midsummer daydreams

I crouch in the grass as the lavender paints the sky, pretending the blades of green are taller than I, and gazing at the rays of a kaleidoscopic sun, I devour this moment of midsummer calm, making sunprints with fairies and fawns....

"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, 

Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows

Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,

With sweet musk-roses, and with eglantine:

There sleeps Titania some time of the night,

Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight;

And there the snake throws her enamell'd skin,

Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in."

- William Shakespeare

the boy

Nothing seems more divine at this time then rolling around in the grass, chasing rabbits, and making monkey friends with the boy. Ladies & Gentlemen, allow me to introduce...Otto Archibald Gauthier. When life gives you lemons, get a puppy.

the leaving behind

I left my sketchbook in terminal B20 at the John F. Kennedy airport. In it were notes of all the places I'd been, things I'd seen, and people I had spoken with while wandering the streets of New York City. In it were mango candy wrappers from Little India grocery, a poem I had written lying upside down in an installation at Scandinavia house, a list of all the beer I had tasted, and pages of notes detailing the names of inspiration. 

The day before I left the city, I took a terrible spill into the street, so I left quite a bit of skin in New York as well. For those of you who have not seen me, I am back in Minneapolis earlier than planned. I am happy to be back, happy that nothing was planned, happy to know that one day I will return to the city fully healed, and strong enough to pick up the fragments I left behind. Much excitement and growth and chaos is coming...stay tuned.

remnants

A few of the many little bits I've accumulated along the way, including the worst photo booth session ever. I will probably have all these little bits years from now, for the same reason I still have the ticket stub from the first movie I ever saw alone with a boy (we held hands!)

compliments&coordinates

Important events seem to be happening here, if only I knew what they were. Instead I will stand on the street corner here. I will stand on the street corner and admire the colors, and the fact that at this precise hour, this brochure I have been handed reflects the spectrum of that facade, which coordinates with the soccer jerseys of the match taking place nearby.  Ah, Chinatown. Reminds me of swirl art. 

wee characters

On a recent summer's eve, I was lead to a tiny forest spirit, who showed me the way to Decibel, which caused a stir and an impromptu trip to M2M. Ah the Japanese market! Lychees and sake still brewed in my stomach and when intermixed with such sweets cast a spell that has lead me to realize two things: 1. Mochi and Dream Animals are my most favorite of foods, and 2. After I graduate I will pursue a career in Japanese candy packaging design. 

secret passageways

Sometimes when the masses overwhelm I pretend that urban passageways lead to pastures I have yet to tread. I close my eyes and absorb it all, grateful to be, yet wishing for something I cannot yet foresee.  

under.over

Under the Brooklyn Bridge (With an Olafur Eliasson waterfall at right).

Over the bridge! As night falls, the city rises.

this is just to say

"...And then there are the passengers. Though the trains are always moving (while I photograph) I feel inextricably linked to the individuals inside. Each individual is alone but with me, connected, if only for an instant. Yet in this moment and in the sum of all these moments there is a seed of something larger and impossibly tangible. This is just to say: 'we.'"

-Ethan Levitas, Untitled/This is Just To Say

Eminent Domain, an exhibit currently on display at the breathtaking New York Public Library features the work of five New York-based photographers examining the fragility &  flux of New York's public spaces. Ethan Levitas' This is Just to Say series is titled after an imagist poem by William Carlos Williams. Aaah, art inspired by words. 

a confusing confection

I've recently discovered the Yorkie, an outrageously discriminatory candy bar that can be found in delis all over NYC. Well I tried one, and let me tell you, they are no big thing. Take that Nestle! And thanks also, Hacuha, for the further affirmation. I will try my best. 

central park on a tuesday

Look who I found! Andres Guzman everybody–designer, illustrator, music-maker, and caricaturist extraordinaire. We made no money yesterday unfortunately, but a lovely afternoon was spent eating popsicles and getting my caricature drawn. Thanks, Andres!