PJ's Studio: May 2013

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Egypt is a magical place.

I still remember studying it when I was in the single digits,

and thinking that someday I wanted to go there and see it for myself.

So, it was a real hoot to sail up the Nile like Cleopatra, visit ancient Thebes, and see King Tut’s tomb.

The most surprising thing about Egypt is how huge everything is.

Much larger than the monuments and buildings I’ve seen anywhere else.

It was also incredibly hot – even in September it was over 100 degrees.

That makes the fact that they built these huge structures even more amazing.

I was so inspired by my trip that I decided to get over my fear of animals long enough to ride a camel and get a photo for that year’s holiday card.

It was well worth it.

Ciao

This is the year of the pansies on the Upper East Side.

I can certainly understand why.

I’m a big fan myself and we even planted them in our tree pits last year after the daffodils and before the coleus.

They are very showy flowers and come in all sorts of pretty colors.

So you can really create some beautiful color combinations.

But I still think someone must have had them on sale because even buildings that have never had them in the past have them this year.

Like the one across the street, which put in lots of purple and yellow flowers.

But, the prize for Best of Show goes to the D’Orsay restaurant on 74^th and Lex

whose flower boxes are so lovely

I am sure that many people in the neighborhood are adjusting their traffic patterns accordingly.

Ciao

I used some of those beautiful photos of the yellow magnolias from the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens to create this piece.

It’s a bit more abstract than the others in the Flower Power series and one of my favorites.

Enjoy!