending festivals held on weekends during the summer months. My musician friend wants to share traditional Hungarian music and songs with me as well as put me in touch with traditional dancers who live in his countryside village. I will visit Harskut, Hungary, the village my grandfather's family is from. More photographs, sketches, memories, music and paintings will be made during this time.

The Impact

I believe that there are parallels between the working class people of today and the peasants of yesterday. Instead of toiling for land owning lords we toil for the elite/corporate class. I believe one's connection to meaningful creativity creates spiritual, mental and physical health ultimately fostering a sense connection within oneself and with the outer world by positively impacting community and relationships.

Culturally, I see a shift of interest from a consumeristic mentality to an interest in the cultivation of local economies through the production and consumption of handmade, homegrown products, goods, food and arts. I am interested in traditional cultures and how they created meaning and beauty in their lives before big box stores, factory assembly lines and mass consumption. How were the personal, the spiritual and the beautiful created and shared?

I believe that we find a deeper meaning in life through the creation and appreciation of beauty. I imagine that my ancestors, the peasants of Poland and Hungary, created many things of beauty and meaning despite leading lives full of back breaking work for the benefit of the upper class. Wood working, paper cuts, embroidery, paintings, gardening, music making and story telling gave the peasantry an outlet to create and share stories, folk lore, traditions and beauty. I am looking to re-cultivate this mentality for myself, not only to connect with my personal history but to create homemade things of beauty and meaning, and build new bridges within my community both socially and economically.

I will create new work to show in community and commercial gallery’s based on my experience. I will share these ideas and what I learn with others through my work and presentations. And I plan to start my own handmade business using my designs.

Spring Around the House


Good morning!  My girl, Una, or Lala as we like to call her around here, has the right idea.  She stays in bed, snuggled under the covers on these cool, drizzly,spring days.  I would've liked to have stayed by her side this morning.  Last night we celebrated Passover with another couple and their kids.  Let me just say, I'm paying
the price for those "four glasses of wine" you are supposed to drink during the ritual dinner.  
Besides Lala staying in bed...what else is happening around the house these days?  The gardens are waking up which means I'm getting ready to put the pedal to the metal because it's time to work hard out there.  This past weekend we worked in the gardens transplanting raspberries and blueberry bushes before the rains came.  I was back raking my client's garden and lawn on Monday.  My muscles are waking up. I feel that familiar soreness that comes when I get back to work after the less strenuous winter months. Other things are waking up around the house as well.

The fig tree in my studio is putting out new growth and so are the apple and peach branches I pruned off the trees in my little orchard.  After a week of sitting in the warm house in water they are about to blossom.
It's warm and cozy in here next to the fire.  Here are some other signs of spring...

The hand dyed eggs that I have made with friends over the years are out on the dining table in the kitchen.  Yet another symbol that there is new life all around.
The blossom of the hyacinth that I bought at the grocery store has gone by but the green leaves and hot pink wrapping are a cheery sign of spring.
Now lets venture outside and see what's happening this time of year in the gardens....
I've cleared away wild blackberry canes that have been hiding this beautiful boulder.  I then found a lone tulip coming up in front of the rock.  Sharing space with the tulip is some Siberian iris and fern.  It's nice to meet you all!
If you look closely you might see the garlic that is coming up through the straw mulch.
Happy, wet daffodils are popping up everywhere.
The frogs are back in my little pond.  Look what they left attached to the submerged flower pot...frog eggs!
The Allium bulbs are catching glistening rain drops.
The first flowers are blooming...these pink Pulmonaria, a crocus, coltsfoot...
Green mosses and lichen add such beauty and interest to the many rocks around the gardens.

This week, the gray, drizzly days, have been a blessing.  I'm not working at the poster shop because of the Holidays.  So, I get to work at home on the projects here that are taking up so much time.  I am planning to study and travel in Central Europe this July and August.  I am going to Poland and Hungary to study the folk art of these two countries plus I will meet family in Poland, stay with friends in Hungary and visit the villages where my grandmother and grandfather's families lived before they came to America.  I can't wait to share more about my upcoming adventure with you.  For now the planning for this trip is taking up a lot of time and I have it this week! I'm reluctant to work in the rain in the gardens too so I can happily bask in the glow of my computer with a warm cup of coffee by my side...a little calm before the storm.  Next week I will be in PA visiting family and working. The first week of May I'm off...back to the garden work.
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Cats & Dolphins, Roosters & People



I love watching animals communicate.  Especially when the the communication is between different species of animals.  Life is rich in language and it's so gratifying to see when something meaningful is shared or conveyed with out words.  Isn't this video the sweetest thing?  The people, the dolphins and the cat seem to be smiling, laughing, loving and sharing a beautiful day on and in the water.

Today I had a sweet moment with my neighbor and my rooster.  My rooster's leg got caught up and wrapped tightly in some poultry fencing.  He couldn't move and the nylon was cutting into his skin.  I was at home alone and apprehensive to try and hold the rooster for the first time while cutting the fencing free from his leg.  I went and got my neighbor who knows animals really well.  I was nervous to handle my rooster for the first time as roosters can be nasty, peck you or try to stab you with their bone spurs.   Mr. Roosta and I have always respected each others space yet until today I have never picked him up and held him.  Two hens of mine hatched him and raised him so he is used to me feeding them and being around.  I bent down and gingerly picked him up, and there was no fight, no resistance, no aggression.  He was just a big, old love bug....  heavy too!  My neighbor and I pet him.  I touched his warm, red wattles, and then handed him to my neighbor after he cut the fencing free from his leg, while I went  in the house to get some Neosporin to put on the cut.   He was calm, sweet and still as can be!  I think he knew we were helping him.  I always have admired and respected how he talks with his hens and calls them over to choice bits of food or coo's to them in warning if a big bird flies over our land.  Now I feel more of a personal connection with Mr. Roosta while a new warmer, fuzzier place in my heart opened for him.
 
Here's Mr. Roosta in his old home last summer.  Now he's free ranging it with the ladies in the big back area of our yard.  

Sketchbook "Sunday" #9


Yup, it's Thursday really... but I like the sound of Sketchbook Sunday and I do have every intention of posting from my sketchbooks every Sunday... yet, sometimes life runs away with me, or maybe I run away with life?  I'm trying to be on top of things yet a few things were put off...which I do not like to do.  Well, here we are.

On my end, I've been dreaming and scheming.  An adventure including study and travel is in the making and I'm taken away with all of the planning.  Things are becoming clearer and coming together but I will wait to share my news until I am certain I will do what I intend to do.

My Polish Folk Art class came to a close last evening.  I really enjoyed the time there with the other women and the teacher.  There is somethings wonderful about being in an art class with other eager and enthusiastic students.  It brings me back to the best days in school from Kindergarten through University, which for me was art class day. 

Art class = learning, the imagination, creativity, the smell of paper, glue, paint, tables clean but stained with various art supplies, quiet attention, quiet chit-chat, time flying, looking at your friend's work, experimentation, interesting teachers, the rest of the world fades into the background, time stands still (but still flies while it appears to stop), possibilities loom, growing, happiness.

What does art class mean to you?  Do you have any memories or experiences to share?

When in Boston...

Last weekend I spent two and a half full and lovely days with my friend, Kate in Boston.  Although it was cold,  you couldn't have asked for a sunnier and more brilliant weekend. 

I was saying in a previous post that Kate is my dream museum companion.  Usually I prefer going to art museums on my own so I can take things in with out feeling any responsibility for the passage of time and other's interest or lack of.  After putting in a good half day at MASSMOCA last December with Kate,  I realized she is "the one" for me when it comes to museum companionship.  That said, I thought we'd spend some time in Boston's art museums.  We had every intention of doing so and going to the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston.  We even spent a half hour or so sitting and talking in the ICA building's outdoor amphitheater admiring this view.  


Something else was in the cards for us last weekend.  We ended up shopping, eating, talking, walking, drinking and being decadent girls together.  What fun!

Here's a view as we walked around the South End of Boston which is home to Kate's art studio.  One highlight of the weekend was treating ourselves to a late day cocktail at one of the best cocktail bars I have ever been to called DRINK in Fort Point.  I had a Cuban:  rum, mint, lime juice and champagne served in a champagne glass. 

 

Friday evening we met up with Kate's husband, Jeff and headed back to their sweet apartment in the South End.  Another guilty pleasure turned out to be listening to Pandora's "Sweet Freedom" radio station which played all the songs that got stuck in our heads back in the late 1980's...Micheal Mcdonald, Stevie Winwood, Tears for Fears...nice.  That night Indian food, good conversation and ice cream sundays were on the menu.


The next day we decided to walk off our food hangovers so we headed out and over to Boston Common where we made friends with this magnificent Redwood tree. 

After a bit of nature it was time for a bit of shopping.  These cuties waited patiently for their humans and drew a crowd of people "awwing" out on the sidewalk of Newbury Street. 


Here's a confession... Kate and I spent a considerable amount of time in Sephora at a mall (gasp) in town smelling and spritzing our selves with perfume.  I don't know what came over us...I don't even wear perfume!  It was a huge treat to bask in the possibilities that lie in something new...  a new scent, a new sparkly make-up color, a new way of being.  In a way,  I felt like I was at the movies but instead of sitting back in a dark room watching a life or story pass by on the screen I was living vicariously through the newness of all the items and objects we looked at, touched, tried on and smelled.  We walked and walked from one place to another looking, touching, smelling.

We never made it to the ICA that afternoon either...we were worn out from all the eye candy, new scents and walking.  Instead we had cups of Chai tea and rested our weary feet and heads in Jeff's office which he offered as a haven for us to collect ourselves and our senses after the day's escapades.

Saturday night I had a date to meet a friend and pianist, Andy Lantz, at The Club Cafe piano bar.  We arranged for me to sing a handful of songs with his accompaniment.  Kate, Jeff and I had cocktails and some food and soaked in the warm atmosphere and the great playing of songs from the American songbook.  I had such a nice time singing with Andy and found it a treat to sing some jazz material with just piano accompaniment and a wonderful pianist.

 zzzzzzzzzz

The sun rose to a new day and after oranges and coffee on Sunday morning we headed over here...


... to Kate's amazing art studio.  She shares a great space where she has room to spread out and work on her oil paintings and charcoal creations.  I LOVE her work and where it is going.  The lines, depth, values and colors create organic worlds which for me conjure up nervous system pathways, kelp sea forest, seed shapes, the circulatory system, feathers, hair...  they seem to be both micro and macro points of view and abstractions.  Here are a few more peeks of her space and her artwork.  Her website is being developed as I write this and will be up in a few weeks.  I will post a link to it in the future when it is up and running. She gave me a preview look at the website and it looks great.  I can't wait to share it with you so you can see her and her work in a more professional light. 


Thanks Kate, Jeff, Andy and Boston for a wonderful weekend!

Sketchbook Sunday #8

 
It's a sunny day outside which makes for a sunny palette in my studio.  

I'm in Boston visiting a dear friend this weekend.  It is always inspiring hanging out with her so I know there will be a post or two coming this week about my time spent in the city with Kate.  We make great art museum companions and love to talk about the details found in most anything and everything.  She is a very, very talented artist so I hope to take some pictures or her in her studio with her work.  Keep posted for more to come...

Have a wonderful Sunday!