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galena
We got back late Sunday night from our weekend getaway to Galena. The last time we were there it was just the two of us and we were celebrating our first wedding anniversary. I remember we kept saying how much fun it would be to come back with a group of friends so that’s what we did.
We set off early Saturday morning and arrived in Galena just in time for lunch. Afterwards we walked around the downtown area and then headed over to the winery. The views from the vineyard are just beautiful – rolling hills and lush green for miles. The house we rented had three bedrooms, a kitchen, living and dining area and a screened in porch. All the bedrooms had a separate bath and we loved that we each had our own space. For dinner we made burgers on the grill with veggies and roasted potatoes with truffle oil. Then we sat on the porch for a long while drinking wine and catching up. My friend Cassi is pregnant with her first baby and I kept thinking how in a few short months our little group is going to grow and I could just picture us years from now with a bunch of kids still taking this trip to Galena together.
The next day we woke up early and made eggs for breakfast then the guys went golfing and the girls went to get massages at the spa. We met up later for lunch and then spent a few hours sunning and swimming at the pool.
It was a wonderful weekend with friends that feel more like family. It was great to get away and not think about work. There’s nothing like a few days away to recharge and face the week energized.
photo credit kate zitzer
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…a few snaps from our July 4th holiday weekend. We ended up spending most of it with family outdoors under the hot summer sun, taking dips in the cool lake water and exploring the city. These summer days have been treating us just right.
The studio is in full swing. I’ve been busy packing up and sending out orders and building up inventory for upcoming shows. I hope to have new things to show you very soon.
photo credit kate zitzer
the high line
From 1934 to 1980, the High Line was an elevated freight rail line that hauled goods into New York’s meatpacking district. Today, it is a mile long, high concept public park built on the abandoned railroad track with modern landscaping and scattered with public art installations. I was immediately intrigued by the unique juxtaposition of old and new going on with the design like the original steel tracks reused and incorporated into the path, railings restored and given a fresh coat of paint and the modern architectural landscaping along the entire trail.
They also have all these little surprises spread around the park – a paper cup pyramid, a pair of bronze monkeys, small wooden people. It’s called Lilliput and it was the first group exhibition at the High Line when it made it’s debut in April 2012. Inspired by Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, you can find these miniature sculptures in all sorts of unexpected places throughout the park. Finding these treasures was like a fun artistic scavenger hunt!
The High Line also features a number of other public art installations and rotating art exhibits including artist Allen Ruppersberg’s rad You & Me billboard on display during the month of February. Arranged side by side on a grid to cover the entire 25 by 75 foot billboard, Ruppersberg’s colorful trademark posters displayed combinations of the words “you” and “me.” It was amazing how bright the colors were and how it really popped against the grey sky and city skyline.
Beneath the former Nabisco building there is a passage between 15th and 16th Streets that is accented with Spencer Finch’s beautiful stained glass art The River That Flows Both Ways. Inspired by the Hudson River, Finch photographed the river’s surface once every minute for 700 minutes. Each pane of glass was then based on a single pixel point in each photo and chronologically arranged in the tunnel. During our visit, the late afternoon light reflected shades of red and brown and deep greens. It was amazing.
A similar project in Paris, the Promenade Plantée, completed in 1993, provided inspiration for the High Line and has encouraged other cities such as St. Louis, Philadelphia, Jersey City and Chicago to renovate their abandoned railroads. I did a little digging and in Chicago there is a plan to build a trail on an abandoned freight rail line on the city’s Northwest side. Stretching from Ashland Avenue to Ridgeway along Bloomingdale Avenue through four Chicago neighborhoods, the project is still in the early phases of development. For more info, check out The Bloomingdale Trail website.
To find out more about the High Line, visit their website. For upcoming, current or past High Line art projects, check out High Line Art or download their art map.
photo credit kate zitzer
inside the artist’s studio 01
I love peeking into artists’ studios! Seeing what other people do in their spaces, learning about their artistic processes and their tools and getting ideas and inspiration on how to organize everything, it fascinates me! I’m the kind of person who has a chaotic messy work space ninety nine percent of the time, but I secretly dream of having a big beautiful organized studio someday. I don’t know if you’ve ever checked out In The Make or Coffeklatch before but I’m a big fan. They feature creative people and their inspiring spaces showcasing each artist’s studio with personal interviews and insight into how the artists use their space and where they find inspiration.
In The Make recently featured Los Angeles based painter Rebecca Morris and I was instantly drawn in. Her studio has these beautiful white brick walls, high ceilings and tons of light and her work is stunning. Morris says, “Having my living space and studio space separate is a great combination for me, especially as an oil painter. Plus I appreciate the mental transition that happens on the drive here. At the studio I am removed from everything except my painting—I am faced with it. It is a place where I can freely experiment and enjoy the act of discovery in total privacy.” To see the complete tour of Morris’ great space, visit In The Make.
I’ve been slowly updating my studio – new furniture and a new coat of paint and maybe someday I will share it here with you. For more inspiring interviews and spaces check out these projects – Eva Black’s blog series SPACES, Paul Barbera’s Where They Create, Eefje de Coninck’s project and Todd Selby’s The Selby.
sources kirra jamison photographed by paul barbera | lisa congdon photographed by victoria smith | justine frischmann photographed by klea mckenna | rebecca morris photographed by klea mckenna
places to go | new york city
New York is such a cool city – full of hip spots and thousands of restaurant choices. I spent a few days there in 2007 and have been dying to go back ever since. We hopped around on Saturday morning through SoHo and Lower Manhattan on a rainy New York day. We stopped in SoHo’s French bistro Balthazar for brunch and I ate the most amazing brioche french toast. We spent the afternoon indoors browsing the Chelsea Market and taking in the contemporary art at the New Museum. The days were gloomy and grey and I love how these photos seem to capture a bit of the grittier side of the city. On Sunday we found our way over to Brooklyn. I wish we would have had more time to explore and I was really hoping to check out the Brooklyn Flea. We ate pies at Grimaldi’s and the clouds cleared long enough for our stroll back to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge. One of my favorite spots on our trip was the High Line – a park created on what once was an abandoned freight rail that is scattered with public art projects. I’ll be talking more about it in a post next week. Sunday night we dined at tapas restaurant Tertulia in the West Village. As a big group we had the Chef’s Menu – the paella was delicious but the croquetas were my favorite. We stayed two nights in a small modern hotel in SoHo. The location was prefect – we were able to walk and get coffee in the mornings, had tons of options for food and were close to public transportation. New York was as beautiful as I remembered it and it was fun exploring new places, eating our hearts out and pretending to be locals for a few days.
eat tertulia | explore brooklyn | do high line
photo credit kate zitzer
