Kandinsky, Vibrating Creatures, and Visconti x 2

This morning I was pretty wiped out from yesterday.  Afternoon t-storms in the forecast put my painting plans on pause, so I was floundering around having no idea what to do with myself.

Then Kedrin asked if I wanted to go see Kandinsky at The Guggenheim.
Since I get in free (and her too) so I said sure, but.... Kandinsky isn't my favorite- can we still be friends?

Kedrin said there is a lot of Kandinsky she also dislikes and as it turns out we like and dislike the same Kandinskys.  This has solidified our friendship.

So we met up at The Guggenheim.  I have not been there for... probably more than 10 years.

My Kandinsky Perspective has expanded and I did see some work I really liked, especially his earlier stuff.  Kedrin also showed me paintings she was hoping would be there but were not, and those were really nice too.

I did not include a picture of a rather hideous yellow painting.  Kedrin said to me, how could this be better? and I said he should have used turquoise instead of yellow! She said EXACTLY! and we both had a very good laugh.

Kedrin enlightened me about early Kandinsky work and I enlightened her on the bathrooms in the Guggenheim, which you have to experience when you are there because they are so weird.

I make a lot of mistakes and should have gotten these markers.

We both had to go to Blick after the Guggenheim but discovered Blick would be closed by the time we could get there. We took the bus down 5th ave.

I could have gotten off the bus to go home at 59th st, Kedrin could too, but neither one of us felt like getting up. 

Our solution to this was to stay on the bus and take it all the way down to The Strand.

Madison Square Park from the bus

I haven't been in The Strand for a long time, mostly because I already have a bad book problem that is slightly out of control.

We had a good story time with this book, which is all about aliens analyzing Vibrating Creatures- cats!

It was excellent.

I had to laugh because both these signs have applied to me.
(Not today though, The Guggenheim doesn't give stickers.)

Futile Sign

I thought the shelf label here was particularly accurate.

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You know you have a book problem when a significant amount of books at the Strand you find interesting are already in your library. This is why I don't go to The Strand, it's sometimes better to Just Say No. Kedrin is a terrible enabler though, because she has the same problem.

I did get 2 books- one a really lovely botanical illustration book (like I really need another one but I do) and a facsimile of The Visconti Hours. There is a lovely Medieval Beasts book that is only $12 and Kedrin really thinks I need it. I do need it but was already spending more than I wanted to.

The Visconti Hours was more spendy than I wanted and also heavy because it is a big hardcover. I was hesitant about it but it did attach itself to me and..........

When I got home and put it in my library, I discovered I already have it.

Of course I already have it.

I can return a hardcover for full refund within 3 days, so I'll do that tomorrow.

Kedrin scolded me for not spending enough time with my Visconti Hours and also reminded me I can get the beast book.

Times Square, Round 2!

David wanted to go paint Times Square again.
I cannot say no to that, and Thor joined us too!

I am VERY happy with this panting!

8x10 oil, 3 1/2 hours

Painting in Times Square is no joke, nor is it for the faint of heart.

What is interesting though, is David turned to me and said he was going to complain about how the visual chaos was overwhelming, and then he realized... it wasn't.  And I was thinking THE SAME THING!

The first time we painted Times Square last year it was completely nuts and overwhelming.

This time it was completely nuts but not overwhelming at all.

From a painting perspective, that's pretty amazing!

I could not have done this painting 2 years ago, and weirdly what has helped me to figure out complexity was having done it before and all those pastels I did at St Patricks. I learned a lot doing those and it has kind of stuck with me and comes into my mind a lot when I am out painting.

David, Thor and I had a lot of fun.  They each did 2 paintings, I was the plein air wimp and only had one painting in me.

David and Thor are both better painters than me.  

And that's ok, it isn't a self-criticism, they both have 20 years on me. 

I want to be around people who are better than me; I have learned a lot from both of them just by hanging out with them and looking at their work. 

I do think my painting holds up just fine next to theirs, and I'm really proud of myself about that. 

To see their work, check out @davidnakabayashi and @thorwick.

Me and David

So creepy!

David's second painting

Thor

David's first painting

David's panel carrier

I have had a little paint issue since college... if there is one color that I get EVERYHERE it is cadmium yellow. I'm not a messy painter but cadmium yellow always seems to end up where it should not.

I think I might be responsible for the yellow paint on the entry door of my building, and I think this happened when I painted the Park Ave Tulips..............