West 85th Street (Thursday Doors)
The large building loudly walks the street.
Geometry, context, and beauty.
Why does the window repeat?
Why does the arch answer?
Why? connection!
The dark door quickly gets the guy.
The Red House, designed by Harde and Short, was completed in 1904. At the time it was considered a luxury building, although now it’s a market-rate studio and one-bedroom apartment rental building. It’s striking architecture was landmarked in 1982. It is said that Dorothy Parker once lived there
Another distinctive building on West 85th Street belongs to Dorot, a non-profit that provides social services for older adults. Founded by graduates of the social work program at Columbia University, it has expanded beyond its original idea of alleviating the social isolation of the elderly to include programs and activities both inside and outside the home. Volunteers provide a vibrant inter-generational connection.
My poem is courtesy of the poem generator, which I recently rediscovered when going through old posts. I generated a few different ones, then picked lines from several to put my poem together.
This is the one I used, feeding it my own word list: https://thinkzone.wlonk.com/PoemGen/PoemGen.htm
And here’s another one: https://www.languageisavirus.com/interactive-poetry-generator.php
You can read more about The Red House here and find out more about Dorot here.
And, as always, visit Dan Antion the host of Thursday Doors, here to see more doors and share your own.
Weekend Work 1/24/2022
Did some painting this weekend. I titled this one “Herd Immunity”. Ironic because my husband tested positive yesterday for Covid despite being vaxxed and boosted.
I can’t decide which way this looks better. I kind of like it both ways. The brown circles are decals that came with a piece of furniture we put together this week.
I’ve had this one hanging around for a while.
We’re going down to the office now to get swabbed. I tested negative yesterday but feeling not that great.
Have a good week! Nina
Pink (Thursday) Door
hard to miss–
door says come on in–
play with me
This pink door stopped me in my tracks the other day. I really like the portico over the entrances–the doors must have been the same when the buildings were constructed. I wonder why the owner on the right chose to make such a different statement about who they are and what might be inside. We know children live there because of the window guards. Perhaps they requested pink.
For Thursday Doors, where you can join in or just visit and enjoy.
The Kick-About #45 ‘Splendor Solis’
Some magical transformations for January.
From the effortless, airborne whirligigs of our last Kick-About together to another transmutation of matter into something elemental and illuminating! For this week’s creative challenge, we’ve been in the business of summoning the sunshine, and, at risk of seeming self-serving, I want to give special thanks to Gary Thorne for his contribution, which has something nice to say about all these continuing acts of creativity of ours, and the light they bring.
Vanessa Clegg
“I was thinking what could be the most ‘alchemical’ transformation imagined? What on Earth happens in those tiny parcels called the chrysalis? From the juicy tube of a caterpillar, wrapped tight and left to transform, an entirely new creature is made: the butterfly, drying and pumping its wings in the sun, a symbol of summer. The image is upside down, as I wanted the cases to look like ‘sort of’ vessels, with the butterfly levitating and…
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Lions in Winter (Thursday Doors)
touch of red
a circle of warmth
offsets grey
I haven’t been taking many photos in the last month–it’s been rainy and gloomy–but this door caught my eye. I also took a few photos when I walked through Central Park to the dentist the last week in December. Luckily I made it home just before it started to rain.
black branches
pattern across clouds
wintering
paths become
unfamiliar, raw,
reseasoned
Haiku written for Colleen’s #TankaTuesday challange.
You can see more doors and join with your own here.
Weekend Work 1/10/2022
This one is possibly the craziest thing I’ve done in a while. It came out of this one that I posted last week:
It got flipped around. You can see some of the elements in the top painting. Stuff just started emerging and I went with it.
This one is going to an old friend from high school. She is going to have heart surgery and I wanted to do a piece for her. She’s an artist and will appreciate the effort, I think.
This was just a lot of fun to do. I may do more like this.
My daughter took me to see this archway someone in my town made. We think it’s a tree that was mostly cut down and then the existing vines were formed into an arch. Couldn’t get a better shot but this was a great outdoor piece.
Still cold in Northern NJ. Have a good week! Nina
Western Meadowlark: Draw a Bird Day
crescent silhouette
yellow breast
white flash winging
singing
through air
The Western Meadowlark, a resident of western and central North America, is not actually a lark, but is related to blackbirds and starlings. Like larks, though, it is one of the few birds that sings as it flies. The black crescent on its bright yellow breast and the white flash of its tail feathers when flying make it easy to identify.
Though not yet considered endangered, breeding populations have declined 50% in the last 50 years. The meadowlark’s favored habitat of wide open fields and natural grasslands has been declining due to agriculture, housing development, pesticides, invasive plant species, and fire suppression that alters the composition of native landscapes.
I’ve written a gogyoka for Colleen’s #TankaTuesday color poetry challenge.
The Kick-About #44 ‘Double Gong’
Some Calder inspirations to start off 2022.
After the pudding-weight of festive expectations associated with our previous Kick-About, Alexander Calder’s light-weight dance of shape and colour sends us turning gently into the new year, with another showcase of new works made in a short time by a loose group of artists with homes all over the world. A happy and transformative 2022 to all of you!
Phil Cooper
“I loved the prompt this week. I’m a big fan of Alexander Calder’s sculptures. By happy coincidence there’s a big exhibition of his work here in Berlin right now at the just-refurbished Neue Nationalgalerie. Quite how I came to write such a story in response to the beautiful, elegant mobile in the prompt is a bit of a mystery. I think too many mince pies and liqueur chocolates over Christmas sent me a bit funny!”
You can find a PDF version here
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January 2022: into the darkness
all of it, this New Year,
erasing the old one–
we wish it gone–
but it lingers, overlapping—
erasing the old one
in a circle of continuous return–
it lingers, overlapping–
there seems to be not enough space
for a circle of continuous return–
branches extending in all directions–
there seems to be not enough space
to hold everything–and yet
branches extend in all directions–
sometimes, for a moment,
we hold everything—and yet, still,
here we are, as always, between—
sometimes, for a moment,
pausing on the threshold–
here, where we are, between,
we can see eternity filling,
pausing on the threshold
under an infinite star-filled sky–
we can see eternity filling,
brimming with birds
under an infinite star-filled sky–
we wish it to stay,
brimming with birds,
all of it–welcoming this New Year
A pantoum for 2022. Happy New Year!
Weekend Work 1/3/2022
This one should be called “Don’t Fence Me In”. The fence came out of nowhere and I liked it. This one reminded me of a very old painting I did early 90’s:
I like separate components that pull together on the picture plane. I finished this one that I’ve been playing around with for a while:
A couple of others that aren’t done.
Thank you to all WordPress friends. It is wonderful to have your support in my painting endeavors. Nina
method two madness 
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