LIfe, Art and Adventure
Choose Your Own Adventure~ Parque Lage, Rio de Janeiro
I still feel the rush of excitement as I lay in my bed reliving the memories of last night’s trespassing excursion in the expansive jungles of Parque Lage in Rio de Janeiro. Adventure is in my blood. It is life at its fullest. I want to know this world intimately and explore as many of its mysteries as I can in my short time here. When I am on an adventure I feel most alive, my heart beats louder, my vision seems sharper, and my mind more alert. I feel a surge of unspeakable wonder when I am confronted with open possibility, exotic imagery, and new, unfamiliar situations. The thrill and wonder beckon me. Read More |
The Rainbow Bridge
To paint a rainbow down the ramp would take a team of daring people. People who were agile and quick and unafraid of the repercussions of getting caught. The action seemed much riskier than the Art Explosion because it was on the bridge. But the idea continued to roll around in my mind over time and it evolved into a more modest, more practical 80 ft. rainbow flowing out of a cosmic heart. I slowly started gathering the rainbow ninjas. I recruited them by color over the course of a year or so. So and so agreed to paint the green stripe, another friend wanted to paint purple, etc. Read More |
The Hearts of Haiti
What are the children like who grow up in the face of abject poverty? What is in their hearts? What are their dreams? We drive down a long jagged dirt road in Haiti, strewn with irregular rocks and holes. I sit in the back of the truck gripping the ceiling. A bag full of paint, brushes and blank heart panels balances precariously on my lap. Dan Bratman, my friend and project manager sits across from me. Soulouque (or Johnny, as we call him), our Haitian translator is to my right and the rest of the truck is packed full with a small medical team comprised of volunteer doctors from all over the world. We are going to Cité Soleil, a tent city that the Red Cross has declared the most dangerous place in the Western Hemisphere. Read More |
FlutuFesta!
I awoke early with bubbling anticipation, kind of like the feeling I used to get as a child on Christmas morning, except this excitement was larger and threaded with pulsing anxiety. There was a lot to do. It was the big day of FlutuFESTA, the culmination of four months of hard work and sweat, four months of sanding and painting boats, four months of bruised knees, fishy smells, sun-toasted skin, dirty hands, varnished feet, frustration and triumph. I wanted to absorb every moment of it. Read More |
Niki de St. Phalle's Tarot Garden in Tuscany
We're on the road to Tuscany to see the long awaited Tarot Garden of Niki de St. Phalle. It’s only when we are about halfway there that we check the website for hours and prices and we discover that the place closed for the winter over a month ago. WHAT?! Oh NoNoNoNONONONONOOOO! Wide eyes, followed by that sinking feeling. My friend and I look at each other in disbelief. So now what? We turn the car around? But I just can’t leave Italy without making this pilgrimage. What if we could sneak in?? The grounds of the tarot garden seem so expansive… Surely it can’t have barbed wire fences all the way around. It’s a risk. A risk of time, about three hours more of driving, and maybe a risk of more…
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We're on the road to Tuscany to see the long awaited Tarot Garden of Niki de St. Phalle. It’s only when we are about halfway there that we check the website for hours and prices and we discover that the place closed for the winter over a month ago. WHAT?! Oh NoNoNoNONONONONOOOO! Wide eyes, followed by that sinking feeling. My friend and I look at each other in disbelief. So now what? We turn the car around? But I just can’t leave Italy without making this pilgrimage. What if we could sneak in?? The grounds of the tarot garden seem so expansive… Surely it can’t have barbed wire fences all the way around. It’s a risk. A risk of time, about three hours more of driving, and maybe a risk of more…
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Nicolina - Phone: 917.837.5114 Email: [email protected]