Showing posts with label New York art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York art. Show all posts

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Recharging the batteries at Red Hook

Saturday morning time for fun! Well after the gym that is.

Last week's trip home, ArtFEST and jumping right back into work and working out left me feeling a bit drained. The RX? Rest? Nah... a day trip is in order.

A while back I took a hidden harbor boat tour around the New York Harbor and we went past Red Hook which is in Brooklyn. I loved the look of the old Civil War buildings and the decrepidness of it all. So it was on my mental list of places to visit.

IKEA offers a free boat shuttle over to Red Hook since that is where their huge home furnishing store is located. So we hopped aboard- thanks for the ride IKEA!

After checking out the signage to get our bearings we started our journey.
Which way to fun?

The first stop was checking out the buildings I had seen from the boat. Turns out they were pre-Civil War and housed supplies for the troops.

View of the pre-Civil War buildings


As we were walking we found the building housing THE BROOKLYN WATERFRONT ARTISTS COALITION. So we bopped in to check it out. There was a wide variety of work and the setting was awesome.
Next along the way we found some other art living wild out in the elements but quite spectacular.

I called this one "Garden Party"

Another intriguing mural
We walked along and snapped a few pics here and there.

Wild flowers grew every where in Red Hook

I never can resist photographing a fence full of these things
Parts of Red Hook reminded me of a worn out Savannah or Wilmington. It made me feel quite at home but I could imagine in the dead of winter it would be quite a dismal place.

We happened upon the Red Hook Bait and Tackle Bar. Arriving inside I was quite happily surprised! I have a thing for taxidermy and this place was filled with it.

Quite a lovely display atop the piano

What a wonderful life vest holder
They also had just a lovely display of Prize Ribbons. My latest kick.

Vintage Prize Ribbons
One of my Prize Ribbons
Luckily I had done a tad bit of research prior to our trip and had read about some Key Lime pie. Now this is my favorite dessert so we had to find this joint. Steve's Key Lime pies. Turns out they were quite yummy.

Yum yum

On our way back to the boat home we caught a glimpse of a strange black house with stuff hanging all over it. This warranted a tiny detour to check it out. As I took the photo I noticed a man either asleep or passed out in the garage area. Now he must surely be a character!

This house was covered in black paper
All in all it was a nice trip. I will be going back again when the weather is bright and sunny. For now my batteries have been recharged and I'm good to go!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Studio tour

For a close to a week my older sister has been visiting me here in the city. We had a ball! We went to Ellis Island, The High Line, Grand Central, did a walking tour to see where Edgar Allen Poe, John Wilkes Booth and other note-ables lived. I surely enjoyed the time off of work and art. Sometimes you need a breather.

My sister is also an artist. I love her stuff. Check her out- Lisa Ocampo.

Today I just got back into preparing for my show in September. I made some display boxes today covered with carnival tickets. Not sure exactly yet how I will use them. But I think these will add some interest to my table.


Since I don't have a lot to report about on the art front. I figured this would be a good time for a studio tour. Such as it it!
This is my studio! I do my painting and jewelry making right here.

Right next door to my studio is my computer lab.



Adjacent to the computer lab is my "vast" library or carnival and circus books. Oh and a sleeping puppy.


Why I even have my own vented spray booth!
When we moved here I knew space would be an issue. We were hoping to get a 2 bedroom. That way I could have a separate room to work in. We ended up with a 1 bedroom. So the studio is in the living room. Luckily it is quite a long room and we actually have a bigger living room area than we did back home in Winston.

It is a good thing that I like working small. But I have done one large piece since we've lived here. I did our family portrait circus banner. It is about 4 feet tall.

O'Brien Family Portrait
There are plenty of artist studios to rent here in the city but that costs money... a lot of money. Plus I like working at home so I can be with Monster, Elvira and Miss Kitty.

Monster




Miss Kitty
On the occasion I feel quarters are too tight- I just remember that I have the best back yard in the world!