Empire Grill

This diner is in Skowhegan, Maine. Had lunch here one day and was greeted by the effusive owner (show at far left wearing cap). It was a beautifully restored diner, partly thanks to the shooting of a movie here called Empire Falls based on a book of the same title by Maine resident, Richard Russo. Next to our booth was a group of 8 people, part of a tour, enjoying the diner that was featured in the movie. The menu was standard diner fare, featuring breakfast all day. I don't enjoy breakfast so ordered the grilled cheese sandwich. After a very long wait the sandwich arrived. It was toasted on the outside, the 2 small slices of cheese was unmelted.

Embden Pond

Morning view from our cabin at Embden Pond, Maine. We had a nice cabin a few yards from the pond, very close to the boat dock. Birdsong in the morning woke us and the sound of the wind in the trees was soothing.

Blueberry Ice Cream

Maine had a lot of great ice cream. At Frosty Delite, Mom & I had fresh blueberry ice cream and Mike had maple walnut. I loved the retro look of this ice cream parlour, especially the black and white linoleum floors.

Lancaster, NH

We came across this charming covered bridge in Lancaster, NH. We stopped in this town on our way to Maine. We visited the tourist information center and saw a quilt with this bridge sewn on it.

Shea

Interleague game between the Oakland A's and the Mets. The Mets won, which was a big relief to most of the guests in the skybox.

Grand Reading Room

Afternoon shot inside the NY Public Library. It was nice to spend some quiet time among the stacks in a light-filled reading room.

New York, New York

Waiting for the light to change on Times Square

Nuzzled near Wall Street and World Trade Center.

Library Walk

We stayed at the Dylan in New York, very close to the main NY Public Library. The two blocks leading to the library are called Library Walk and there are plaques every few steps with quotes from various authors. This project was co-sponsored by the NY Plublic Library and Grand Central Station.

Street Tango

This painting is based on last week's assignment. We did some fast sketches of the street below our classroom. Then we had to use one of the sketches and make a painting. While I was doing my classroom sketch, I saw a man pushing a cart with 3 chairs on it. It was a portable shoeshine stand. I decided to do a painting based on him. Because none of my other sketches were interesting, I went back to the classroom and photographed the street below. I also took some streetsite pictures. I then sketched the cars and people in ink, then colored them with acrylics. I had layered a lot of papers but they all were covered by the grey paint. I used an old wallpaper for the crosswalk. The greenish windows of the building are Japanese tissue paper.

Mariano

This is my second mixed media painting. I included a newspaper headline about the All-Star Game and a photo I took of Mariano Rivera. Also included are pieces of a scoresheet from a previous game and a pressed fern. I had difficulty with this composition, especially the painted elements. The paint was too opaque and I couldn't wipe enough of it off. I forgot to cover the newspaper with gel so it was very bubbly. I had to glue it down. This and the flame girl were created in one day - not enough time for the paint to dry so I could apply more layers.

Flame Girl

This is my first mixed media painting. It's painted on plywood. The girl is a photographic print from a found negative, the flames are made of Japanese rice paper. I've added ashes and spent matches. I used acrylic paint for the painting. At first I used a lot of pale colors but that made the painting appear dull. I kept adding more pigment and ultimately added too much. I painted over with a blue-gray color and stayed with the stark background.

Dodgers Sweep Hapless Giants

Here's fleet-footed Juan Pierre excecuting a perfect bunt that would score Furcal from third. The Dodgers won 5-3, making this an 11th consecutive win over the Giants at AT&T. The only bright moments for the home team were great fielding plays made by Omar Visquel. Noah Lowery got high in the pitch count and was out by the 5th. Bonds was scoreless. Despite triples hit by Kemp and Furcal of the Dodgers and Durham of the Giants the game was dullsville.

A Magical All-Stars Weekend

After participating in the unfurling of the flag, I ran upstairs to our seats in AT&T Park. These weren't our usual seats but those provided by the Wagners. It was interesting to see the game from the third base side. It was warmer here than our seats along the first base side but the views are better in our regular seats. Still, what an opportunity to see the game with NL player families, cheer for the AL stars and watch Ichiro hit an inside-the-park homer!

Balls in the Bay

Like a surreal tableau from Venice, or Venus, this was the view in front of me as I waited for the cue to go inside AT&T Park for the All-Stars Game. It was a humid and overcast day alternating between bright sun and dark clouds. We were charged with carrying the Canadian flag onto the field and unfurling it as the Canadian anthem was played.

Mother Standing Next to Dock, Embden Pond

Just a few feet away from our cabin, we could take a boat around the pond or swim. My mother decided to swim one hot afternoon after the sun set. We had 2 days of heat and 3 days of very pleasant weather in Maine. The cabin was fully equipped with screens, ceiling fans, fridge, washer/dryer and even a dishwasher. The pots and pans weren't in great shape - the teflon coating was coming off. Unfortunately my mother's eyesight was so poor she cooked lots of meals in them. The cutting board was useless - a piece of pyrex that made chopping a noisy affair. I bought a replacement at the supermarket that helped matters somewhat. In Vermont we bought maple syrup and sharp cheddar, and in Maine we got blueberries, strawberries and sugar/butter corn. During our stay my mother used up all the small packets of soy sauce, salt, pepper and sugar that we hoarded from restaurants and air flights. She brought cup-a-noodles and instant miso soup from Japan. We managed to drink the miso soup (have never tried reconstituted clams before but they tasted good). But there was no time to eat the kimchee ramen so we brought the cups over to the big house in the hopes that the hungry family there would eat it. Unfortunately people preferred to eat the strawberry pancakes. I ended up eating one of the kimchee ramens. It was a little too salty, especially after a strawberry pancake.

Early Evening Middlebury

Came upon this languid scene soon after driving into Middlebury. Earlier, we drove out of Manhattan, going up New York and crossing over to Shelburne, VT. There we visited the Shelburne Museum, which had all sorts of exhibits in buildings scattered around the property. We only had about an hour so we went to see the Rosie Lee Tompkins quilts. It was a small but gorgeous exhibit.