Every now and then, as I’m walking around in New York City, I might see something on the sidewalk or in the street that seems a lot more interesting than perhaps it should be. For example, the muffin wrapper that I thought looked like a flower back in September. If you look at the picture … Read more
I could go into any number of antiques stores and find weird, strange, and bad paintings, but every once in a while I’ll see something really good, which then begs the question: what’s the story behind this painting and the artist? I happened upon this painting in an antiques store just north of Poughkeepsie (which … Read more
I was reading a profile of the designer Kelly Wearstler in the NY Times, and there was an interesting quote from Amy Astley, the editor of Architectural Digest (which I love, and subscribe to), where she said: “…’I do think she’s a master of jolie-laide,’ or finding beauty in the unconventional or strange.” I was … Read more
My son contacted me yesterday to ask if I was seeing the double rainbow outside after a long afternoon of heavy rains. As I looked outside, I was struck first by the intensity of color and light, much more visually intense than any rainbow I’ve seen of recent memory, but secondly the aspect of a … Read more
I was walking in Glen Ridge, NJ recently after a light rainfall, and found myself noticing interesting images on the sidewalks. I lived in Glen Ridge for about 17 years, and during the time I lived there, I would notice things on the sidewalks on a regular basis while walking my dogs. What makes the … Read more
I was hiking recently in Harriman State Park when I noticed this flattened can of Bud Light. Of course the logical response is that it’s unfortunate that someone littered in the park, but I also made one of my art history associations when I saw it. I used to work at an art gallery where … Read more
As I was exploring Hastings-on-Hudson over the weekend, I saw this colorful desk in the store window at “Suburban Renewal,” an antiques store on Main Street. It’s clearly sized for little kids, and the Mondrian design and color scheme seems perfect to inspire young artists, don’t you think? My kids are grown now, so I … Read more
I was running errands when I noticed this blue pickup truck on the road next to me. It was the door in particular that grabbed my attention; there was something about the painted repairs that didn’t come close to fixing the original problem that made me think of Mark Rothko’s paintings. Why? Let’s take a … Read more
I went to Home Depot this afternoon to get some replacement light bulbs, and as I was walking back to my car, I did a double-take when I saw this … I wasn’t fooled into thinking it was a real man smoking, but rather was just surprised because I hadn’t seen any window decals like … Read more
I was in NYC today, and as I was making my way across SoHo, I spotted this car in traffic on Broadway at Prince Street. My first thought was that it was a really cool custom paint job on a car, and I was appreciating it from an artistic point of view. But when I … Read more