Exploring Seattle’s Space Needle and Pike Place Market

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Patty

In wisdom gathered over time, I have found that every experience is a form of exploration.
– Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist

From Austin, I was supposed to head to Los Angeles and then Seattle on my five-city business trip, but I didn’t end up going to the last two destinations because of rescheduling issues. Still, since David and the kids were slated to join me this past weekend, we decided to stick with our original travel plans, and we flew just for the weekend to visit with good friends of ours, John and Kris. John and David have been friends since nursery school, and John was one of the groomsmen at our wedding. It’s a testament to their enduring friendship, though we haven’t seen them in two years and it’s been several years since we have traveled to the Pacific Northwest to visit them.

I’ve been to Seattle seven times. When I was on assignment in Seattle and Portland to cover an article on venture capitalism (VC) in the Pacific Northwest many years ago, I was able to conduct research on my novel. My father, his cousins, and many of his fellow compatriots traveled by steamship from Manila and entered the United States at the Port of Seattle. If the Filipinos didn’t have relatives already in the States to pick them up, most of them stayed in hotels in the International District, home of the citySeattle’s Chinatown, only to be conned by foremen into signing away their lives to migrant farm work. After my VC interviews, I was lucky enough to be in that area of town and found a couple of the infamous hotels where the men were given room until they were carted off to various parts of the country to pick whatever fruit or vegetable that was currently in harvest.

My view of the Space Needle through a web of tree branches.

Atop the Space Needle
In all the times I’ve been to Seattle, I’ve never been to the Space Needle (400 Broad Street, 206.905.2111). It’s something you do, though, when you have kids, and after the fact, I’m glad that we went. I knew that it was built for the 1962 World’s Fair and celebrated the young city’s vision for its and the country’s future in space exploration, but that’s pretty much the extent of my knowledge of the iconic symbol of Seattle.

Of course, once there, I learned more. The theme of the World’s Fair was Century 21. This was the time of the Cold War, and the U.S. was in a race with the Soviet Union to determine who would dominate the space program. President Kennedy was supposed to attend the closing ceremony on October 21, 1962, but canceled due to a “cold,” which later turned out to be a cover for his having to handle the Cuban Missile Crisis.

A view of downtown Seattle from the Space Needle.

After several attempts at finding the right centerpiece that would define the city long after the event was over – in the same way the Eiffel Tower did for Paris after the 1889 World’s Fair – Edward Carlson, president of Western International Hotels and chairman of the fair, found inspiration in the Stuttgart Tower in Germany. Several architects and versions of drawings later, as a result of trying to make the model structurally sound, the Space Needle’s current form came to be. Finding a location and financing – at a cost of $4.5 million – became the next obstacles. Both were obtained, and the Space Needle was constructed in just 13 months – just in time for the opening of the World’s Fair.

Every day nearly 20,000 people took the elevator to the top of the Space Needle, for a total of 2.3 million visitors for the duration of the fair. The Space Needle paid for itself in short order, and continues to be Seattle’s number one attraction. It takes 41 seconds to reach the top via the elevator, and your stomach definitely drops during both the ascent and descent. The 360-degree view of the city is wonderful. While we didn’t go to any of the other venues in the area such as the Pacific Science Center and the Experience Music Project (though we did go to the Chihuly Garden, which I’ll highlight in Wednesday’s blog entry), you could easily spend a day in the area.

Wandering around Pike Place Market at night.

Wandering through Pike Place Market
After a late lunch, we headed over to Pike Place Market, which has always been a destination every time I’ve come to Seattle. I enjoy walking up and down the stalls, sampling the jellies and other goodies and admiring the various goods crafted by local artisans. We also returned in the morning after Sunday brunch and were entertained by two street musicians, Whitney Monge and Morrison Boomer, whom we really enjoyed. Monge has a soulful voice, and the band had a kick to their music.

Kicking it up a notch with street band Morrison Boomer.

We picked up a salve that is supposed to clear up eczema, which my daughter has, and skin irritation, which David has, so we’ll see if the product by the Fay Farm – “handcrafted natural body products” – works (913 Tomchuck Lane, Greenbak, WA 98253, 360.222.3036, soapmaker@thefayfarm.com). Claudia Rice Kelly (Claudia Kelly’s Collection, 1916 Pike Place #12-341, Studio 253.941.2665) made some beautiful scarves, bow ties, and velvet jackets made of silk and velvet. Micks Peppourri (P.O. Box 8324, Yakima, WA 98908, 800.204.5679) had an overwhelming number of tasty pepper jellies, namely lime, pomegranate, and the cabernet. David and the kids went crazy over the Woodring Northwest Specialties spicy pickles and pepper and specialty jellies.

Admiring the scarves while being chatted up by the scarf lady.

As usual, the weekend was too short, but John and Kris let us know there is plenty more to Seattle we’ve yet to see, including the Boeing Museum. So that just means we have to come back, which is always a good reason to me.

Drawn to an Art Nouveau-style scarf that had different colors on either side.

One thing I’ve embraced is that wherever I go, especially if I’ve been there before, I want to find something new to see, appreciate, and learn about. Whether it’s a vintage shop or a historical landmark or a novel destination – a hidden gem – suggested by a local or a visitor, find something new. It makes the usual special again and our world ever more expansive.

Seafood does not get any fresher than this at Pike Place Market.

In search of Sunday brunch at Pike Place Market.

Transitions and Transformations: Carmela Rose Designs

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Patty

Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.
– Coco Chanel, French fashion designer

Jewelry designer Carmela Rose.

Carmela Rose grew up in a farming commune in the small town of Summertown, Tennessee, where its school emphasized the arts, including painting and pottery. When she was eight years old, she got hooked on Native American weaving and beading. One day, Carmela and her friend made earrings out of seashells that were part of her older sister’s crafting supplies. When someone suggested that the two girls sell the earrings, they pinned them to a board, went door to door, and sold nearly all of their creations. Thus were the beginnings of the designer and businesswoman behind Carmela Rose Designs.

Taking a leap of faith
Fast forward to 2005 when Carmela moved to the Bay Area after leaving her job as bead store manager in Sacramento and being hired in a jewelry department of a downtown San Francisco department store. When she was undergoing training, she realized that there was a conflict between her day job and her three-year-old, part-time jewelry business. During this time, Carmela had registered for the Los Angeles Gift Show, whose entrance fee was nonrefundable. “If there was a time to take that leap of faith, that was it,” she recalled. She had some savings set aside and already had clients who were selling her jewelry in their Bay Area shops. Ultimately, the demand for her jewelry fueled her decision to become a full-time jewelry designer, and the financial cushion helped with the transition.

A mixture of opalite, Swarovski crystal, quartz crystal, smoky quartz, and sterling silver.

Carmela built up her early business doing guerilla marketing, “hitting the pavement” to show her jewelry and distributing printouts and business cards when she had the money, as well as having her website built to draw business. Sometimes she would call stores ahead of time; other times, she would get up early in the morning, drive to a location with a good shopping district, and select stores with a good fit. Carmela looked for stores that had a good location and whose products were aligned with her jewelry’s aesthetics. She works with sterling silver and gold-filled metals, so she looked for stores that didn’t sell jewelry with plated metals or faux finishes, but rather focused on stores that specialized in natural fibers and simple, elegant, and classic styles. “Sometimes I would get really lucky and the buyer would be there and take the time to look and buy on the spot,” she said. While it doesn’t happen as often as it used to, at the time the economy was growing.

The first pieces of my collection from 2005: chalcedony, peridot, freshwater pearls, and sterling silver (left and middle) and labradorite, freshwater pearls, glass seed beads, and sterling silver (right).

While the economy has picked up in the last year, Carmela still does guerilla marketing. “It’s not something I’ll ever stop doing,” she said. She also participates in approximately five trade shows annually, including the San Francisco gift show, which is smaller than the Los Angeles gift show, an apparel show, and the sample sale trade show that takes place in October in San Francisco.

Vintage Carmela Rose: vintage sterling silver, tourmaline, and Czech glass (left) and vintage lampwork glass, freshwater pearls, and glass with a gold vermeil clasp (right).

Back in 2005, Carmela met Jen Komaromi of Jenny K in El Cerrito at the sample sale trade show. “At trade shows, you sometimes instantly click with a buyer,” she said, of their meeting. “They look at your stuff and instantly know they can sell it. I got the sense that I could trust her. We had this instant ability to communicate. I felt comfortable enough to push her to buy two pairs of earrings.” And that’s when Jenny K began selling Carmela Rose jewelry, and that’s when I began my Carmela Rose collection.

A mix of labradorite and agate earrings, along with vintage favorites: vintage plastic flowers, aqua quartz, and sterling silver, and vintage burnt yellow Lucite, Swarovski crystal, and sterling silver.

Relying on valuable marketing skills, overcoming challenges
Carmela gained valuable experience managing and marketing in her previous job at the bead store, and had already worked in many trade shows by then, traveling and meeting different buyers. “It gave me the skills and confidence to put my own larger creative goals into motion, because I’d been a part of that whole experience,” she said. “I was already skilled at marketing other people’s creativity and the ideas and personae of other designers more than my own.”

Vintage brass, tokens, garnet, Swarovski crystal, and 14k gold-filled hooks.

Marketing is the broadest challenge from day to day, and responding to customers’ needs is critical, according to Carmela. “You have to find new ways to do things and spend the time and energy to market,” she said. Figuring out how to measure one’s success is a skill that is also needed on a daily basis. “You have to assess whether something is working or not, and that’s often hard to do if it’s something that you’re passionate about; it’s hard for a lot of designers,” she noted.

Vintage Lucite, vintage Swarovski crystal, and sterling silver earrings, surrounded by andalusite, 22k gold vermeil leaf, and 14k gold-filled hooks (left) and citrine, brass leaves, and 14k gold-filled hooks.

Vintage Lucite, vintage Swarovski crystal, and sterling silver earrings (middle), surrounded by andalusite, 22k gold vermeil leaf, and 14k gold-filled hooks (left) and citrine, brass leaves, and 14k gold-filled hooks (right).

Carmela weathered the economic recession, thanks to a few loyal clients. New shops and new interest in her jewelry opened up last year, at the same time she was contemplating starting a family. “It worked out really well – having a home business and having a baby,” she said. “That’s my new direction. Things are looking really positive again.” While business not as booming as it was in 2005 and 2006, Carmela feels that she is moving in the right direction. “The most pleasant surprise is how supportive people can be, and all the wonderful people I’ve gotten to know – whether collectors, colleagues, clients or friends over the year,” she said. “Knowing some amazing and inspiring people have helped me get through the tough times.”

One of my favorite statement earrings, which give off an Art Deco vibe: vintage Lucite, garnet, and 14k gold-filled hooks.

The joys of designing jewelry
Carmela enjoys the freedom of being able to create something tangible out of a flow of ideas over any given time, and then releasing it to make room for the next creation. “And then to make a living out of it is unbelievable,” she said, with a quiet sense of awe. When pressed to name favorite pieces that she’s made over the years, Carmela is hesitant. She has cataloged everything she’s made, and while there are many pieces that she has enjoyed designing, her philosophy is to create something and set it free in order to make room for new pieces. “I’ve always felt that holding on too tightly to something would hold me back creatively,” she explained.

This necklace is one of my favorite Carmela Rose pieces: vintage sterling silver pieces mixed with oxidized sterling silver and Swarovski crystals.

Having been in business, both part-time and full-time, for a decade now and coming out of the recession stronger and assured, Carmela knows a thing or two about designing jewelry and making a business out of it. The ability to form and maintain sound partnerships is the most important trait to staying in business, she said. Ultimately, at the end of the day, she advises aspiring designers to “be true to yourself but also make it your goal to make really good products that other people enjoy.”

Post Script: Rave review
As you can see, I’m one of those Carmela Rose collectors. One of the things I’ve appreciated through the years is watching Carmela’s style and designs evolve and change, from the freshwater pearls, glass beads, and labradorite pieces to the vintage lampwork beads pieces, to the vintage metals. From delicate to statement to delicate. Simple to elaborate to simple. I have a very soft spot for the earlier statement pieces, as well as the reclaimed vintage jewelry. If I’ve converted you with my collection, check out Carmela’s jewelry at Jenny K’s (6927 Stockton Avenue, El Cerrito, 510.528.5350), where she usually has trunk shows during the holidays and special events such as Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day, which happens to be next week!

Early Carmela Rose pieces: ruby quartz and glass with gold vermeil clasp (left) and carnelian, garnet, serpentine, glass, and 14k gold-filled (right).

Austin’s Sunday bluegrass brunch and the LBJ Library and Museum

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Patty

It is the excitement of becoming – always becoming, trying, probing, falling, resting, and trying again – but always trying and always gaining . . .
– Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th U.S. President, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1965

Threadgill’s West Riverside Drive location did not have the Sunday gospel brunch today.

An Austin bluegrass brunch to remember
Thanks to a recommendation from Irene Koch at BHIX, we set our sights on the Sunday gospel brunch at Threadgill’s (301 W. Riverside Drive, Austin, 512.472.9304). We arrived early, secured a corner booth, and enjoyed our Southern breakfast, but it turned out that the choir thought there wasn’t a performance today (perhaps because it was Super Bowl Sunday?) and wasn’t going to show up. Thinking quickly, we decided to hot-foot it to the other Threadgill’s location (6416 N. Lamar – Austin, 512.451.5440) and arrived a half-hour after the bluegrass performance began.

The Sunday bluegrass brunch was a go at the Threadgill's North Lamar location!

The Sunday bluegrass brunch was a go at Threadgill’s North Lamar location!

Though I would have loved to have waved and clapped my hands to a soul-stirring gospel performance, I am very glad we heard Out of the Blue, a trio comprising Jamie Stubblefield on guitar, Ginger Evans on bass, and Rob Lifford on mandolin. What a treat! We heard traditional bluegrass, as well as their renditions of Bob Dylan and the Beatles’ “My Life.” The best song was the lively one that, of course, I didn’t record. It’s called “The Hangman’s Reel,” and required a lot of flying fingers on the strings. I really love the sound of the mandolin, though I am fond of the guitar and the bass, as well. All three were terrific on their respective instruments. I was hoping to link to one of their songs, but the size of the files were too large. Definitely check out their site to hear their music.

Local bluegrass trio Out of the Blue making beautiful music.

Here’s an interesting piece of local history: Kenneth Threadgill, a country singer and tavern owner, opened his gas station at the Austin city limits in 1933 and sold gas, food, and beer – when the Prohibition law was repealed. In fact, he was the first one in the state to get a liquor license post-Prohibition. He transformed the gas station into a tavern that featured live entertainment. After the war, Threadgill and his Hootenanny Hoots played to packed houses, which included local college students who also performed on stage. One such University of Texas student was Janis Joplin, who became good friends with the Threadgills and sang at his venue. While some credit Threadgill’s for starting her career, the modest Threadgill said that she “started herself” at his place. Austin is known for its musical roots, and we were lucky to get a taste of local bluegrass.

The Living-large legacy of LBJ
After brunch, we went to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum (2313 Red River Street, Austin, 512.721.0200, donation of $8 for adults), which is on the grounds of the University of Texas. The museum covers three expansive floors, and his archives alone house 45 million pages of documents, photographs, video, and audio files, which are the raw materials documenting his life and times.

The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum is an enormous building on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.

While LBJ is known to many of my contemporaries as the President who was mired in the Vietnam War, it should be mandatory for all school children to visit this museum and see just how much LBJ transformed America and continues to influence all of us to this day as a result of his Great Society vision and legislation. It’s staggering to catalog the many groundbreaking pieces of legislation he pushed through Congress, but you know me, I have to give it a go.

Landmark legislation
I was familiar with the bigger pieces of legislation, namely the 1964 Civil Rights Act that ended segregation, the 1965 Voting Rights Act that eliminated poll taxes that African-Americans had to pay to vote and deliberately confusing literacy tests they were subjected to before they could vote, and finally the Civil Rights Act of 1968. I was also familiar with his Economic Opportunity Act, which was the centerpiece of LBJ’s War on Poverty and signed into law in 1964. The act created several social programs in the areas of education, healthcare, and the general welfare of those people in the lower-economic class. Head Start and Job Corps are two of the few remaining programs. I remember the now-defunct Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program when I was growing up, and much admired its work, along with Kennedy’s Peace Corps.

The LBJ Library and Museum face an expansive courtyard.

The LBJ Library and Museum faces an expansive courtyard.

In 1963, JBJ signed the Clean Air Act, which was established to combat air pollution and the first of many acts to protect the environment. LBJ was the first President to sign into law clean air and water quality legislation, and he went on to sign laws for pesticide control, water resource planning, solid waste disposal, highway beautification, air quality, and water and sanitation systems in rural areas, among other areas. The Water Quality Act combatted water pollution by seeking higher water quality standards, and the Wilderness Act formalized the process of designating wilderness areas for protection.

In 1965, he signed the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allowed immigrants of color – not just immigrants of European descent – to come into America. The Social Security Amendment in 1965 created Medicare and Medicaid. While the system needs an overhaul today, it remains, in my opinion, a critical safety net for older Americans, and indeed, for us all. I for one can say that without Medicare my sisters and I would have had to borrow money out of our homes to pay for the seven-plus total weeks that our mother was in the ICU and then an acute-care facility. Our mother was a hard worker, paid into her pension and Social Security, saved a lot of money, and even took out secondary health insurance, but there was no way she could have paid for those last weeks of her life.

LBJ also passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the Higher Education Act, which provided financial assistance for low-income families. The latter act provided Pell Grants, which my sisters and I received – and put to good use. The Heart Disease Care and Cancer and Stroke amendment to the Public Health Service Act and the Cigarette Labeling and Advertisement Act paved the way for research of diseases caused by tobacco use and awareness about the dangers of smoking.

The staircase from the 3rd floor to the 4th floor gives you a view of the impressive collection of LBJ’s archives.

The Child Protection Act of 1966 ensured that manufacturers made safe toys. The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act mandated safety belt use. (He also signed the Highway Safety Act the same year.) It reminded me of an older friend who used to give me rides to the evening choral rehearsals with the San Francisco State University choir. Whenever we would come to a stop sign, her right arm instinctively shot out, a reflex of the pre-safety belt days when it was common practice to put one’s arm out to protect the passenger. In that same year, LBJ signed the Freedom of Information Act, which allowed citizens to access formerly classified documents, and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, which was designed to provide more information to educate consumers.

In 1967, the Public Broadcast Act enabled the formation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which in turn established the Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio, which David and I enjoy, as do many of our friends. LBJ was responsible for creating the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities under the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act. And in that year, he appointed Thurgood Marshall as a justice to the Supreme Court.

A photo-engraved magnesium mural of "A Generation of Presidents" includes LBJ in the Great Hall o the 4th floor.

A photo-engraved magnesium mural of “A Generation of Presidents” includes LBJ in the Great Hall of the 4th floor.

In 1968, he signed the Fire Control Act, Fire Research and Safety Act, and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The Fair Housing Act guaranteed that people of color were not discriminated against when they tried to buy a home. By signing the National Trails System Act, LBJ created the 2,663-mile-long Pacific Crest Trail enjoyed by many a nature lover.

We spent three and a half hours at the museum, and that was only because the museum was closing. We hurried through the 10th floor, which had a smaller-scale version of LBJ’s Oval Office. I think another half-hour would have sufficed, but I learned so much about a man who had a vision about creating a better America and world through his Great Society but was tortured by an unwinnable war that he could not end. (A side note: The Fog of War, a 2003 documentary by Errol Morris about LBJ’s secretary of defense Robert McNamara, illustrates the complexities of the Vietnam War and LBJ’s dilemma. This documentary is highly recommended!) What is amazing is the legacy LBJ did leave, which I so anal retentively and chronologically cataloged.

Here are some amazing statistics that I took with me: When LBJ entered the presidency, the percent of Americans living in poverty in the U.S. was 22 percent. When he left, it was 13 percent. (Another source in the museum said that the reduction went from 20 percent to 12 percent.) No other president has been able to make such an impact on this scourge. He was instrumental in adding 36 sites – a total of 10 million acres – to the National Park System. And he was the founder of the U.S. space program, which fostered the belief that humans could achieve anything.

A statue of LBJ greets you at the entrance of his library and museum.

LBJ understood poverty after his freshman year in college when he took a teaching assignment in a small rural town in Texas called Cotulla, where his predominantly Mexican-American students were poor and often came to school on empty stomachs. Back then he understood that poverty is a symptom not a cause, and that in order to eradicate poverty, we would have to as a great society work together to ensure quality healthcare, education, housing, and job training, and address violence in our communities. The vision of the Great Society was not meant to be a handout but rather a hand up, to make individuals and their communities self-sustaining.

I doubt my kids – at ages 10 and 12.5 – would have had to patience to go through every display and exhibit as we did, but even if they could retain just a smidgeon of what I learned today, their knowledge of one of the most visionary presidents in modern times would have been enhanced greatly. There is truly not a day goes by that someone in our country is not impacted by legislation signed by LBJ. That’s quite a legacy. To quote LBJ: “The Great Society asks not how much, but how good; not only how to create wealth, but how to use it; not only how fast we are going, but where we are headed. It proposes as the first test for a nation: the quality of its people.”

A Meal to end an eventful day
How to end such a full day? After hitting up Feathers again, we decided to take on another suggestion by our friend at Uncommon Objects. We settled ourselves at Woodland (1716 S. Congress Avenue, 512.441.6800), which features appetizers such as spiced pork empanadas, southern corn fritters, and crispy fried Gulf oysters. We enjoyed the roast duck tostada as appetizer (slow-cooked pork seasoned with cumin, cayenne, and red chili in a masa crust with a tomatillo dipping sauce) and the porcini-dusted salmon on a blanket of leek risotta and drizzled with truffle oil. Both were worthy meals to close out my last full day as a tourist in this fun city.

Peasant Jewelry by Michael Hickey features deconstructed rosary pieces and a bone.

Peasant Jewelry by Michael Hickey at Feathers. The religious medallion at the top opens up to an engraving inside.

Museum love in New York City: MoMA and the F.I.T. Museum

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Patty

I love New York, even though it isn’t mine, the way something has to be, a tree or a street or a house, something, anyway, that belongs to me because I belong to it.
– Truman Capote, American author

Monday midday, after I conducted an interview with a terrific Brooklyn healthcare organization called BHIX, we decamped from Mason’s place to midtown Manhattan. I was slated to give an introduction on big data in healthcare for a dinner event and take notes, record, and informally interview attendees in order to write a piece of content for the company who was sponsoring the event. (Oh, yes, I forgot that this was a business trip!) We had one more destination to make on our to-do list, and that was to go to the Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.) Museum, which would complete our museum-focused trip.

A still garden at the MOMA - the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden was closed.

A still garden at MoMA – the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden was closed.

Starstruck in MoMA
On Sunday, after Heidi and I walked the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, we took a cab to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Admission is a whopping $25, so it’s prudent to get there right when the museum opens. I honestly didn’t check out ahead of time or know what art is in MoMA, so I was completely overwhelmed by what I saw.

Admittedly, I was starstruck. All of these masterpieces that I had studied in an art history class at Porterville College as a teenager were right before me – just a few feet from my hungry eyes. I don’t remember all the great artists I had studied in that favorite class, but I developed an appreciation of them, their techniques, and their contributions to the art world. (This is a shout-out to Mr. Howell, an extraordinary teacher who gave everyone who took his class a huge window into an expansive, more colorful and vibrant world outside of our small farming town existence. It was the same feeling I got when I saw the great works in the Prado in Madrid, the museums in Rome, and the Uffizi and other museums in Florence.)

The Dream by Henri Rousseau.

At every turn around a wall or into a new room, I gazed upon countless masterpieces. It was dizzying after a while – so much color, thick and smooth paint strokes, enormous canvases and equally astonishing smaller works of art. Edvard Munch‘s The Scream was on loan, but Heidi let me know that there are several versions of the painting. It wasn’t crowded, which made viewing an even more pleasurable experience. Heidi’s favorite was “The Dream” by Henri Rousseau.

One of the many Paul Klees at the MOMA.

It is difficult for me to choose favorites. I love Paul Klee‘s playfulness. I’ve always adored Vincent Van Gogh since I was a tortured teenager and wrote a report on him in high school. There were some moving B&W photos, as well.

Van Gogh’s pencil and pen and ink sketches are just as moving to me as his paintings.

B&W photo, photographer unknown, 1950s in Washington, D.C. I love the mirroring images within this photograph.

If I had to pick, I have to say that I was really taken by Belgian artist James Ensor‘s “Masks Confronting Death 1888.” The pale colors, the foggy background, the masks themselves, and the ghostly face in the left made the painting compelling for me. I couldn’t stop staring at it.

James Ensor’s Masks Confronting Death 1888.

This is a museum that out-of-towners should have a membership to if they are lucky enough to be in New York three times a year. I wouldn’t tire of seeing these masterpieces again. People don’t tire of religious experiences.

Capturing the quiet admiration of an art lover: My “Magritte-esque” photograph of Monet’s water lilies.

Fashion and Technology: “Without risk, nothing changes the world”
We didn’t get a chance to squeeze in the Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.) Museum last September, so visiting this museum was a must-see this time around. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take any pictures. The museum, which is free, comprises only two exhibits. After the Brooklyn Museum and MoMA, it was nice to go to a more contained museum. “Fashion and Technology” in the Fashion and Textile History Gallery was the first exhibit and celebrated the ways in which technological innovations influenced and advanced fashion, whether it be production, materials, aesthetics, and function, through the years.

The F.I.T. Museum.

The sewing machine, of course, led to the mass production of clothes. But many may not know that the Spinning Jenny and Jacquard loom, also developed during the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, were equally important in revolutionizing the conception and manufacturing of textiles. The Jacquard loom was ten times faster than hand weaving, and the Spinning Jenny mechanized the process of manufacturing cotton thread, which made cotton replace wool as the predominant fabric of choice, especially in the warmer seasons. In the mid-19th century, synthetic dyes were developed, which enabled dressmakers to use brilliant, fade-resistant colors – such as royal purple – for their gowns. The invention of the bicycle and its popularity led to the introduction of knickerbockers for women and multi-gored skirts that made riding bicycles possible, and the introduction of the zipper made dressing, especially for women, a lot easier.

Urban landscapes – with the introduction of the “skyscraper” – inspired the Art Deco movement to express the technological changes that the world was experiencing in the first decades of the 20th century in the form of geometric art and design. The Chrysler Building, whose lit-up spire was our view from our hotel room window, is a great example of Art Deco. Around this time innovations in rubber and plastic were finding their way into fashion. After World War II, fashion and technology merged again. An American designer named Claire McCardell designed washing machine-safe sportswear for the suburban housewife. The drip-dry suit was accompanied by a 1968 black-and-white commercial of a man having a smoke and reading the newspaper in his suit in a bathtub. After showering off, he’s seen leaving his hotel, completely dry. The space age also influenced fashion design, as well as created this sense that humans could do – and go – anywhere their imaginations took them.

Textile innovations and collaborations in the later part of the 20th century included blending of metallic threads and synthetic textiles, combining DuPont’s Lycra with cotton or linen to introduce “bi-stretch” material that now characterize sportswear. Personal computers and the internet made their mark and continue to make their mark on fashion. Computer-aided design (CAD) software and computer-operated Jacquard looms changed the way clothes are produced. 3D printing and software-guided lasers are creating amazing fashion. I’m missing other advancements, but that just means you have to go to the F.I.T. Museum. But make haste: This exhibit, which began on December 3rd, runs through May 8th. If you’re a Project Runway junkie, fashionista, or even a historical buff, you won’t be disappointed.

Media Design Club at FIT: Exploring time through graphic design
The second exhibit, “The Fourth Dimension: The Media Club at FIT,” is in the Gallery FIT. The exhibit is an exploration of the changing world of graphic design through individual students’ interpretation of time. It was an unexpected gem for me. The near-empty room was lined with laptops running various programs that employ motion and interactive technology. A larger screen ran about 20 or so animated shorts. Heidi and I parked ourselves and watched around 10 of them. As we finished viewing one called Planned Obsolescence, a young man standing next to us asked us if we liked it. Yes, we did – a lot! He let us know that he had made the short and just happened to walk through the exhibit as it was playing. He was clearly excited and proud, as he should be. It was terrific, as most of them were. I know about the concept of planned obsolescence of products, but I had no idea that it was developed as early as 1932. So the TV and speakers that we’d had for many years, dating back to our college days in the 1980s, meant that those very products didn’t last as long as their predecessors had decades before! You learn something new every day, and it’s these little bits of knowledge that keep life interesting and constantly full of wonder.

Buildings rise above Madison Square Park, not far from F.I.T.

We watched an animated short contemplating and trying to define what time is and many shorts on the environment – exploring global warming, overpopulation, pollution, consumption and hoarding, consumerism, and even procrastination, which I loved and wish my 12-year-old son could see (hint, hint). In fact, as I watched these shorts created by college students, I couldn’t help but think how my son, who can spend entire days making stop-action movies with his Lord of the Rings Lego sets, would thrive in this kind of environment. Anyone who appreciates animation and graphic design will enjoy this exhibit. To get a sense of the kind of things the club does, click here. It’s a fantastic message to be and stay creative – so it’s for me, it’s for you, it’s for David and my kids, and it’s for everybody, at any age or stage of our lives. This wonderful exhibit runs through February 9th.

The Flatiron Building is a short walk from F.I.T.

Last night in New York (sniffle, sniffle)
So my stint in New York has ended. The dinner event went well last night. I didn’t stumble over too many words during my introduction and I was able to compose my nervous self to talk in front of all these healthcare chief technology officers and other executives. I sat next to two women who represented the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention located in Harlem. Maureen, who sat to my right, explained that Ralph Lauren quietly donated money to start the clinic in Harlem to allow underprivileged people – citing his own mother who grew up poor and had contracted cancer later in her life – to have access to the same quality of care that he and many of us have. It’s an inspiring story.

I had refrained from drinking any wine before giving my introduction, but needed to take many sips before the official welcome. I told Maureen how nervous I was, and she looked around the room and said matter-of-factly, “You’ll be fine. There’s nobody important enough here that you need to impress.” She – whom you could tell was all no-nonsense and bred of hearty stock – made me laugh, which gave me a boost of energy and confidence. After I presented and sat down, she gave me a firm but familial slap on the shoulder and exclaimed, “Boo-yea!” Somehow, that seemed to me quintessentially New York.

I am now in Dallas for two days, for another dinner event. I’ve only been to Dallas once, back in 2005 for a business conference. At that time, I only frequented the convention center and our hotel. We’ll see what this next leg of my trip brings.

Parting words from MoMA: Appreciate art!

The Winter wonderland that is Brooklyn

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Posted on January 28, 2013 by Patty

I once started out to walk around the world, but ended up in Brooklyn,
that Bridge was too much for me.
– Lawrence Ferlinghetti, American poet and painter, A Coney Island of the Mind

Beautiful brownstones in snow.

Greetings from Brooklyn! When I arrived Saturday morning, it was 18 degrees and snowing lightly. It had snowed the night before, and as I was driven from JFK to my sister’s and my new friend’s place in Brooklyn, I marveled at the pristine layer of snow that endowed the cityscape with a quietude and pureness. I was reminded of Peter’s world in Brooklyn from A Snowy Day.Last week, I had pulled out my 1988 army-surplus-store, army-issue Alaskan arctic parka (from my Jesuit Volunteer Corp. days in Alaska) to wear, fortified by long underwear. But when it came time to start packing, I realized it was too bulky to take and pack (as my business travels were to take me to Dallas and Austin, as well), and I needed a more functional and business-looking coat that would keep me warm and allow me to enter a business event and still feel presentable. I escaped having to attempt styling a chic look with my arctic parka and got a city parka. I needed it. The temps never rose past 21 degrees that day and the wind blew with such force, which made for quite the hike from our friend Mason’s apartment in the Cobble Hill district of Brooklyn to the Brooklyn Parkway Waterfront by way of the shoreline. I breathed through my mouth because my nose stung when I breathed normally. If only my boots were waterproof in the slushy snow, as my ski socks kept my feet warm so long as they were dry!

View of the City from Brooklyn.

The Idiotarod shopping cart races
All that said, it was the perfect weekend to be in Brooklyn. On Saturday, the annual Idiotarod shopping cart race took off shortly after noon, near the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. Favorite entrants were the Cart full of Mitt Romney’s Binders Full of Women. The most expansive entrant was the multi-piece speakeasy, complete with piano, bar and gaming table attended by champagne-sipping, gangster-clad men and women. The Pac-Man crew made their outfits out of brightly colored nylon laundry bags and their cart was re-envisioned as the Pac-Man who demonstrated eating fellow crew members dressed as a banana and a cherry. Such an 80s thing. Arriving late but just in time were the Medieval knights in their very detailed chain-mail suits of armor and their just-as-elaborately-constructed catapult, and the Charlie Sheen characters, who dressed their shopping cart with Charlie Sheen movie posters, such as Wall Street, Major League, and Platoon. There were not as many entrants this year, but with the temps as they were, can you blame them? Once they took off, we escaped the outdoors at an equally quick clip.

Medieval shopping cart.

Cart full of binders of women!

Mason had introduced us to the Chocolate Room on Court Street when we were there in September, so it was only fitting that we retired to this mecca for chocoholics for something to warm our tummies and de-ice our extremities. This time, we tried their seasonal dark spicy hot chocolate (imagine Ancho chili, Chipotle chili, cloves, and cinnamon mixed with Belgian chocolate and Valhrona cocoa powder). You can order your own online, but if you’re in Brooklyn, it is a must-see.

The Brooklyn Museum: Mummies, European painters, feminist art abounds

Rodin and me at the Brooklyn Museum.

Satiated, warm, and dry, my sister and I set out for the architecturally beautiful Brooklyn Museum. I’d heard about the museum’s world-renowned Egyptian collection, but that was the extent of my knowledge. I wish we had scheduled the entire day because we only saw half of the museum in a hurried three hours. We were greeted by Auguste Rodin sculpture when we entered the building. Surrounding the Beaux-Arts Court, which is equally architecturally stunning, were European works of art, including paintings by Pissarro, Monet, Manet, Kandinsky, and Goya. My two favorites were by Russian artist Vasily Vereshchagin, who painted these two enormous canvases, “A Resting Place of Prisoners” and “The Road of the War Prisoners” (both 1878-1879). The “battle painter,” who had participated in military campaigns as a decorated soldier, painted realistic scenes from many wars. The paintings at the Brooklyn Museum are from the Russo-Turkish War (1877-88). They were very haunting, and he captured both the indifference of the bitter cold and the horrors of death and war without employing a heavy hand.

The Beau-Arts Court, featuring European paintings.

The Egyptian collection comprises more than 1,200 artifacts, including sculpture, relief, paintings, pottery, and papyri, across seven galleries. The collection tells the story of Egyptian art from its earliest known origins (circa 3500 B.C.E.) until the Roman era when Egypt was folded into their empire (30 B.C.E.–395 C.E.). While everything was breathtaking and in need of more leisurely time to examine all the details, the most stunning gallery for me was the mummy chamber, which included four mummies, detailed exhibits on the process of mummification, and a very long scroll on the Book of the Dead. The layout of the galleries reminded me of the rooms upon rooms that archeologists found when they discovered the mummies. This collection alone is priceless as a destination point.

Detail of an Egyptian cartonnage, the material of which mummy cases are made.

Heidi was familiar with The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago, which is a permanent exhibit at the museum. This installation artwork is by the feminist artist who collaborated with other artists to assemble her vision of a dinner party with 39 place settings, complete with personalized banner and dinner plate, for both mythical and historical women. There are quite a few plates that overtly depict the female vulva, which take issue with the phallic symbols that have been abundant in art history. She started the project in 1974, and it premiered at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1979. It’s an amazing exhibit that all women and especially girls should see to appreciate her contribution to women and art, and to learn about the many important but often forgotten women in history.

Walking the Brooklyn Bridge on a crisp sunny Sunday morning.

Walking the Brooklyn Bridge under a full moon
The Brooklyn gods were smiling upon Heidi and me Sunday morning, as we were determined to walk that bridge. It was something I was advised to do when I was in New York in 2008, and I vowed to do it the next time I was in town. Tragically, last September, Heidi and I walked the Manhattan Bridge by accident, but it guaranteed that we had to return to Brooklyn again. And so we did, and so the wind and freezing temperatures of Saturday did not deter us.

It was 31 degrees, sunny with no wind – a perfect day to traipse across this beautiful bridge and enjoy the skyline. We spent the day at the Museum of Modern Art (more on that in the next blog entry) and then after returning to a few local haunts (In God We Trust and End of Century), we decided to walk the bridge back to Brooklyn at night. It was seven in the evening when we began our walk with the full moon and the city lights as accessories to this glorious old bridge. It was really invigorating.

New York under a full moon seen from the Brooklyn Bridge.

Dinner at Talde
How to celebrate another wonderful day? Saturday evening, Heidi and I had the best pulled pork sandwich I’ve ever had, along with a well-paired Cabernet Sauvignon at Pork Slope, a roadhouse-inspired bar by Top Chef alum Dale Talde and his partners that takes its name from its neighborhood of Park Slope. Talde actually has three restaurants in Park Slope (Thistle Hill Tavern serves casual seasonal tavern fare and handcrafted cocktails). So we met Mason at Talde‘s namesake restaurant, a casual Asian-American restaurant and bar. Talde was previously a sous chef at Buddakan, where David and I dined and swooned over the food back in 2008 in the Chelsea district.

So forgive me my inclination to tell you all what we had for dinner. For appetizers, we had kale salad with hazelnut ponzu and persimmon, green mango salad with crushed peanuts and Thai chili, and Hawaiian bread buns with Filipino pork sausage (of course) and pickled shallots and garlic vinegar mayo. Our noodle selection was crispy oyster and bacon pad thai, and our side dish was roasted cauliflower. Our main entrees were smoked charred sui pork shoulder with peanuts and autumn pears and wok-charred Black Angus rib eye, to go along with our sangiovese. For dessert, we had chocolate bar cookies and, couldn’t resist, Talde’s version of Halo-Halo, a Filipino dessert that is made of shaved ice and the various versions have different ingredients such as creamed corn, shredded cantaloupe, and condensed sweetened milk. Talde’s version had Cap’n Crunch, which I was not all that keen on, but it goes with the tradition of making the dessert your own with different ingredients. It was an unbelievably satisfying meal. And one that I will definitely take David to, as he is a big Top Chef fan and a foodie. If you’re ever in Brooklyn, I highly recommend Talde.

We are now in Manhattan, and though I love Manhattan, there is nothing like Brooklyn. I remember telling friends when I returned home in September that I would move to Brooklyn in a heartbeat. Oh, they said, the humid summers and frigid winters will change your mind. Well, the frigid winters didn’t sway me. I guess I’ll have to come back in the summer to test the other half of their hypothesis. Game on!

Welcome back to Brooklyn at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge!

Discovering the Contemporary Jewish Museum

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Patty

I wanted to convey the joy of being a little boy alive on a certain kind of day.
– Ezra Jack Keating, American author and illustrator

We had planned to celebrate my daughter’s belated 10th birthday “party” this past Saturday with a requested family horseback riding excursion. Due to safety issues over the muddy trails, however, we had to come up with alternative. My daughter, who was inviting a good friend of hers to join us, decided on the Yerba Buena Park and the carousel in San Francisco. David suggested that we include going to the Contemporary Jewish Museum (736 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, 415.655.7800), since it’s located across the street from the Yerba Buena Center. My daughter was less enthused than my son. She announced in a much-too-early preteen tone of voice that she was “done” with museums – which is surprising coming from someone who loved museums and always brought a sketchbook to draw and take notes. We promptly added the Contemporary Jewish Museum to our itinerary.

The architecture of the Contemporary Jewish Museum is stunning (seen from the western end of the building).

The Contemporary Jewish Museum is a beautiful piece of architecture. There are only five exhibits in the spacious museum, but it’s the right number of exhibits and square footage to soak in the art and not get overwhelmed.

The Snowy Day
One of the current exhibits is “The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats” (ongoing through February 24th), which we thought the kids would enjoy. Who doesn’t have a copy of the classic urban story about a young African American boy delighting in the beauty and wonder of snow? I read it as a child and read it to my kids when they were young. “I wanted to convey the joy of being a little boy alive on a certain kind of day,” Keats had written of the genesis of the book, which won the Caldecott Medal in 1963. We were treated to original sketches, storyboards, and final illustrations of his many books, which allowed us to see the individual materials that made up his collages, the printed paper he cut out, the thickness of his paint strokes, and the different techniques he employed, including dipping paper into a mix of paint and other liquids to produce a marbled effect.

Breaking up an all-denim foundation with earthy colors – a textured moto jacket and beloved Frye boots, and embellished with hoop earrings from Lava 9 (Berkeley, CA).

Of The Snowy Day, and also his other written works, he wrote that he was more concerned with “capturing a mood” than in developing the plot of his stories. Given that he admired haikus, you can see the influence. Especially in The Snowy Day, readers understand Peter’s deepest feelings and his world beyond the snow in the spare but evocative words Keats chose to give us.

Displays of letters provide us with a snapshot of the era. The Snowy Day was published in 1962, during the Civil Rights Movement. Many people thought Keats was African-American, and he noted that African-Americans especially were disappointed that he was not. Keats responded to a racist review of his book, which was displayed along with letters of support. Most poignant is a series of letters between Keats and a Japanese mother whom he had met during a book trip to Japan and whose son cherished an autographed copy of one of his books. She wrote to let him know how much her son loved that book – it was his most prized possession and he showed it proudly to all his friends and acquaintances. Keats’s most recently published book was the last book her son read before he was fatally injured in a traffic accident the following day. Keats’ letter to her was achingly heartfelt. He never wrote the book that was to memorialize her son, but his letters paid tribute and the exhibit includes a black-and-white photograph of him offering his respects at the boy’s grave.

Styling an outfit around a necklace by Israeli jewelry designer Ayala Bar.

I had no idea that Keats was such a prolific writer and illustrator, with more than 80 books to his credit, and author of 22 of those books. I found his Good is in the Mountain, which was published in 1966 and comprises excerpts of texts from different religions, spiritually nourishing. I have a new and deep appreciation for Keats’ artistry and life – born as Jacob Ezra Keats to poor Eastern European Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn in 1916. Bay Area locals should see this exhibit and his wonderful paintings and illustrations before it closes on February 24th. One hopes this exhibit travels to other cities. Keats and his work deserve a wider audience.

The Radical Camera and Black Sabbath exhibits
The other exhibits appealed to both David and me and the kids, which is a rarity to find a museum that appeals to all family members across all exhibits. “The Black Sabbath: The Secret Musical History of Black-Jewish Relations is in a big open room – conducive to dancing, in which my daughter and her friend indulged – with an antique piano and four tables equipped with iPads and headphones. You had a choice of listening to three African-American musical genres from the 1930s to the 1960s, which were influenced by Jewish music, life, and culture. In the playlist “Heebie Jeebies,” for example, you can catch the integration of Yiddish and Black jive during the swing era by such artists as Cab Calloway.

Keeping it simple to showcase Ayala Bar’s necklace – J. Crew hot pink velveteen blouse, Club Monaco gold pleated mini and sparkly clutch, Elizabeth and James platforms in a neutral color, Carmela Rose earrings, Sundance bracelet, and rings by Lava 9 (Berkeley, CA) and BCBG Max Azria.

David, who shares an appreciation of black-and-white photography with me, loved “The Radical Camera: New York’s Photo League, 1936-1951.” The exhibit comprises the work of more than 50 Photo League members, who embraced an aesthetic that honored realism and the documentary, and married social activism and art. The photographs capture the harshness of the Depression, World War II, Jim Crow, and the Red Scare periods of our history. This exhibit celebrates historical documentation through the beauty of black-and-white photography.

StoryCorps
Finally, I’m glad we ventured down one short wing of the museum on the first floor. At the end of a well-curated exhibit by contemporary Jewish architect Stanley Saitowitz is the StoryCorps StoryBooth. Amazingly and lucky for us locals, the Contemporary Jewish Museum is the first museum to host one of its recording booths. If you have listened to some of the recordings on National Public Radio (NPR), you are familiar with the largest oral history project in the country, capturing ordinary people’s lives and histories in their own words. A TV monitor played a loop of recordings that were translated into animated shorts. David and I wanted to keep watching, too, after shedding a few tears over some of the stories – particularly the one of the older couple from Brooklyn whose love remained strong throughout their many decades of marriage, even after his untimely death by cancer; the letters he wrote to her every day of their time together was replaced with the thousands of letters she received from NPR listeners when they heard about his passing, which she reads one a day. But we had to pull the kids away in order to see the rest of the museum. I brought home a postcard with information to reserve an interview time. Hopefully, the booth will still be there in the summer when my sister visits from San Antonio and we can record and preserve our parents’ immigrant lives.

We will certainly return to the Contemporary Jewish Museum. For locals, if you’ve never been, I highly recommend it. If you’re planning a visit to San Francisco, this should be on your list of destinations.

Ayala Bar’s three-in-one necklace comprising glass beads, Swarovski crystals, mineral stones, fabric, and metal. It has a boho feel to it.

The Dress at 50

Live the creative, meaningful, and full life

Category Archives: Arts

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The Winter wonderland that is Brooklyn

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Discovering the Contemporary Jewish Museum

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