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.
So hard to believe that it is already November – and while I am dreading winter before it even started I nonetheless loving the ambience that comes with the seasons …and hey …I got an antique oil lamp and I looooveee it.
I am also taking a class at NYU in Historic Preservation and a lot of my assignments are to take a stroll through the hood and take pictures of certain architectural features – HA – great – you asked the right person LOL. Anyway- for my assignment to photograph pilasters I thought the class would enjoy this gem of a house ;) No sugar coating back then!
A wonderful Cafe in our neighborhood offered a great dinner and we went with friends. The theme was 1894 – the year the building in which the cafe is set, was built and the owner and cook not only researched all those recipes, he also told the story and background of each course. It was so much fun.
Now I am sure you are as nervous as we were about the “Pickled Ear”
I am happy to report all was good- no Jersey Style chopped ear was served ;) An ear of corn ….which was delicious.
Other than that we are still doing a lot of renovation and updates in the house. The picture above is the curtesy of the seller …we call this usually a landlord’s special – when they just paint everything with flat paint – including hardware etc. without doing anything like priming etc. In this case it was especially stupid and bad as it was painted on top of a layer of oil paint. Don’t ask me how I feel about taking this all off …I am ready to pickle an ear ;)
We are also working on a new guest powder room and we cannot wait for it to be done. This used to be the super dark laundry room in the basement. I actually think that initially the cook might have slept here as the cook often times was also the laundress and according the censuses from 1890 and 1900 they lived in house. Plus this room downstairs has a window. So I think the cook was here and the other servants have lived upstairs …but we will probably never know for sure. In any event …this is what it will be in the future. The blue on the wood panelling is called Skinny Jeans …I love the name!
Hope you enjoyed the stroll this month – see you soon :)
