WRECKAGE

June 20, 2010. This is a smash-up of the first degree. These were new. An enterprising someone built ships, planes, yachts and sundry other items from soda and beer cans. He had so many of them that they were piled behind his street stand on the sidewalk. The planes here glinted in the sunlight, shimmering like a bed of multicolored jewels.

A SHIP IN THE NIGHT

June 19, 2010. Street fairs are the harbinger of trends, past, present and future. Everything gets thrown together, so some combinations are unexpected, or simply surprising because of proximity, and you are caused to think about things differently. Savvy marketers, if they have one of something, often have it in a multitude of colors - you just never know which think will catch on. These porthole belts spanned the entire rainbow of colors. The red one is like a cruise ship, skimming across a shallow sea in front of a green island.

PORCUPINE

June 14, 2010. The Tweed Building. In one of the halls on the second floor I found this work, by a kindergarten student. I find it enchanting, and it started me thinking about the simple gesture and how it can convey a substantial meaning. A child, using a few simple shapes, has brought into being a fully realized image with more emotional impact than a photographic image. I applaud the teacher that guided this child on this path.

SUBWAY PORTRAIT

June 13, 2010. Ah, now here's a face, a scowl, an unhappy outlook on the adventure that awaits anyone entering the subway system in NYC. The train can carry you to faraway places, new cultures, or work. It can take you to the IKEA ferry to visit Red Hook for the BWAC art exhibit. This face doesn't know that. He is rendered in light and darkness - but the darkness seems to control his face, force its outlook, weigh on what could be an exuberant day.

CRIMSON & GOLD

June 12, 2010. I love a parade. The color, the happiness of the participants, the noise, and the people watching. Look at this wagon being pulled down the street - the crimson red tent with its deity at the front, festooned with banners, ribbons, and balloons. It was a short parade, no sooner did I get near it than it was over. I would have liked to see more.

LIFE

June 11, 2010. The sun glints of these shiny red jewels of delight. The rosy red bleeds into a pale pink pearl, and then back again to claret. They are, indeed, ripe for the picking. It's hard to pass a fruit stand with these beauties and not want to reach out and grasp handfuls, to take them with you so that you can enjoy them as you slowly eat your way through each and every one.

GRILLING

June 6, 2010. What designer thinks about grills on cars? And they think about it in so many ways. I noticed this one, and then started looking at all of them as they drove by or were parked on my street. None matched the inventiveness of this grille. Each bump changed in dimension as I moved around the front of the car. The sun bounced off the rises in the horizontal bars, and there is my hand, visible as a reflection. Would the owner only have offered to give me this beautiful piece.

SMALL DOOR

June 5, 2010. What is behind this little hobbit door? It is not just the door to 34 1/2, but also to 36 1/2! Amazing! I peered down the narrow lane, and I am certain that it opens into some alternate reality - like a Harry Potter tent - and I want to go there. What would be in this place? Art for all. Food that wasn't soaked in cleaning products. Serenity at the end of the day amid flowers, shade trees, and a cool drink. People that respected each other. What a world!

SPLATTER

June 1, 2010. Outside Giant Robot. I wonder if they use these metal doors as a staging area, or did someone come by and say 'Hey, a clean canvas. Let's do something.'? Anyway, G.R. doesn't seem to mind, and a little color on a drap sidewalk is a welcome sight.