National Gallery

I was very lucky to have a few hours on my mini break to slip away to the National Gallery.  In the midst of a heatwave and prime tourist time I was able to steal some quiet moments in one of my favorite places in the world:

All photos by me.

Admiring New York Treasures

It's hard to go inside when you are in New York, because the city is so absolutely enthralling! We managed to make it in to a few museums though. One we had planned to see for sure was the Neue Gallerie, home to some rare works by one of my favorite artists Egon Schiele. I have long admired the work of this artist and studied a lot of his pieces when I was in art school only I had never seen one of his pieces in person and it was definitely a dream come true. The lines and colors of his work are truly inspiring.

We were able to make it in to the Gagosian Gallery to see a very intimate show of photographer Sally Mann's work and an exhibit of Cy Twombly sculptures! We were also so lucky to wander into The Met as we were really looking to get out of the rain for a bit and get a hot drink of some sort. A complete stranger came up to us and gave us two tickets to enter the exhibits!! She had disappeared in to the crowd before we could barely get the words thank you out! So, Thank you!!! kind woman wherever you may be!!! We were able to see Vermeer's masterpiece The Milkmaid as well! A picture could never describe the quality of light this Dutch Master can portray on canvas! A very rare treat to see this piece in person!! As we wandered from room to room we came upon masterpiece upon masterpiece...it was never ending! We stumbled into this Van Gogh room, the largest collection I have ever seen! Here is Michael admiring some pieces...

We were also lucky enough to see these stunning Manet's, another one of my favorite painters!! These portraits are atleast 5 x 8 feet! They actually radiate light! (Sorry for a little bit of blur, I did not have a tripod.)

Of course we admired some of the iconic architecture of the city such as Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim building. Did you know that originally he wanted the building to be bright red?

The Whitney Museum by Bauhaus trained architect Marcel Breuer:

And even though we have all seen pictures of this, I had to admire the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue. It almost disappears in to the background. From down below inside the store you can see the historical Plaza Hotel. I love the juxtaposition of the grand and old fashioned Plaza seen through the glass of the ultra modern Apple Store by architects, Bohlin, Cywinski, & Jackson:

Architectural Elements

I have always loved this beautiful home in Montreal, Quebec. I used to walk by it all the time and imagine what it was like in its heyday. I still think it is quite beautiful in its current state and have always loved its architecture and colors. With a little love this place could be a dream. The image beside it is of the Westmount Flower Conservatory also in Montreal. It is a beautiful and tranquil place that I would spend many an hour walking through. It is attached to the historic Westmount Public Library. I will post some images of the library another day. Here are also some pictures of some facades I loved in Montreal as well.

it has been ages since i have posted anything new on here! i wanted to shares some images i took a couple years ago of seattle's public library designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and former Seattleite Joshua Ramus. the library is really a work of art in my eyes. check out this gorgeous space. later today or tomorrow i will also post some pictures from michael and i's trip to japan last may. i took over a thousand pics and it has taken some time to sort through them....

SO HERE ARE SOME PICTURES OF THE NEW BERKELEY BOWL THAT IS GOING UP ABOUT 4 BLOCKS FROM OUR HOUSE! WE ARE SO EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO WALK THERE AT ANYTIME! IT LOOKS LIKE IT IS GOING TO BE GORGEOUS WITH AN ENORMOUS PRODUCE SECTION.

i adore this building in chinatown. the colors are perfect!
i was also really excited to spot this beautiful shepard fairey piece!

here's a closer look, enjoy!