I.HEART.NYC.

Okay, so...I did it.  I booked the ticket Thursday morning and went to NYC Friday night.  I had to see that Kusama show.  Had to do it.

So I did.
  

Less than 48 hours...but man, did I pack in some experiences. My flight was delayed but it worked out great, was able to chill for a minute and complete CED #273 while I waited a few minutes in Penn Station for Cat to get off work.  We made it back to Brooklyn, stayed up at while chatting at the kitchen table and then it was off to bed, with visits throughout the night by Charlie the cat.

Saturday morning, it was off to the museums.  Cat (not Charlie the cat, but Cat my cousin) gives the best directions ever and this small-town girl was able to travel the subways with ease.  I felt a small sense of accomplishment that I made there.  (yay, me!)

After an amazing lunch with Cat, Aunt Belle and Cat's beau, Jon (I now have a new standard for blue cheese burgers)...it was off to the Met.  Now, I have already walked, alot.  The Met almost did me in.  The combination of the enormous building, all of the people and trying to look at all the art made me feel overwhelmed. My eyes started to ache.I think I would need a few days, a week, to really view the collections.  

The line was already wrapped around the Whitney, everyone was trying to get in for the last of the Kusama show.  I was a little disappointed that the Fireflies on the Water installation was sold out...but I got over that quickly...

You can't take pictures...so...all I can do is just remember it.  There were so many pieces there, from various stages of her career, installation work, newspaper articles and marketing materials, a slideshow, a viewing of her Self Obliteration (1967)...it was so much to take in.  I wanted to plant myself on the floor and sketch...but...I would have been trampled by the crowds that filled the exhibit.  So, I just took in as much as possible, bottling that inspiration up to use later...

And the show was...everything I had hoped for.  

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 So I just wandered around, feeling almost lost but loving it and taking pictures the while way.  I tried to find some of the artists/works from time periods that my 6-8th graders are studying so that I can show them especially to show the scale of the work. Just wandered...aimlessly.  Later, sitting on the steps of the Met, waiting for Cat (who didn't have to work after all, yay!)...I just tried to take in that moment.  The city is so vibrant, so alive...constantly moving...it just felt right to sit and try to be an observer, just trying to take in the moment.

Cat and I had an awesome walk along central park, which was partially closed off due to a concert...Band of Horses playing off in the distance...live.  Wow.  And we were just chatting it up, heading to Times Square to see a former cheerleader, Antwan Bethea, in the Broadway production of 'Bring it On'. Just when I was thinking, wow, this can't get much better...I get a call from my sister-in-law, Maria, and...she's engaged!  So happy!  (my next project...Maria's wedding!  I can't wait!!!!)

I can't even express how amazing the show was.  This was my first Broadway show, and to be seeing it so close, to see someone that I know and I have coached...there were several times that I got tears in my eyes watching Antwan on the stage.  It feels so good to know that he is living out his dream, and knowing that I was a part of his story. He is so talented, but more than that he is just an awesome person with a good heart and I know that this is just the beginning...After the show Antwan got us on the list to go back stage and gave us a tour of the theatre....man...it was just...amazing.  I can't find another word.  Amazing.

Then...back to Brooklyn...which the trains were their own little adventures on this evening...and then met up with Jon to grab a drink and something to eat.  I showered and hit that pillow hard..four hours later it was time to get up and head to JFK for the trip back to West Palm Beach.  And of course...artin' on the plane.  Completed my last CED for this month, #274, and five fashion illustrations with a little hint of Kusama...

I am babbling.  I am still trying to just grasp the weekend.  It was so much in such a short amount of time.  I am just excited that I was able to make the trip, see the art, see family, see Antwan's show...and find time to make art.  

Here's a link to a fun slideshow with a lil' New York-themed music...check it out!


(hopefully the music is working...grrrrr)


http://www.photoshow.com/watch/jv3js2wP

Oh...and speaking of here are my fashion illustrations for the day, #41-45.  Definitely inspired by Kusama's red and white dots and all of the New York ladies I saw, dressed in black, over the weekend.

..I guess a side note would be...today I think finished Tom's dragon piece...waiting to hear back from him regarding possible revisions...

When I was planning the composition, I wanted to design it so that Tom could place the images side by side in any arrangement and the pieces would still line up, which I did by using the horizontal line as the connecting compositional element.  Below I created a collage showing the different ways he could arrange the three separate pieces;

...still got to finish my self portrait(s)...plural because I realized I still have some touch ups to do on the one fro August in addition to completing this month's portrait...finish up a piece for a Day of the Dead show in Fort Lauderdale..and I really wanted to make a special necklace to wear for the Monster Mash opening...busy, busy!

But for now...sleep...finally!   Well, maybe after I take a peek at the next CED monthly theme...