Susanna's Sketchbook

June 26, 2008: New York wanderings, Part I

Times really does fly when we're having fun, doesn't it? My twin sister, M., and her wonderful boyfriend, P., came down for a visit this past week and to say that I had a good time hanging out with them would be an understatement. They are city folk through and through with a go-go-go attitude, ready to see and experience everything happening in New York.

We arrived at Penn Station on Friday and made our way through mid-town Manhattan to The Algonquin Hotel on West 44th St. This is the hotel where writer Dorothy Parker ("One more drink and I'd have been under the host") and The Algonquin Round Table members met during the 1920's. Ever since the 1930's, the hotel has held the tradition of keeping a resident cat named Matilda (female) or Hamlet (male) in the lobby. Sure enough, the current Matilda was curled up on a chaise lounge by the front door. You can see one of my "winged messengers" on a table in the lobby.

After M & P dropped their bags off at the hotel, we made our way up 5th Avenue past the Harry Winston windows. I thought their idea of displaying their ornate modern jewelry on copies of master paintings was clever.

We continued walking north to Central Park where I put up a few of my "wings".

There are many talented musicians throughout Central Park.

I have seen this man perform under the Bethesda Terrace before and although he seems a bit eccentric at first glance (what with the red plumed cap, metal bondage wear chains and loin cloth), it quickly becomes apparent that he must be a professionally-trained opera singer. He is good!

We eventually made our way up to the Met, where we flew through the Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy up to the rooftop terrace for glasses of wine and sangria. If you haven't done this in New York before, do so the next time you are in the city! Then we raced down the corridors, out the museum doors and caught a subway train to Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

 

Once every summer, The Metropolitan Opera hosts a live free concert in Prospect Park and this year's performance, sponsored by Bank of America, starred the soprano Angela Gheorghiu and tenor, Roberto Alagna. They are a real-life couple and their affection for one another was obvious throughout their performance. The soprano often burst into laughter at the tenor's goofy antics beside her on stage. It was quite endearing. Looking over the crowd of thousands in attendance, I wondered if the opera singers ever thought of what was happening out in the audience while they sang? There were the bats dancing in circles in the air and the odd firefly twinkling in the grass. Little tea lights on blankets reflected off wine glasses and couples leaned closer to one another. An older lady sitting behind me sang along in a thick Italian accent while her husband looked on beside her. And this little dog reminded me of one of our favourite children's books.

June 22, 2008

This weekend has just flown by - but then, what a weekend it has been! I have so much to tell you and so many photographs to show you so give me a couple days to write a good post. I hope you had a fabulous weekend, too.

Photo: a beautiful girl waiting for a train, NYC subway.

June 18, 2008

It's a beautiful morning. There's a cool breeze coming through my window and I'm about to have my morning coffee. Ahhh! I want to thank you for the kind comments over the last couple of days and to thank you for not making me feel embarrassed over my last post. I imagine that there might have been a few readers who thought I was being ridiculous for getting depressed over a death of a baby bird when there are so many other tragedies happening in the world. All I can say is that my childless, maternal heart was unexpectedly stirred over the weekend and yes, over a baby bird.

Anyway, today is a beautiful new morning and I thought I'd show you a few new images I've been working on for a round robin I recently joined. The theme of the round robin is "Royal Confections" with each of the participants choosing a female royal figure from any time period. We each started our own doll form along with a sketchbook and then sent our individual projects to the next person on the list to add a detail to the doll and a page or two to the sketchbook. Once that person is done, she sends it on to the next person on the list. And so on and so on...until our original dolls and sketchbooks have visited every person in the round robin and are returned to us completed.

The first doll and sketchbook I received in the mail was from the lovely eb. Her royal figure is the Green Queen and she perfectly matches her creator's vibrant spirit. I stepped outside my usual paintbox with eb's Green Queen by trying something new - staging collages and then rephotographing them. I like how they turned out and I'm thinking that it could lead to something else. Eb's words "her secret joy" inspired these images:

June 16, 2008

This is a sad post, I should warn you, but one I want to write anyway.

Last week, a whispy, feathery little creature came into my life in the shape of a blue jay nestling-soon-to-be-fledgling. Through a series of events, including a severe thunderstorm, a couple calls to our local wild bird sanctuary, a 5am search through my neighbor's bushes in the courtyard (along with notes to them as to what the heck I was doing out there), it found itself living amongst our potted plants and under a tree that overlooks one corner of our balcony.

The nestling's parents soon found it and immediately began feeding berries deep into its belly and kept watch from the tree branches above. My first lesson from the wild bird sanctuary: it is a myth that birds will reject their young after human contact. Of course, I am by no means saying that it's okay to handle baby birds but if a nestling has fallen from it's nest and it appears okay (no broken wings or legs) and the nest is safe, it can be returned to it. The parents will be relieved to see their nestlings back in their nests or in a safe environment. If it is a fledgling bird (it is able to perch on a twig or a finger), then it may have been pushed out of the nest by the mother, to start its flying lessons. If the baby bird has been wounded, the parents might reject it so it's best to call a wild bird sanctuary or a vet for advice.

By the end of the day, I had grown entirely attached to this little family. I shared in their joyful reunion - albeit from behind my bedroom window. The little one flapped it's short little "wings" and loudly chirped in relief, "You found me! You found me! Now feed me!!"  The father looked on while the mother closely inspected every square inch of their youngster's body. Once it was assessed that their baby was safe and sound in this strange new home of blue pansies and purple flowers, the parents took turns finding it food. Their search for food was relentless until the nestling fell asleep in the day's heat.

Every morning, I woke up to the sounds of a whispery little voice calling from the balcony and then the flapping of wings and a stronger voice responding. I learned that blue jays are considered songbirds and their reportoire includes a range of tunes beyond the screaming squacking that often sends my cat retreating into another room of the apartment. There was the short, quiet "ack, ack, ack" when the mother called out to her young, followed by a pause to hear its response. And there was the low, soft, whistling when the mother flew down to the nest (courtesy of Michaels craft store and an old easter bonnet) to inspect the nestling and to tuck in its whispy feathers.

One morning, I heard the screams of the bluejays and I jumped out of bed to see the cause of the commotion: a black bird quickly leaving the balcony with the bluejay parents giving chase. I quickly looked down to where the nestling had been the previous evening and, thankfully, it was fine. That day, I began hearing "ghost chirps" and took to looking at the sky for impending battles.

The blue jay parents were attentive, though, and J and I kept our windows closed and drapes drawn so as to not disturb their little family. It came as a shock of dismay then, to wake up Saturday morning and to realize that I couldn't hear the whispy little voice on the balcony. I knew that it had died. Eventually I went to the balcony door and looked out, hoping that I would be wrong, but no, our little nestling's little body lay still. I was somewhat relieved to see that it hadn't been attacked but had just died for whatever reason.I hate the phrase "survival of the fittest". 

I was depressed for the rest of the weekend. Yes, over a baby bird. We had left the body on our balcony so that the distraught parents could see it. The mother quickly swooped down to the tiny body and peered closely at it. They spent the morning dropping berries around the little beak. And the lamenting calls of the mother...! The breaking of her little heart cut through mine. I had to leave the apartment. It was too hard to witness.

The next day, as I talked with my mother-in-law, she suggested that I write a post about this experience. I thought that perhaps it was too sad, too depressing. She pointed out that, yes, it was sad that the little one had died despite everything, but that I had also been given a chance to observe a family of blue jays up close. Closer than normal. I had seen love and hope and perseverence and joy along with the sadness. Bittersweet.

 

June 12, 2008

Yesterday, Constance invited me to a potluck picnic in Ocean Grove, NJ. First off, let me tell you, if you are lucky to be invited to a lunch or a picnic with Constance, you just know that you'll be in for a treat. Especially if she is bringing something in tupperware. Well, in Constance's case, the treat would be set on an elegant silver tray. And the treat - yum! The wonderful Karen, sweet Sandy and lovely Isabel also came, bringing with them a delicious spread of sliced tomato and mozzarella, cold white wine and portugese dishes. It was so nice to just sit and chat with one another, while sitting on a blanket under a shady tree.

Now let me tell you about Ocean Grove, New Jersey. It is a jewel of a small town, located on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. It was founded in 1869 by eight to ten Methodist families looking for a quiet summer spiritual retreat. Over time, the little quiet retreat grew into a quaint little town now bustling with cute little shops, bakeries, icecream parlours and bed & breakfasts. The town still serves as a religious summer retreat ("God's Square Mile at the Jersey Shore") but from what I hear, it also has a thriving gay community. It's a good example of different beliefs and lifestyles coexisting peacefully.

One of the coolest sights in Ocean Grove are the narrow streets lined with small white tents pitched on wooden platforms. This is where some lucky families spend their entire summers. Cute, huh?

A few other Ocean Grove sights...

To top off an already terrific day, we all piled into our cars and went to see Constance's Marie Antoinette at Bodega, a shop in Red Bank, NJ. Isn't she great?

 

June 9, 2008

Things to Do on a Sweltering Hot Day in New Jersey

• Dive into the Atlantic Ocean (visitor tip: you can see the distant skyline of New York while floating on salty waves from Sandy Hook. On a clear evening, you might see the twinkling lights of Coney Island. There's even a nudist beach on the peninsula for the daring bloggergal or bloggerboy.)
• Jump into a warm shower and then dance around naked in front of a fan (electric or adoring).
• Break into a big box of brightly-coloured popsicles and eat every last one of them in one sitting! Guilt-free!
• Drive to the mall and try on every pair of shiny, sparkly, colourful, girlie flipflops.
• Watch a movie in the a cool dark theatre. Anyone seen Sex & the City yet?
• Create artwork in an airconditioned room while listening to the Six Degree Records podcast. 
• Spoil yourself with bowlfuls of cherries, raspberries, strawberries and chopped papaya!
• Daydream of this place. Soon...

 

June 6, 2008

A sneak peak of what I've been working on... Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

PS: Check out the pure magic brewing at these two blogs...

Du Buh Du Design by Christine Alvarado. Her Susie is absolutely adorable! And Kiki is perfect! Just as I imagine Kiki would be. And her latest dolls are straight from a fairytale. Plus, her playlist is terrific. Thank you, Maddie, for the link to Christine's blog.

La Fille du Consul - Oooh la la! Le chocolat est fabuleux!

June 5, 2008

These last couple days, I have been feeling under the weather. Strange dreams have been visiting me in the early hours, followed by a very real, loud and hungry cat, and I wake up tired and stare at the ceiling, wondering "What's the point of getting up? Maybe I'll stay here a little longer. That damn cat!" Oh, the self pity!  That said, I have concluded that there are those unknowingly being channeled by the Universe, who are reminding me through their kind actions and words that there is plenty of beauty to be found in this world. I just have to get out of bed and look.

One of these people is artist and bloggergal, Tracie Lyn Huskamp. Tracie Lyn and I recently met one another via our blogs when she had sent me an email, offering to photograph my winged messengers in a wheat field in Kansas. I loved her idea, especially as she would put her own poems on the envelopes. Of course, I went over to visit Tracie at her blog and quickly discovered that she is a talented artist, collaging and painting the loveliest images of birds onto fabric. Oh my, they are sweet!

Well, a few days ago, I received a parcel in the mail from Tracie Lyn. She had told me that she was sending me a little surprise but I had no idea that I would be this spoiled! Inside the beautifully-wrapped parcel were a collection of her cards with those pretty collaged and painted birds on the front (I know two people who will appreciate receiving them in the mail), a book of Tracie Lyn's original poetry (my favourite poem includes the line "...as a comet's tail, filled with a hundred souls, streaks across the imagination...".) and an original painting of a tiny little bird perched on a branch (I know exactly where this painting will be displayed - in my bedroom, by the window, where the sounds of a hundred bird calls can be heard every morning). How could I not snap out of my bad mood after receiving these wonderful little gifts? Thank you, Tracie Lyn.

Just so you know, Tracie Lyn is having a sale throughout the month of June in her Etsy shop!

June 3, 2008

June 1, 2008

New Jersey is positively lush during the summer months. Heavy vines drape themselves over trees, marsh grass thrive along the canals and brooks, and right now millions of little white flowers and honeysuckle are blooming and casting their scents though the forests. And I found one lone poppy waiting for me on the top of a hill...