🍰✨

I went to Happy Medium for a figure drawing sesh, but I was really off my game. A recent kitchen injury on my thumb made it somewhat awkward to hold a pen, and I just didn’t have the confidence that I normally have to let the lines flow without overcorrecting them.

However, the only drawing that I ended up loving was this one that I drew of a fellow sketcher from across the room.

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

— W.B. Yeats

At last, a beautiful summer day. We biked to Greenpoint and soaked up the good vibes.

Perhaps you heard that we had a 3-day heat wave? I, for various (rational and irrational) reasons, was feeling peak anxiety around this time, so decided to use my Summer Friday museum hopping from one air-conditioned space to the next.

First stop was The Jewish Museum, which had been on my list for a long time. Hope to go back sometime soon. I learned what a Torah pointer is and was mesmerized by the one pictured above. Zoom in if you can — the detail is unreal.

Next stop was The Met. I spent about three hours here, and despite the heat wave, it was not nearly as mobbed as I thought it would be. I had one of my most pleasant museum experiences ever here, in fact. It was probably a good idea to come on a Friday afternoon.

Another tip: Check out the museum’s open-storage section in the American Wing. It was very peaceful here, and there was much to admire (see previous post).

I enjoyed this one by Horace Pippin, painted in 1945.

“While Victorian Interior I is sometimes described as a still life, he felt otherwise: ‘If you look carefully you’ll see that She’s left her knitting, and He’s left his pipe. They’ll be back at any moment.’”

This style reminds me a little of Becky Suss.

I communed with the section of trompe l'oeil paintings for a long while. I remember loving these as a kid — I’ve always enjoyed art that messes with your mind. My favorite here was William Michael Harnett’s The Artist’s Letter Rack. It’s oil on canvas, but the woodgrain details are unbelievable.

And finally, after a not-bad walk across Central Park, I took the train down to the Rubin Museum, in time for their free Friday admission. By this point, I was quite tired, so the smaller, circular-oriented museum was a welcome break from the never-ending labyrinth of The Met. I adored the Death Is Not the End exhibit. As well as the interactive exhibit two floors below where visitors could hit gongs and submerge them in water to release their anger.

When was the last time I interacted with an exhibit apart from taking pictures of it? This reminds me of how much I adored visiting children’s museums and science museums when I was growing up.

Communed with Green Tara. Then went home.

And now, here’s more Met Miscellany

One of my favorite pieces of the day was this oil on wood piece from 1914 by Robert Winthrop Chandler. It’s called Nightmare, and it’s one of those pieces that’s most impressive when viewed up close than from a distance. This is what the full thing looks like.