Manzo Dakota 
I always enjoy looking around at the Antique Emporium of Asbury Park, which has over 20,000 square feet of interesting finds, including furniture, art, ceramics, clothing, vintage jewelry and baseball cards, among other things. Here’s a pair of humorous paintings that I saw on a visit in the summer of 2020: at left, we have … Read more
This past Sunday morning, I wanted to get out of the house (since I work from home all week), but couldn’t decide where to go. The weather was questionable (chance of rain), so I wanted an adventure that had some possibilities of being inside and/or outside. I’ve been exploring Hudson River towns in recent months, … Read more
I was walking around Chelsea in Manhattan on Saturday, visiting art galleries, when I noticed this combination of objects, pictured above. I didn’t touch it or move anything, what you see above is what I saw – and to me, it looked like a flower! Now, why would a long thin plant leaf like this … Read more
When I am in New York City and walking around, I tend to see things that grab my attention in unlikely places, whether it’s on the sidewalk, on the back of a sign, the possibilities for creative finds are endless – like this leaf and muffin wrapper that looks like a flower. I was walking … Read more
My son contacted me yesterday to ask if I was seeing the double rainbow outside after a long afternoon of heavy rains. As I looked outside, I was struck first by the intensity of color and light, much more visually intense than any rainbow I’ve seen of recent memory, but secondly the aspect of a … Read more
When I entered Pace Gallery the other day to see the Julian Schnabel exhibition, I was immediately struck by this artistic floral arrangement at the front desk. Those aren’t your typical sunflowers, and what are the spiky balls? I wasn’t sure at first glance, but wanted to try to find out. I’m not 100% sure … Read more
I was reading a profile of the designer Kelly Wearstler in the NY Times, and there was an interesting quote from Amy Astley, the editor of Architectural Digest (which I love, and subscribe to), where she said: “…’I do think she’s a master of jolie-laide,’ or finding beauty in the unconventional or strange.” I was … Read more
I took a day trip up to Poughkeepsie, NY, over the weekend, as a continuation of my exploration of Hudson River towns and the Hudson Valley in New York State. I had never been to Poughkeepsie before, so I was curious to check it out. As I pulled into town, my GPS sent me in … Read more
This blog post is a continuation of my previous post titled “A road trip with no end destination in mind,” in which I hopped in my car and headed north along 9W and the Hudson River, looking for new places to explore. I left the story at the point where I was in Haverstraw, NY, … Read more
I could go into any number of antiques stores and find weird, strange, and bad paintings, but every once in a while I’ll see something really good, which then begs the question: what’s the story behind this painting and the artist? I happened upon this painting in an antiques store just north of Poughkeepsie (which … Read more