After flying every week since the start of the New Year, we were so happy to be home this weekend in New York. I’ve really been wanting some time for reflection, inspiration, and simple pleasures. Below are a collection of Polaroids from my archive through the years and thoughts from a weekend home…

I’ve been listening to The Milk Carton Kids (and really loving this) and Beta Radio, mostly imagining driving down autumn roads of Vermont. I think I’m ready to be surrounded by golden colors as the gray winter days start to ease.

We went to the MET, looking for inspiration, looking for something to pick apart over dinner conversation. We found it in STREET by James Nares. A haunting look at New York and our society as it is now. Raw and real but like a ballet of life. It was mesmerizing – the online video does not do it justice.

We’ve been searching for a new apartment in Manhattan this past week. I love the prospect of moving, imagining a new life in a new space. Everything is exciting again and the city can be rediscovered from a new angle. We looked out over Lower Manhattan in an actress’s apartment, looked down on a garden in an artist’s loft, and looked up at the snow falling from under a massive sky light. We still have a few more places to see but my heart is already beating for one.

We saw Zero Dark Thirty which lead to a long walk home along CPW discussing the event of Osama bin Laden’s death. What happened to the kids? What did they find in the paperwork and harddrives? Can you believe it was directed by a woman? Can you imagine being one of those guys that carried out the mission? I was paralyzed with fear just sitting in the movie theatre!

While reading about Matisse’s journey as an artist I discovered the poem by Charles Baudelaire, “L’Invitation au Voyage” which describes a world in a warm glow of light. Matisee painted a scene from Saint-Tropez he must have felt represented this poetic world by naming it “Luxe, Calme, et Volupte” from the words in the poem. I’ve been thinking about this world both of these artists created in their own mediums and how I would do that through Cinemagraphs.

Images in order:

1. Flowers- Southampton

2. The San Remo– Central Park West

3. Bouquet- by Amy Merrick

4. Uptown- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir

5. Red roses for love

6. CPW

7. Farm house- Rhinebeck, New York

8. Self Portrait

9. Flowers- from a walk in the park

10. View from 93rd Street- UES

11. Bouquet #2- Amy Merrick

12. Table setting- The Waverly Inn

13. Engagement Ring

14. Winter light- CPW

15. Tuxedo Park, New York

16. Husband