Spent a fantastic afternoon time-traveling with my friend Julia today – riding on the NYC vintage train! Once a year, the MTA brings out a train with old cars, from the 1930s, and runs a few special shuttles between 2nd Ave in Manhattan and Queens Plaza. (In Queens, obviously.) What fun! The train itself hasn’t […]
Travers Park is the main meeting point of Jackson Heights. At 8 am on a Sunday morning, it’s buzzing with people exercising, chatting, dog walking, etc., etc. Also, the farmer’s market is setting up for the morning’s business. I went there this morning with Neil to do some drawing (need to practice, even in the […]
Yesterday was the first Sunday in November – in New York City that means it’s time for the marathon! 40,000 people run 24 miles through the five boroughs of New York – Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan. Even though it was [VERY] cold, and Neil and I were out running errands, we […]
This post is about my beautiful sister, Patty. Patty and I are just over one year apart – almost Irish twins (which would be less than 12 months apart.) I can’t remember a day of my life when I didn’t know her, and obviously she can say the same thing, since I’m the older one. […]
The fall is always the busiest, most hectic, time of year for me, and yesterday was one of those days. Three classes in one day, with a lot of running around – I call them ‘three borough days’ because I have to be in Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, and back again. Going under and over […]
We were going to see the lavender. When I think of Provence, in southern France, I think of large waving fields of lavender, ablaze in purple glory. I imagine myself sauntering through the fields, running my hands lightly over the violet blossoms, blissfully soaking in the Provencal sunshine and the intoxicating aroma. I would be […]
Last Sunday I traveled with the Dalvero artists to witness (and draw) the launch of the Charles W. Morgan, the only surviving wooden whale ship in the world. (If you remember, we currently have an exhibit of art documenting her restoration and history at the seaport – see it at www.dalveromystic.com.) A launch means that […]
Recently I had the opportunity to draw the Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s west side from a bird’s eye view. The yards is the rail yards – where the MTA houses subway trains when they’re not in use. So the MTA has leased the air space over the Hudson Yards and it’s going to become a […]
Recently my friend Lapin, the French illustrator and Urban Sketcher, was in town with his wife Lapinette and their beautiful little daughter Louise. We decided to take a trip to uptown Manhattan to the Cloisters to draw some French Medieval style and (maybe?) catch some sun. The sun didn’t cooperate, but we had a great […]
Jackson Heights – a little New York City neighborhood, located somewhere between Pakistan and Colombia. At least, that’s how one of my new neighbors described it. As Jackson Heights is the most diverse neighborhood in the most diverse city (NYC) in the United States, a country of immigrants, I would have to agree. Several months […]