New York 2009 Part 3

Onto Brooklyn and back to the DUMBO area - here is another piece of random art based upon hands cut out of mirrors. And a closeup of that quilt that was hanging on a fence (see October 10th entry).

A view of the Empire State Building as we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.

For some reason rats were taking over the Financial District...

And the terminal for the free Staten Island Ferry that takes you past the Statute of Liberty.

The Washington Square Park Arch - a major landmark in Manhattan and surrounded by New York University. Much history can be read about on the link.

We were in the Metropolitan Museum of Art for 7 hours and I could show you hundreds of pictures but you'd get bored (and I highly recommend you go there yourself!) Instead, here is the high tea we had for lunch... and grass ceremonial costumes from the South Pacific.

But I can't miss introducing you to El Anatsui. He makes fabric out of recycled metal pieces - I am in awe of his work. My biggest regret was that he was here in Calgary talking at the Glenbow Museum this October and I was out of town. Major works of his opened at the Royal Ontario Museum this summer and he has shown all around the world - more info on him here.

And on our last day we ventured out to Coney Island - exactly what I expected - amusement park on the beach and home of Nathan's, where the hot dog eating contest is held each year.

My favourite shot of my daughter's - the Empire State Building with the fog moving in one night as we walked home.

New York 2009 Part 2

Flying into Newark Airport in New Jersey (hooray for Westjet, our favourite Canadian airline, and their direct flight from Calgary) - this is a shot of the south end of Manhattan.


Tenements on the east side - building after building and their fire escapes.


The turtle pond in Central Park.


Into the Natural History Museum and getting shots of motifs from South Pacific Islands.





Entertainment and Liz at the Bethesda Fountain, Central Park.



The ubiquitous horse drawn carriages outside The Plaza hotel to tour Central Park.


Windows at Bergdorf Goodman shop - the dogs are made out of foam core, layered vertically.


Radio City Music Hall and what is NYC without a shot of Times Square?

New York 2009 part 1

My 23 year old daughter complained that she had not had a vacation for a couple of years what with summer jobs and completing her university degree. She decided she wanted to visit New York City and was looking for someone to accompany her - I quickly jumped up and down and said "pick me!"

We squeezed the trip in at the end of August in-between her finishing her summer job and taking off for six months to travel southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand (how that doesn't count as not going anywhere, I am not quite sure!)

I was going to collect photos of graffiti but it is getting hard to find it in NYC (they have cleaned the city up so much!) I had found out two special areas in Chelsea and Brooklyn but although we got just blocks away from one of them, we had to rush off to the theatre to catch our 7pm show.

This is one example I did find - right on Houston Street by the delicious Russ and Daughters bagel / deli.

Close up of the right hand side image shows a collage of sorts:

and the Batwoman-like image is made of LEGO blocks:


At the Union Square farmer's market we came across some unusual flowers:
(Okay, here they look like straw flowers but they are not that when you see them in person!)


We then wandered over to the Natural History Museum on the west side of Central Park and in the special exhibit on Margaret Mead and her Samoa adventures I found these sketches of Pacific Indian art.


Then it was over to Brooklyn to walk around the DUMBO area (one of NY's premiere art districts), get the views across the East River of the Manhattan skyline, and then stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge. On the bridge I was looking for artsy shots of the wonderful wire that make up its suspension.
and then taking photos of the Manhattan skyline through the wires:

In DUMBO, the only textile art I found was this quilt flapping in the wind (I think Liz has closeup shots of it on her camera... these photos were all mine, tomorrow I will continue with some of hers.)