Cycladic Art from the Met

Last Monday Don, Harry, and I headed to NYC to deliver some tiles to a client in Soho. After a brisk walk down Mercer Street and a hearty lunch, we headed up to the Met for a quick visit. My intention was to photograph some of the tiles on display in the American Wing, but I was drawn into room 161, or there about.

I've been a huge fan of Cycladic art since I took my first art history class many moons ago, and these simple, but elegant renderings always fascinate me.

No one knows for sure what the purpose of these stylized figures was, but since they all have been found in graves, perhaps they served some religious significance.

These three are my current favorites!

We did eventually get to the American Wing......after the exhibit on Guitars.....and the elegant Box Show.....those photos to follow soon!

Wednesday Blog - Museum Meanderings - Metropolitan Museum of Art

As many times as I've been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is many, I always seem to find my way to the Byzantine Art. I stood in front of this piece for a very long time, as if by staring at it I might own the same skills that the artists who rendered this had.

It's a "Khatchkar" (Stone Cross) and was carved out of basalt around 1100 - 1200 in the Republic of Armenia.






I'll be back to look at this another time.

Wednesday Blog: Museum Meanderings - Up on The Roof

My husband Don and I made the decision on Monday to go to NYC the next morning to discuss a tile order that is being shipped to London next week - I needed to clarify the glaze color variations. It's hard to discuss these issues from across the ocean, and even harder to exchange them if they're not exactly what the client wants. SO....we headed off to New York City on one of the hottest and most humid days of the summer! After our 15 minute meeting, which is all I had expected it to be, we were off to lunch and then on to the Met to see the exhibit - Doug + Mike Starn on the Roof: Big Bambú, an amazing ongoing creation that began last April.

Standing in the shade beneath the structure was truly amazing in all its organic texture and feel. I won't go into all the technical details in how it is built...hey, google it....but the simplicity of the connections left me feeling (quite unrealistically) that I could finally build that tree house I've been dreaming about all these years.

There are tours to walk the structure, but since you have to sign up in advance...and we were no where near being that thoughtful about it.....we watched wistfully as the last tour of the day descended the steps that encircled the piece. The movement and quiet squeaking of the bamboo against the weight of the people was as elegant as an orchestral piece.

Standing out on the exposed deck to get an overview of the piece, in the sun, in the humidity, was quite overwhelming....so we spend most of our time under the bamboo, which is where we probably would have been anyway, as the discovery of how this huge, airy construction was actually weight bearing, took a good amount of investigation. After staring up from inside for at least 10 minutes, I finally realized that there were people on top, still building.


Don and I have decided to make sure to visit again before it closes in October...and to get there for a tour this time!