In The Studio With Hélène Farrar: September 2013

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

NYC. On my mind.

Think the city has been on mind ever since. I’ve made the trip so many times now. As a kid on the greyhound or Long Island railroad with my Mom and brother, as a young adult via the Chinatown to Chinatown express bus, and now racing down in my little car in 6 hours flat from my door to Cousin Ilene’s in Washington Heights, the top west side of Manhatten. Phew. We moved to Maine, the year I started kindergarten – many chapters started and ended since then. But I seem to find myself there, whenever I can spare the time and money. A gift it feels like to be surrounded by visual stimulants, where the ugly is beautiful and each person’s face and dress is information laid for a design and suggestions of a personal journey. I look back sentimentally at when I was a new mother, scattered, tired, and attempting to find ground. We worked out an opportunity for my "ticket to ride" to the city for an extended weekend. I “landed” in Penn Station late on a Friday evening. Remembering now how I felt when I stepped onto the sidewalk for that first time again, looked up at the lights and the intersection. If I was to close my eyes now, I could almost go there again. Such calm brought by the loudness.

I am home now. Last night I made the same journey in reverse arriving with a few hours left to sleep before starting again. It was almost two days in the city seeing and soaking in, alongside with my now seven-year-old daughter, and two days at the Maker Fair in Queens. But I am so happy to have NYC in front of my senses these days and now its on my mind (and all that inspiration in my pocket). Here are some fragmented pictures from these days. Enjoy.