PJ's Studio: October 2013

Sunday, October 27, 2013

The horses in Central Park have been in the news a lot lately.

Taking a ride in a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park is a long-standing New York tradition.

I remember doing it when I was a child.

But, it appears that after 155 years the tradition is about to end.

Bill deBlasio, who is likely to be the next mayor of NYC,

received early support from animal activists who fear that the Central Park horses are mistreated.

And, if by some miracle his opponent, Joe Lhota wins, he too is anti-horse.

But for a different reason – he doesn’t like the smell.

Either way, if you want to take a ride, this fall may be your last chance

-- so don’t delay.

Enjoy!

If you had told me when I was younger that one day one of my favorite things to do would be to get up early on a Saturday morning

and head down to the Farmer’s Market on 14^th Street,

I would have thought you were nuts.

And yet, I look forward to doing just that almost every weekend from spring through fall.

It’s important to arrive early, not only to get the best selection,

but also because it gets so crowded.

And if you are early then you can spend time talking to the people selling stuff, which is part of the fun.

I not only get great gardening tips from them – e.g. water down some Dawn dishwashing liquid and use it to remove bugs without killing the plants.

I get good food tips as well – e.g. add a little sweet basil to your ice tea – it tastes great and it’s healthier too.

What could be better than that?

Ciao

We visited Nice in 1999.

It has all the ingredients we look for in a vacation destination

– varied architecture,

museums,

markets and roman ruins.

It’s also a great place for walking.

In fact, visitors to Nice have been strolling along the ocean promenade since the 1800’s.

The old town is a maze decorated with laundry.

And a visit to the harbor and a boat ride to view it from afar are musts.

But if you’re really lucky you might catch a picturesque military review.

Enjoy!

This piece from the Flower Power series includes two embroidered pieces

– one of a discus fish,

and another of a snail and some coral.

I combined those with a black and white drawing of a tiger orchid and added some color and special effects to create the final piece.

Enjoy!