Angels in Brooklyn

It has been either bitterly cold or dark and grey. I have been feeling disoriented in my new neighborhood. I am now living in a part of Brooklyn that I never even visited. From the elevated subway, I catch glimpses of the Williamsburg Savings Bank tower which looks over my old neighborhood. I feel a little pang.

I went over to Myrtle Avenue to get a good look at the abandoned elevated line that used to run. The area around there is so depressing. Maybe it was the grey January light, but I felt really discouraged.

All is not totally dark. I unpacked my old hanging sculpture after I found it tangled in a Toys 'R Us bag with a ladder moving into the mess. I hung it off of a light stand and one morning, some beautiful light came in. The latest sculpture is dismantled and waiting for me in a box.

I am having a little trouble working because the space is so cold downstairs. We will have a big area rug coming that should warm things up, but I think I need to invest in sheepskin booties.

Green Despite Winter

The weather has been grim; sleet and rain making lakes of slush. It is not the dramatic winters of the midwest with their ice storms and sub-zero temperatures. It is a particular kind of New York winter, dirty, messy and dark. There are moments when the streets shine with water and give off a silvery glow but I am too busy defending against the elements to take notice.

One of my plants was getting way out of control, so I trimmed it back and put the cuttings in water. It is my promise of spring and a new round of street art. 

The sun came back this morning for a brief visit before another storm, this time cold and snow.

New Year's End

Well the bloom is certainly off the new year. With the Boxing Day blizzard, it took people a while to shake off the holiday glitter, but it is finally dispersed.

Wandering around my new neighborhood, I am noticing a lot of purple on the buildings.

It is perhaps not a brilliant violet, but the blues have a decidedly purple cast.

Even the street sheds are a bit indigo.

I love riding on the elevated subway. Lots of buildings are tagged with graffiti. I had not realized how much I missed the tags in my old neighborhood which was being increasingly scrubbed fresh. The Myrtle Avenue station has lots of graffiti.

The remains of the old Myrtle Avenue elevated line cross this station, but I haven't found a good angle to photograph it yet.
 

I need to explore the neighborhood some more, maybe in black and white.

Yuletide Excuses or why I haven't been blogging

The reason I have been neglecting my blog is that I have spent the holiday season moving to a new home. There have been times when I did not know where my cameras were, my hanging sculpture is tucked into a bag somewhere. It was difficult to think about art. We moved a week before Christmas and plunged right into the holiday madness. 

Then the blizzard hit and for some reason the entire city collapsed into chaos. 

The kitties were not disturbed by the snow, or the glacial cold. Our new home has a patio. Once the wind died down, I went out there and made a little sitting area around the brazier that a dear friend offered as a house warming gift (and it is warm).

We put a log on the brazier and the beloved amused us by burning old papers.

It was our yule celebration.

Slowly things are returning to normal. I am beginning to get ideas for the new year. I will have a garden to work on my green art in. Maybe I will finally grow some moss. I have some plant cuttings taking root for another round of street art. The new neighborhood is beautiful in a scruffy way. I can't wait to get to work.