freewheelin'

day 2 of our trip to nyc began with me meeting my friend, and our middle school art teacher, e.m., for coffee and breakfast. we ate and rushed to our first super seminar with featured artist, peter max. i love his work. was not as impressed with his talk but nonetheless, a celebrity in the art world. we wanted to see him. see some of his work here.

after the "super session" we rushed off to a mixed media/collage session. lots of great example work by this art instructor. teachers were crammed in a tiny conference room at the sheraton, listening and frantically passing the examples while snapping photos with our iphones. a humorous site.

after that we perused the a huge ballroom at the hilton seeing various art vendors. all wanted to sell us on the latest and greatest art materials. this was super fun. we were able to experiment with new paints, sharpies, pens, brushes, etc. we could have easily spent the rest of the day there. and lots of free art materials being given away. so much that e.m. had her things fed ex'ed back to rome that afternoon. i crammed mine in my ginormous suitcase. i have been playing with the goodies all week.

later that afternoon we met up with fellow roman and friend c.k. he showed us around the west village, chelsea, and the meatpacking district. we walked on the high line and got to watch the sunset over the hudson. amazing. we visited several galleries in chelsea, featuring up and coming artists, and attended a lichtenstein opening. our friend and guide offered an authentic new york tour of these areas and all the history to boot. a priceless and completely entertaining afternoon and evening.

here are some photos from the best thursday ever.

the west village, greenwhich village and chelsea, as our tour began.

a favorite bob dylan hangout. cafe wha.

wine and beer at white horse tavern. aka as the "high temple of the alcoholic artist".

we tried to recreate a famous photo from a bob dylan album cover. we stood in the exact spot where he stood. pb even happened to have on a camel jacket.

our esteemed tour guide.

washington square.

views from the high line with a real camera.

art we saw: a bird made of nails.

thousands of paintbrushes.

sidebar here: i was convinced after seeing several of these huge sculptures that pb and i need to do a collaborative installation piece...i still am...

the opening.

our gallery hopping was followed by dinner here.

and after dinner...

we said farewell to our friend. i cannot say thank you enough for the time he spent with us that afternoon. we had an amazing time. could not have asked for more.

after the cab ride back to the hotel, pb and i walked to times square and climbed to the top of the steps to drink in this view.

my sister, lizzie, em and i spent several nights in times square in december so it made me a little homesick. it is a great place.

we had dessert at the 53rd street deli before turning in for bed. sprinkle cookies.