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Last night Colman went to the annual auction at the Staten Island Orchid Society.  He came home with a number of plants, this cattleya is particularly striking. 

I’ve just finished a few new pieces of jewelry. Purchasing the tumbling mill last week has given me the ability to finish, polish and harden metal at home so I don’t have to go into the studios at FIT to use their machines. The tumbler uses steel shot instead of the steel pins in the magnetic polishers at school. The pins shined and hardened the pieces but left a finely marked surface that wasn’t always appropriate, the steel shot takes a lot longer but gives the pieces a brighter, burnished surface that I like better. the pendants were pieces that I made a long time ago but never finished for one reason or another. The bracelet is all new, made with cast bezels and finished with a forged toggle of my own design. I’ll be putting these pieces up on my Etsy store in a day or two. Here are the pendants. This ‘Moon and Earth’ pendant is about 2 inches wide. 

The oval is large,  about 3 x 4 inches.

All the stones in the bracelet are 10 x 12 mm, marbled khaki turquoise alternating with oval Jade cabochons. It’s about 7.75 inches long 

I made several stops in the Diamond District before heading downtown, here’s a progress shot of the foundation for the new Diamond Building. Since I’m in the area about once a week I’ll take progress shots as the building goes up, I haven’t heard how tall it will be yet and am not sure I will like having all the dealers in a vertical arrangement. It’s so much more convenient to walk the street like a Mall to see all the dealers displays, it will change the street dramatically if they are all contained in a tower. 

After delivering and shopping at to New York Central Art Supply I decided it would be easier to walk up to 20th street to see Marge at Talas and then on to visit Weldon Design.  As I approached Union Square from Fourth Avenue the skies darkened as a storm was passing threateningly overhead. Sunlight was still getting through and it lit the New York Life Tower as if it were set in an opera. I took these shots just before crossing 14th street and entering the park.  

Crossing into Union Square I was surprised to see that the market has expanded to practically encompass the park, it was teeming with shoppers and all kinds of fresh produce, baked goods, art, plants and peoples pets.

Friday, Colman and I went into the city to deliver paper and samples. We parked the car in the big lots on the far side of the ball park. Some of the new trees were in bloom, one type with large heart shaped leaves had large clusters of white flowers on it. here’s a shot of the whole tree followed by a close up of the flowers. Since the trees are new and young, there are branches close to the ground and we were able to see, and smell, the flowers up close. It is a very nice fragrance, the flowers are nicely marked with purple and yellow spotting.

   This weekend marks the first Art by the Ferry exhibition, a showcase for Staten Island artists and performers. Musical performances and readings at various venues will take place again next weekend along with the displays in the galleries, all within walking distance of the Ferry Terminal.

Saturday night we attended an opening at Gallery 6 on Beach Street. It’s a beautiful, Manhattan style loft space with good lighting. The show, Skin, features a lot of nudes in painting and sculpture.  It was the first time for me to see my friend Susan’s paper pulp sculptures presented in a gallery setting. Robert introduced some new large paintings of sycamore tree trunks, the compositions like close ups of aging bodies with greenish skin; a surprise, but an approach not too far from his figurative subject matter. I didn’t take any photos, maybe next weekend we’ll visit Gallery 6 again when there’s less of a crowd.

Sunday we went to see some more of the visual art on display at 120 Stuyvesant Place. The group had taken over the entire first floor of a building that used to be the College of Staten Island. We met Esteban there while passing through the 20 or so rooms. There was a lot of familiar work on the walls but we were surprised to see a lot of work by Staten Islanders completely unknown to us. I liked a number of pieces by these unknowns. Esteban walked with us to another gallery at 150 Stuyvesant Place and then, after a downpour, to a building on Richmond Terrace that had recently been a Fish’s Eddy Store. Here’s a shot of Esteban and Colman by a little park on the way, where some oakleaf hydrangeas were blooming. 

On the way to the Fish’s Eddy building I took these shots from the terrace which rises above the harbor at this end of Staten Island. 

Then, to the right of this red building, I made photos for a panoramic view to the side walk where Esteban and Colman were entering our next stop.

At the Fish’s Eddy building we met Griselda, here she is standing  in front of two of her paintings. We had seen a very nice group of small paintings of Snug Harbor scenes and a Autumn Hydrangea at the 120 Building. It was good to meet her and put a face with her work.

This is a piece by Julius Wasserstein, I’ve written about him in the old blog. It’s a been long time since then and this is the first opportunity I’ve had to see some of his new painting. I enjoy Julius’ work and I like this wild painting.

Esteban has a piece here in addition to the paintings and carved wood sculptures the 120 building. Here he is with his celestial City Curtain. Esteban has a web site at : http://www.estebanchavez.com/

Walking on near Astor Place on  East 10th Street, the first street I lived on in New York, I arrived at the corner of Third Avenue and looked South. There is so much construction now, this crane stood out, raising another tower, following, in time, the windswept glass building south of it.  

I picked up the gift of a polishing machine from a friend on the Bowery, on the way to Mike’s loft I passed this doorway. Decorative metal work has become prominent in the things I notice these days, I’d change a few things in this composition but I think it’s still a nice piece of work.  

Last weekend we finally had sunlight and moderate temperatures. The trees had even taken a vacation from dropping something all over the yard. (That’s another story, maybe later. . .) School was finished for a week so Colman and I decided, since we had purchased the materials, we should get on to cleaning and waterproofing the deck. The cleaner wasn’t changing it much, it was probably because the directions said we should use 1200 pounds of water pressure to remove the cleaner, our hose wasn’t doing much.  Gary, our next door neighbor came over to see what we are doing, whenever there is some maintenance taking place, Gary likes to visit and give help. He offered his water pressure machine and after some discussion we accepted. The effect was surprising and easy to do, the jet of water removed 3 years of soot and algae that had given the deck a pleasing antiqued appearance. I wasn’t too happy about that but now, a week later, I feel good about it, it’s almost like having a new deck. This is the way the deck looked as we were cleaning the top surface.  

Inside the studio I finished an edition of grass cloth covered boxes that are to be used to deliver invitations. In this photo they are almost finished. 

On the way delivering the boxes I passed Madison Square on 5th Avenue, I stopped for a moment to take  a progress photo of the new tower going up on 23rd Street. The glass skin has started to be installed, in the clear bright day, wind ruffled the protective paper covering like that dry skin we have after being sunburnt.   

The anthuriums are finally all outside, this blossom on Sara has been expanding in the bindery for over a month. It’s one of the largest blooms this plant has produced so far, it’s more than 10 inches wide. 

In the front yard our Full Moon Azalea has started to bloom. All of the flowers are about 3 inches in diameter, the bush produces three types of colored flowers,  a pure white, a pink flared bloom with white edges and blossoms with broken coloring usually in streaks and spots. This bloom is unusual in that the coloring is half and half, like a half moon. 

Later in the week we went to the Edison Mall in New Jersey to buy shoes and visit the book store. It’s a beautiful mall, Summer has already arrived there.