PJ's Studio: 2026

Sunday, September 6, 2026

Illuminated Limerick

This piece in the Illuminated Ireland embroidery series features King John’s Castle in Limerick.

I combined two vertical photos for the background.

Then added the letter “J.”

Here’s the composite which I printed on linen.

And the final version again.

Here are some other embroideries…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2011/12/pink-hibiscus.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2015/07/embroidery-venetian-alley.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/03/embroidery-empire-state-building.html

Cheers!

Sunday, August 30, 2026

Guggenheim Pop

I went over to the Guggenheim Museum last week to check out the Pop Art exhibit.

As has happened since the first time I visited back when I was in the single digits, I was more mesmerized by the building than the art.

It is so magical.

The highlight of the exhibit is Claes Oldenburg’s “Soft Shuttlecock.” Its immense size means it probably isn’t exhibited much and they posted an Instagram video about its arrival and installation.

Since the exhibit includes examples of Pop Art from the 60’s to the present there’s enough of a range to provide something for everyone.

Richard Hamilton’s “The Solomon R. Guggenheim” – Spectrum, Black & Black and White.

I particularly liked this drawing by Marta Minujin “Statue of Liberty Covered in Hamburgers.” She envisioned this as an outdoor art piece with free lunch. More here…

https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/33112

And this one, by Daniel Gordon “Still Life with Fish and Forsythia.”

But in my eyes, they couldn’t beat the pieces on display from the permanent collection.

Henri Rousseau’s “The Football Players.”

And Edouard Vuillard’s – “Place Vintimille.”

But the surprise of the day was this piece. Can you guess who the artist is?

Remembering this piece from the D’Orsay in Paris, I guessed Renoir. Wrong.

Remembering this piece from the National Gallery in London, Edward guessed Manet. Also, wrong.

It was painted by Picasso!!!

When my mom introduced me to Picasso’s abstract work, I was not impressed and asked why he didn’t just paint things the way that they looked. She replied ”Because he could already do that when he was young, so he had to do something new.”

He was 19 when he did this painting.

Moms are always right.

Here are some other modern art blogs…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2019/03/warhol-at-whitney.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2023/10/robert-indiana.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2025/02/banksy-museum.html

Cheers!

Sunday, August 23, 2026

The Museum of Broadway

For our 39^th wedding anniversary, Edward and I decided to visit the Museum of Broadway.

We’ve wanted to check it out ever since it opened, but somehow never got around to it, so it finally made it to the front of the list.

It’s a fun museum.

Filled with Broadway memorabilia from various eras.

So, there’s something for everyone.

These costumes from Hair spoke to me.

And Edward was quite taken with the Chorus Line mirrors.

Some costumes came with sketches.

There were also photographs, music scores, playbills and scripts.

And selfie stations. Lots of selfie stations.

So be sure to bring someone who loves to pose with you when you visit.

Here’s a blog from a Jerome Robbins exhibit at Lincoln Center…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2019/04/jerome-robbins.html

Cheers!

Sunday, August 16, 2026

Giacometti at Dendur

The Met is open until 9:00 pm on Friday and Saturday nights – although the guards do tend to get a bit antsy about 8:45.

One time there was a cloud burst at closing so visitors were hanging out in the lobby waiting for it to end, when the supervisor told the guards that they could all leave.

There’s a great book about being a guard at the Met – available here…

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JPKNG9X?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback

Friday and Saturday nights are a great time to visit the most popular exhibits because it does tend to be a bit quieter.

Hence, I was actually photographing the Raphael exhibit before it closed, when I decided to check out the Giacometti exhibit which had just opened before I called it a night.

I am so glad that I did.

The exhibit is in the Temple of Dendur space.

I lucked out and was gifted with a beautiful sunset,

which made the temple glow.

So beautiful.

The exhibit runs through September 8^th, so there’s still time to check it out – preferably at dusk. 😉

When I decided to get back into art in 2001, I began by going to the Met every Friday night and sketching the Temple from various angles. Here’s a blog about it…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2017/04/drawings-temple-of-dendur-metropolitan.html

Cheers!