Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me get unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and get new ideas to create something. It is part of my philosophy about Artful Adventures in Mixed Media – which is the subject of my book. Here are some photos that I gathered in the last couple weeks.

Loving this mural on this building – the blue is mesmerizing …which is good…because usually when I see the mural…I sit in traffic LOL

Silly little guy looking at me through the flowers

I always love when people put flower pots out in front of their apartments onto the sidewalk – it just makes me happy to see some green. Those are all old storefronts that at some point became apartments.

Low tide at the Hudson River – after all those years the view of Lady Liberty and Manhattan never gets dull.

Massive work in our garden, we put a new fence in and also a dry well. I will show new pix once the grass came back – it looks really good now but picture hurt me a bit .

Oh and this is the first year we are actually harvesting figs from our fig tree- this was the first bunch but so far we had about 20-30 figs and they keep on coming. yum yum yum

Two silly boys waiting for their food …they start this process about 1 -2 hours before their feeding time …

Which reminds me – this is a wonderful piece by Natalya Khorover of our house. She printed some historic maps on dryer sheets, stitched and embroidered – it is so special and wonderful. The picture cannot even do this piece justice. And some of the elements she stitched onto the piece are the same you see carved into our fireplace below

And …she also embroidered the two silly cats to the piece …so of course this has to hang above this fireplace and the cat’s feeding spot :) And that was it – a bit of a home stroll . Until next time! Hope you guys are enjoying summer as much as I do.

Nat

Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me get unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and get new ideas to create something. It is part of my philosophy about Artful Adventures in Mixed Media – which is the subject of my book. Here are some photos that I gathered in the last couple weeks.

Love this cute coffee place – once in a while I stop here with a friend and sit out side and admire the color combo.

You wouldn’t wanna miss this picture of Bobby Pretzel showing his insanely big tongue, no?

Fun – I would love something like this at the side of our house !

Check out the windows on this super cute house – swoon!!!!

And the top – the scallops , the lines – all of it.

This building just struck me a bit over the top …like let’s put some gigantic columns up just for “good measure” LOL. It looks even more ridiculous in person but I bet the inside of the house is pretty cool.

I love this street- the houses are like from a Victorian novel and the trees are gorgeous- take away the cars and you are almost back in time.

Love the bold color choices here. Lately it is been such a fad to paint entire houses in dark black or dark blue without any distinction for the trims, cornices, porches and roofs – especially some of the Victorians and old brick houses and I find it eye-rollingly annoying. I love black – don’t get me wrong and I and I am cool with non historic color choices for those houses but urgggghh. The only thing worse for me is vinyl siding …so if you paint your hole vinyl sided house black, you improved it slightly LOL. I am not an expert but I predict in about 2 years everyone is tired of that look and repaints. It just makes a house loose all it’s character and is as if you put a formless tent over yourself …Baby show those curves and wonderful assets of a house :) …and if you do not know what I mean – I will make sure to incorporate a picture next time. And if you have done this to your house lately – your house is of course the exception – and I know it is looking awesome :)

Nat

Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me get unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and get new ideas to create something. It is part of my philosophy about Artful Adventures in Mixed Media – which is the subject of my book. Here are some photos that I gathered in the last couple weeks.

Love the facade – those details on the bay windows – be still my heart.

Which reminds me of this one – I love love love the balcony on top – and the cornice swoon. Every time walk to the post office to drop off your packages- I swoon over this house.

Speaking of Bay Windows- I loved this pop of color on this one. These little town houses are so cute and the brick work and the little terra-cotta (the white painted ones above the bay window between the second floor windows) tiles are amazing.

I also love the details on this art deco apartment building. It is a very simple brick house but the blue details are stunning.

This church with it’s magnificent brick details is amazing by itself- but look at the details of the windows. I hope someday soon I can go back in and take some inside photos -before the pandemic I never hit a time where there wasn’t a mass inside.

My favorite Mural ….

If you have followed me for a while you might recall I love Alliums- this one is gigantic again and I am so happy to say hello to my old friend !

This sign made me really chuckle – I think I am overcomplicating my pricing system – LOL- what do you think ;)

This house which I actually thought would be just torn down now looks as if it is getting restored. I am curious to see what happens. Which reminds me

I showed this photo a while ago – the house on the right has been in this boarded up abandoned State for years and years.

The house built in 1901 used to belong to a very well off Dr. Muller who apparently was very well off and used to travel to Europe every year- apparently he did about 22 Atlantic crossings. He was on one of his big Europe travels right when WWII broke out and was trapped on a German ship not being able to get back home and was met with a lot of press when he finally managed to get home via some other countries and landed in Hoboken.

Anyway- look what happened over the winter – they fixed it up. I dare to say there is probably not much left of the original house and I wish I could have seen what it looked like underneath the horrid aluminum siding but part of me is a little bit happy that it is still standing.

Speaking of pleasant surprises – this house in my neighborhood – a former firehouse is being restored as well

Look at the gorgeous brick and the cool Firehouse sign being revealed again. It is so much fun to see those buildings come to live again. This was it this month – up and until next month – I hoped you enjoyed the stroll. 

Nat

Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me get unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and get new ideas to create something. It is part of my philosophy about Artful Adventures in Mixed Media – which is the subject of my book. Here are some photos that I gathered in the last couple weeks.

Loved seeing this church with the gorgeous terra cotta tiles and took a double take when I realized the writing was in German. I know that this neighborhood in Jersey City had a bigger amount of Germans around 1850 – 1900 but it was the first time I actually noticed traces of that.

Loe the two different hand painted signs on the brick – very cool.

I love those flowers in my garden – they remind me of my childhood as those were some of my mother’s favorite flowers as well. Nature is so cool!

I am not sure you realized how hard it is for me to work on the computer because that is what I see everyday on my desk next to my key board …so much cuteness!

Someone working on some serious curb appeal …fun though.

I didn’t see who made this -bad me – but loved the colors and swirls – fun stencil work.

Karate Kitty – makes me happy :)

And Dance Bears – same artist as the Karate Kitty – Sean 9 Lugo

Such a cool church window- I wonder how this church looks like inside.

Boarded up house- look at this magnificent Eastlake Door and all the wood details. Hopefully it will find a loving owner some day.

I am so happy now that the weather is so much nicer that we can stroll around the hood more again. We actually have a plan of walking all of Jersey City …let’s see- hahaha- We have to redo some of the many areas we walked already over the years- so it is like starting from zero …but it is the best way to get to know your city and it is quite fun. I will let you know about our progress and if we fail…well ….we won’t hahah ;)

Nat

Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me get unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and get new ideas to create something. It is part of my philosophy about Artful Adventures in Mixed Media – which is the subject of my book. Here are some photos that I gathered in the last couple weeks.

Mingus and my husband working on some chords- LOL . One of the things I love about cats is how they see everything with the eyes of a toy, prey or food hahaha – basically can I play with this pencil, can I hunt it, can I eat it?

These wooden entrances are just making me so happy! 

Stencil inspiration – at an apartment building in my neighbor hood. 

Secret Beach is open until the end of the Month and I loved coming here at low tide.

It was so good to be out even though it was crazy windy that day.

Little green hearts!!! 

And this on a tree close to the beach looks like  a sea shell  – I thought that was cool! 

A little bike ride to the edge of the river …this view is on my list of painting subjects. It was so good to be able to get out of the house on a bicycle again – I am missed my daily bike rides. Now that it gets warmer every day I feel much more energized and hopefully for what the year brings :) Hope you are all doing well! Are you exploring the outside a bit more too? Tell me about i! 

Nat

Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me get unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and get new ideas to create something. It is part of my philosophy about Artful Adventures in Mixed Media – which is the subject of my book. Here are some photos that I gathered in the last couple weeks.

Puzzling – was it a window and then covered up? And then there are elements missing …I like it :)

I love the sign – the font and the butterfly – for this flower store.

I am always intrigued by bright colors on brick ad I love those big eyes.

Def. a sign from a while ago.

This green little house intrigued me. Is it Santa’s Shop?

A hidden treasure of Art Deco – I walked past this building a million times, never realized the name on the building nor the top of the entrance.

I loooovee Cornices- – I have a little bit of a obsession for them – but this one is the coolest- look at the corner !

Love those bears peaking out from the closed windows and I love the brick work underneath some o f the windows.

This house makes me scream. Sometime in the 40s or 50s some guy must have walked around in Jersey City and told the citizens “hey guys, your house would look sooooo much better if you would just put some aluminum siding onto it” and 80 percent of the people did. I hate it – you know there is some beauty underneath those sidings!

Lot’s of signs down this week- probably from the storm .

Lovely Cardinal .

Interesting beautification of this lion LOL

Loved those hands in their rusty cans.

Great mural by Mr. Mustart and I like the blue painted brick building. I especially like that the trim is painted in a light color. I dislike the fashion fad right now where everyone seem to paint the old brick buildings in dark colors but without any distinction of the trim or roof and all those buildings look like shapeless blobs.

Not only was the house itself amazing- but this door was fun. We are actually getting a new door soon – maybe meanwhile I can have a go at the old one LOL.

Lovely view of Manhattan from Riverview Park.

Fairy house – actually the only house you could possibly afford on this street ;)

RIP John Lewis!!!

What a beautiful house – it is in bad shape but it looks as if there is some restoration starting soon.

Thanks for joining me on this stroll – I hope to see you next month again.

Nat

Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me get unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and get new ideas to create something. It is part of my philosophy about Artful Adventures in Mixed Media – which is the subject of my book. Here are some photos that I gathered in the last couple weeks.

I realized that I did not post a Stroll Through the Hood in November and so ..you get some travel back in time…which then is kind of a review isn’t it ?LOL. The picture above is from a stoop concert we attended …socially distanced and masked up …it was wonderful. I miss live music and those outside gigs were the best – alas in the colder weather now there is now way there will be much.

We did a Bicycle Halloween tour through the neighborhood. I loved this guy’s selfmade costume!!!

One of our wonderful neighbors gave us her orginal Eastlake door which in the same style used to grace this area in our living room. We had to buy the hardware for it and obviously I screwed up on the door handle – wrong side …and then we said …”yeah we kinda like it upside down” and also …2020. So if the house still stands in 100 years and the door is still in, they will wonder what was going on here hahahah.

And here is the door. The transom is orginal to our house and I am soooo stoked how the door completes this. What a wonderful gift this was. Every day I walk by I am super duper happy. The vestibul you see through the glass needs an update as well – some other project and one of the stained glass panels is missing- we will have that also replaced some time.

Look at the Bauhaus like stained glass light show I get now everyday on the livingroom floor- makes me want to paint this.

First snow storm of the winter – Pretzel was very interested in this. I love the light …the cable salad …crazy – one of the things still after 7 years in the US I shake my head at.

Opening the door the next morning – Never is snow more beautiful when at that stage and then …especially in a city -it goes down hill quick – LOL.

I played with a template and painting with acrylic markers on our garden door. It was super fun and I like it …but boy …it is not easy to do this through double glass hahaha- need more practice. I have some ideas for future ones …stay tuned.

Meet Thelonious, our Christmas Tree – best tree ever- we met friends at a Christmas Tree Farm and spent a fun day outside cutting our own tree. This will be for sure a new tradition and having the opportunity to see our friends …even though it was REALLY freezing – was amazing.

I think Mingus heard Santa – LOL. Our fireplace with some wonderful cards – all those cards made me happy.

Some festive decoration in the neighborhood. Actually goals for next year- those wreaths are so cool – and the garland looks a million bucks …versus our …kind of sad one hahaha.

Even the No Parking Signs were festive this year!

Although…this one not so much

And I loved seeing this wreath put up on the door of the abandoned warehouse I love so much. It made me think of hope ..here is hope for 2021.

This year was a tough one for sure- for many of us! But I am also grateful for many things – like my father -in-law who contracted Covid19 in the hospital being well again and finally home after 7 months in the hospital and for many – even if only on zoom- wonderful hours with family and friends. I am grateful for my husband, and our dopey food stealing kitties , our home and that I was able to paint a lot this year in my studio.  I am grateful for you, my dear readers and students for all your support and your comments. It meant a lot to me this year, you kept me going and gave me purpose. I hope I have brought you a little bit of light and joy as well in 2020 and I am determined to be here for you in 2021 as well either on the blog here, in my classes or on FB in Nat’s Creative Hood.

Farewell 2020 …don’t let the door hit you in the face …or maybe actually why not – you deserve it ;) 

Nat

Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me get unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and get new ideas to create something. It is part of my philosophy about Artful Adventures in Mixed Media – which is the subject of my book. Here are some photos that I gathered in the last couple weeks.

hehehe what can I say? Mingus is the worst thief ever- here he is after we caught him stealing frothed milk ….but he is pretty funny no?

I loved this picture at the Secret Beach – the Family was running around in the sun and I thought it was cute how they had lined up their shoes on those tiny horseshoe crab shells.

this view from the beach to Lady Liberty gets never old for me.

Funny flying critters :) I love how all construction plywood is always instantly turned into something colorful in this city.

Weird orange car- I wonder what this was …like a little electric car or so? I feel this car could be a model for a comic and should speak :)

We got a mini portable fire pit and have been enjoying it in our little garden on the cooler nights already.

A new bakery opened in my neighborhood and I love their decoration and the baked goods are also very good :)

I voted. And I am not actually giving you a stink eye (not sure what is going on there) but if you haven’t voted yet I might ;) This is my first presidential election as a U.S. citizen.

This house looks like it should be in some Bavarian forest LOL.

These are the judging faces of cats when you left the house for a long period and they are not used to you being outside for a long time anymore. I wonder how they look if we travel some day again.

Still enjoying the weekend jam sessions – and this little guy is the cutest. He was so fascinated by the drums and could not stop looking at them. I think he will ask for a drum set. I saw him again two weekends later and he is still as entranced.

I must have walked past this little window on the side of a corner a couple times but never noticed it until now- I also love the brick inlay – so cool!

We got a new handrail and I am so excited about the little rosettes we picked out as they are very similar to the ones that are in our banister

Nat