I am so happy it is finally April – I love seeing every day the changes in the park, the trees and also …nothing better than a month of no heating and no A/C -bliss! Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and to 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.

Just soaking in the first sun beams through a tree that starts to bloom- AHHHH

Every time I pick up our CSA eggs I come across this awesome old street sign – I love it.

Excited like a little kid seeing the first flower in our garden at the house- woot woot!!!

Speaking of the house- here is a photo of our masterbedroom where we have taken down the chimney breast. Love the texture …on a photo – in real life this is pretty dusty-disgusting-workintensive. Hopefully the permits for our main reno are coming through soon so we can start and then hopefully can move in as planned later this summer.

We kept some of the good looking bricks and the hearth of the fireplace. The initial fireplace was relocated into my studio as we wanted to keep the beautiful mantle. We probably will use the hearth for a shelf – it is so called blue stone.

Here is the summer cover of the former bedroom – now my “fake” fireplace in my studio. I love it. I painted the hole behind it black and I am now scraping off old paint flecks from the fireplace. Thanks whoever didn’t cover up the fireplace when painting back in the days…sigh

Now that the weather is getting better we are also bicycling around more in Jersey City. This old gothic-revival church is actually an Historic Landmark – unfortunately it is falling apart and warning signs on the door even tell firefighters to abandon. So sad.

On the right another house also falling apart and boarded up. It is really mind blowing that this city so close to New York City- I mean I am faster in Manhattan than most people in Brooklyn or other parts of NYC – has these two sides.

I always wanted to take a picture of this mural – there – finally made it ;)

This one is also pretty cool! Now that is a big guard dog ;)

I love this sign – the shape, the patina, the fonts. My friend Cheiron told me she remembers eating this brand of ice cream and now I want some :) On that note- what is your favorite Ice cream?

Nat

March!!! woot woot- finally things are getting warmer- LOL. I cannot wait to get the bike out again. Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and to 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.

Indoor light inspiration at a concert of The Chills – it was a fun evening out with a couple of our friends and bonus – just around the corner from us.

One of our fire place grates – needs some cleaning- how freaking awesome is this? I cannot believe how lucky we are to have it :)

We have four fireplaces – one is working again after we rebuild and relined the chimney and built a new fire box. One was at a bad spot so we moved it to my studio and – woohoo it didn’t crack! Score

This is how a dismantled mantel looks like. The mason created an inside brick wall for the mantel and I painted the wall black- I share some pix later once we have everything fixed up on the wall as well.

We also got some old vintage tiles at an architectural salvage place – they are for a border in our kitchen backsplash and mimic the design of our banister and some of the door frame designs. I know I am a  nut but when I spied those tiles I was instantly like “we have to have those”. That was before we even had the house and ever since I was worried they would sell the tiles before we go them…so ….last week I made it at 8am to the place to get them …yes….it is THAT bad ;)

Fun colorful mural in my soon to be hood.

And …the St. Pauli NYC sign – YESSSS -my home soccer team from Germany has a fan club in Brooklyn and we finally made it there. Loving it! Made me feel like being in Hamburg for a couple hours.

Hope you all have a great month and are up for some stroll through your hood! Cannot wait to show more pix from my new one and I will also put some house pix in once in a while.

Nat

January climbed up in my ranking from least favorite month to one of my favorite months – and the reason is Creative JumpStart. So much fun in the class if yet lots of work. A Stroll through the hood though helps to clear my head and get new ideas. I do have to admit though that the later it gets in January, the more frigid and hard those strolls are in the cold (writing this as it is -12C/10 F) Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and to 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.

On our search for a house we have branched out to some other areas in the city and it is fun to discover new murals -this one is pretty cool- love the colors and design. (and yes that was a warmer day)

YESSSS- Love it :) Fence art – I assume by Norman Kirby again. Love the ribbon writing and where it is located.

Look at this wallpaper – oh my!!!!

Look at this cool old sign – painted a million times I guess. Love the yellow. The store belonging to the sign is empty but something is happening in there- so I really hope they will keep this cool sign.

some graffiti  – love the shading – what a great dimensional effect.

And awweee yummie colorful lettering!

The old Stanley Theater – love those ticket booths – and such an interesting mix of texture and materials all around.

More fence art- how cute is that?

And I am sorry but this was just too funny to pass up …this is what I have to deal with every day at home …no wonder I need to get out hahahahaha- Cuteness- Weirdo- Overload

We also went to an architectural salvage place- OMG – those stain glass skylights? I want one- hahahah- for 25,000 Dollars one can be mine …sigh …But pretty amazing!!!

As well as this iron cast fence- I could have spent hours there …but it was soooo cold.

This ceiling in a cafe my friends and I went for lunch was just so interesting – with its texture, color and pattern. It is a reverse painted glass ceiling and because of a fire on the upper floors in the beginning of the last century some of the fire fighting water ran down to the ceiling damaging some of the painted areas which make for this texture now. This gave me an idea for a project I want to do  – I hope to share soon. Actually I am going to do this as soon as I finish this blog post :)

This sign in an area near the Holland Tunnel in a kind of forgotten area of the city always cracks me up…or maybe it is also a bit sad…as if nothing ever happened here again past the 80s. Anyone still owns a boom box????

I hope you enjoyed this stroll through the hood and I hope you join me in February again :) Have a fantastic week

Nat

Phew what a month ! I love December with all it’s craziness – but a Stroll through the hood always helps me a bit to cope with this busy time. Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and to 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 have to sneak in a picture of Bobby Pretzel looking at our new ornament – A Pretzel LOL

A fun Saturday selling my prints, ornaments, mugs and original artwork at the Holiday Market here in the city.

We brought those handmade candles over from Japan and I love how they look on the mid-century candle holder I found at my friend’s booth at the market.

speaking of Christmas decoration – my aunt made these napkin rings in the 60s and they crack me up so much. I pinned them to the christmas tree skirt this year and I am in love. My Friend Sandra said they look evil – I think Santa looks mischievous LOL.

Funny Mural Kim and I saw when we were in the city.

A new cafe opened and I love their tin ceiling – can I just lay on the floor while I sip my coffee?

More gorgeous details to see while house hunting – that fireplace- OMG- I love everything about it! The pattern, the carving, the ironwork , the color!

this really cool old stove – a model from 1939-1945 – and yes – I looked it up hahahaha – I love it! I am swooning of a new kitchen themed stamp set- LOL

I also loved this window – look at those colors and the pattern- so cool!

Speaking of house hunting we saw soooooo many houses, didn’t get houses, almost got houses, gave up on houses …but I learned so much with every single one. Like the Victorian way of A/C and keeping the houses cool and little things about the neighborhoods – I love it and so I started a sketch book about the houses we really loved and what I learned and found out.

I also went to my friend’s baby shower – and since part of the family is Peruvian this table decoration made me so happy. I kept it and will paint it for an ornament! Llama fun!

I hope you have a gorgeous week and don’t forget to breathe and step out for a minute!!! Loves!

Nat

Happy Thanksgiving my Friends in the U.S. What a better day for a Stroll Through the Hood post :) . Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and to 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.

Dramatic fall backdrop for this cute Pretzel :)

And a dramatic sun set with our city and Manhattan as a backdrop

House Hunting is a fun way to explore a wider range of hoods in my city- and I came across this amazing church – wow. I love the wood facade and the little tower!

See we have nature in our city …and apparently Mario Bros fans :)

A beautiful bathroom window in an open house we saw – love the pattern!

Brownstone galore n the rain – I love the little bits and pieces of orange on the stoops

One of my favorite floors in an open house – gosh – looooveeee!

A Lord of the Rings deck with a mural underneath – also big love!!! It is really fun to see all those backyards- it is a hidden world in the hood.

A very cute and for this area cheap house …but then upon entering you know it is totally overpriced. Totally dangerous inside as it falls apart. But it must have been gorgeous in his hay-days .

Fun wall paper in that house in the kitchen …I bet there were more fun details but I was like “get me out of here” – I am adventurous but not THAT adventurous LOL.

Hope you have a wonderful day and for those of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving today- I wish you beautiful day- filled with family, friends and good food. Thank you for being part of my Artful Adventures – lots of love

Nat

Time for a Stroll Through the Hood . Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and to 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 love sunny fall days- and when I step out of the house I love how the old pencil factory looks in the morning sun

This scene made me laugh hard when I was walking to pick up our CSA box. Hilarious!

We went to the library for some research and I love the stair case

also the cool iron gate with its track in the marble landing – so cool

Speaking of our building, I still wonder who and why those little faces were put into the column. I have never seen this anywhere else so far -any ideas? I wonder if it was kind of like a joke by the masons or if it was supposed to keep evil spirits away or something else- LOL

We had the annual Downtown Jersey City Market and my friends offered these really cool cookie jars. I am still sad I didn’t get them , but then …there is also only so much space in our apartment.

First pumpkin sighting of the month

And…my favorite Art Supply store around the corner moved …”Eat the Rich” is the message they left behind – I am sad. The building will be torn down and another “luxury” apartment building will go up in its place. At least the art supply store is staying in business but I loved walking by and buying my stuff there – support small business guys …preach it and do it.

Brownstone galore …also …see the sidewalk ..not good for your ankles …I sprained my ankle- oh well..

I do love all the iron work on those brownstones- this was just newly painted

Look at Bobby Pretzel seeing Sun Flowers for the first time of his life …Niles looks at me as if to say “This whipper snapper is soooooo ridiculous” hahahah.

Hope you enjoyed the Stroll Through the Hood- until next time :)

Nat

Time for a Stroll Through the Hood . Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and to 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.

Enjoying the gorgeous light and skylights in the evening while sitting on the deck – we love eating outside and do so almost everyday for dinner when weather allows.

Some fun little dog hedges I saw when walking through the hood.

I love brick – there is something so cool and rough about it -but I also love how this old green sprinkler alarm looks on the brick wall. And the font mix is pretty pretty cool too.

The amazing boarded houses you discover while taking a bike tour through the city- such a pretty house – I wonder if it will ever restored or just torn down.

Also loved finding this old fashioned sign – so fun!

On the way home after a nice night out with my girlfriends.

The pedestrian area in Jersey City all painted for the Pride Week- so much fun!

Some people know Jersey City only from its most ugly side- the street to the Holland Tunnel to go into NYC …but at least there is a gigantic mural there now …a glimpse of color.

And sorry …LOL- cannot help myself – I have a hard time leaving the house lately because Bobby Pretzel (check him out on instagram) is just so adorable.

He loves to discover new places and play fetch – and makes me laugh a LOT :) Very inspiring. But I will be in trouble as soon as he can hop onto my workbench in the studio :)
That was it from the Hood – I hope you enjoyed it – see you next month

Nat