It’s been a nice long, hot summer here in New York. Sometimes a little too hot but you’ve got to roll with it, we’ll be complaining it’s too cold before long. This was taken on the beach at Long Beach on long Island, New York. It’s a great beach for swimming, sunbathing and relaxing. It’s also got enough wave action for some surfers. It’s not too far from New York City, about an hour on the train, so it’s pretty easy to get away to.

Have a great weekend, wherever you are, and for those of us here in the US have a nice long Labor Day weekend. Hopefully Hurricane Earl won’t dampen the holiday weekend for too many or for too long. It sounds like North Carolina made it through relatively ok compared to the previous forecasts.

A view of the cornice of the Metropolitan Museum of New York.

Tonight I did something a little different. I left work and instead of making the mad dash home I picked out a spot to go to with my camera. There’s usually something or other I am trying to make time for after work; be it the gym, meeting friends, or heading home. This time I wanted to linger. After all, I put my camera in my bag everyday and I was needing a little more inspiration than the daily route to and from work. So, I got off the subway at Broadway/Nassau and wandered over to City Hall, poked around the Municipal Building – where a wedding was being shot – and slowly walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, trying to find unique angles that every other person, each of whom seemed to have a DSLR, was taking. I became really fascinated by the cables and the effect they had when I purposefully engaged them in the frame, but that’s another story for another time maybe. At a couple of points there is enough of a gap between the cables to get a good, wide image of the New York Bay. So that is what I did here, thankfully being present as the sky started to go through the shades of orange as the sun went down. Looking out over the Staten Island ferry, Sea Streak and various other boats brought about a glimpse, but only glimpse, of what it might have been like in the bay when shipping was at its height.

Storm King Art Center is situated on Storm King mountain about a two hour drive up the Hudson River from New York City. It is a vast sculpture museum that blends its exhibits with nature; sometimes seamlessly and sometimes in an imposing manner. Certainly the works inhabiting this arena are impressive in scope and size, the artists being free from the limitations imposed on them the fixed dimensions of gallery spaces. The landscape of the Hudson Valley and the Hudson Highlands is extremely beautiful and walking around this space I definitely felt a connection of the art and nature and the ability to enjoy both separately or together. We only had time to wander through the majority of the south fields, which seems to be roughly one half of the space but home to less than half the pieces. We will definitely be coming back here.

Seen in this image are the dramatic and huge pieces “Five Swords” by Alexander Calder, and in the distance to the right “Pyramidian” by Mark Di Suvero.

Links:
Calder’s profile at Storm King.
The Calder Foundation.
An interview with Mark Di Suvero.
Mark Di Suvero’s profile as one the the 11th Annual Heinz Award winners.

Pausing for thought while looking out into the distance over the Castro in San Francisco. We’ve missed posting but are happy to be back and are looking towards the future. Have a great weekend everyone out there.

*
I lay in dappled shade
of a fading cherry blossom tree.
At once dark and light
obscures and illuminates.
The body freckles…

*
Azaleas on fire
along the green passage.
I stoop among them in red dress.
You take another picture,
so we will remember…

*
Four Taiko drummers pound
in unison. Eyes ecstatic,
arms rhythmic, blood dynamic.
You, across the crowd
in a moment, your face …

*
Magnolias, peonies,
azaleas open, drop to the ground.
Summer will ruin.
Our eyes, coupled, make a lagoon,
our branches meet to form shade.

(see this blog post for further reference)

Taken in the morning before work at Time Warner Center Shops at Columbus Circle, looking for something in particular?

We saw Dynaformer at 3 Chimneys Horse Farm in Kentucky. He’s a beautiful horse. Although he wasn’t that successful as a racer he is apparently very successful as a stud and commands more money than Derby winners Smarty Jones and Big Brown who are on the same farm. The whole horse racing industry was really opened up to our eyes when we were in Kentucky. It was fascinating. Whenever I think of horse racing though I think of my Irish roots, which may be responsible for my artistic take on this image.

The two nudes at the Bailey Fountain, Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn.

A tree erupts through a window opening in a house in Fort Greene.