Photos By Gail
Living the Covid Life in its Manhattan epicenter is hardcore. New Yorkers are survivors though, and we still love our city. Queen Andrea wants to make sure we don’t forget how hard NYC rocks. She completed this beautiful mural on Avenue A between 3rd and 4th Streets on May 14th, 2020, which is why it still looks fresh!
Photos By Gail Worley
Jean Marie Fiori is a French sculptor born in Limoges. He graduated from the National School of Fine Arts (École Nationale des Beaux-arts) in Paris, where he is now based. Formerly a painter, Fiori is devoted to sculpture and more specifically, to the representation of animals. During the years, the artist/designer improved his mastery of bronze and enriched his imaginary bestiary of designed furniture and monumental installations. In 2010, Fiori was selected by the Chinese Official Committee of World Expo in Shanghai to create a set of urban furniture consisting of five benches. Inspired by traditional Chinese symbols, he reinterpreted turtle, bull, tiger, buffalo and duck. Over time, he developed a language of plastic arts closer to that of the Decorative Arts. He transformed deer into chairs and falcons into tables, with a sense of humor and his own originality specific to his works. This Tiger Chimney / Fire Place in patinated bronze was produced in a signed and numbered edition of 8 plus 4 Artist Proofs. Inquire Here for pricing.
Installation View
Photographed at the Salon Art + Design 2019 in NYC.
All Photos By Gail
Food Boredom: it is a thing that’s accentuated by a shortage of tasty snacks in the house. Grocery shopping is much less fun these days, and with many confectionaries and gourmet shops closed, thank god that we have the miracle of internet shopping to procure favorite specialty foods and sweet treats. If you’re following a Keto diet, you don’t have to ignore your sweet tooth, thanks to ChocZero, the go-to chocolatier for premium sugar-free, keto-friendly treats. Even better: you can buy them online!
Adding to its popular line of all-natural-ingredient chocolate candies, ChocZero just launched their indulgent version of a confectionery legend: the Peanut Butter Cup. Peanut Butter Cups are one of the most popular candies in the States, and for good reason: they offer both sweet, delicious chocolate and protein-packed peanut butter. Win win!
Available in milk, dark, and white chocolate varieties, ChocZero peanut butter cups are a no-added sugar treat that gets sweeter with every bite — and, surprisingly, they are:
ChocZero Milk Chocolate Variety
ChocZero recently sent me samples of all three varieties, assuring me that these peanut butter cups would taste as good as the well-known brands, with zero added guilt. My verdict, they speak the truth! Each bag contains six individually-wrapped candies; and when you open the package you will notice that these peanut butter cups don’t include a paper wrapper, which makes for less mess.
Review Continues After The Jump! Continue reading
Photo By Gail
This painting, entitled Anywhere Out of the World (1915 – 19) may be a self portrait. Mark Chagall (1887 – 1985) bisected the head of the figure because, as he explained it, it “needed a bank space right there“ to strengthen the composition. The pictorial strategy, which appears in some of his earlier paintings, could be a rendition of the “luftmensch,“ a Yiddish term used to describe a person who is concerned with intellectual pursuits rather than with the practicalities of life. The sideways cityscape adds tension to the scene. The painting’s overall geometrization is reminiscent of El Lissitzky’s Proun paintings — abstract compositions meant to be looked at from various vantage points.
Photographed in the Jewish Museum in Manhattan.
Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in existence, with more than 1 billion users every month. Whether for personal enjoyment and connection or for business advertisement and growth, users can use Instagram to share photos and short videos.
Instagram is a popular app on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. You can also use the Instagram desktop app, which allows you to browse, upload, and interact on your laptop or desktop. Apps for Instagram are extremely useful if you want to make Instagram easier to use, improve the quality or impact of your posts, or grow your audience. Take a look at the 11 Best Apps for Instagram that we’ve found.
1. Snapseed
Snapseed is an extremely popular photo editing app, available on iPhone and on Android. It is a very simple and easy-to-use way to edit photos at a professional level before they are uploaded to Instagram. Plus, it’s free.
Snapseed has a huge range of editing options. You can make simple changes such as increasing the brightness, cropping or adding a filter to your photo. Or you can make more complex edits, including removing unwanted objects or sections or changing the background. All of this can be done with simple swipes and clicks.
2. Pixlr
Pixlr is another photo editing app. It is similar to Photoshop, offering easy-to-use professional editing techniques. Pixlr allows you to edit images with options including smooth, blur, and heal. You can remove any red-eye from photos of people or animals. You are also able to resize, crop, and rotate images.
Colors can be brightened or darkened, filters can be added, and you can adjust levels such as exposure, saturation, and contrast. Text and frames can be added, and collages can be created. Pixlr enables you to truly customize and play around with your images.
3. Canva
Canva is an extremely popular Instagram app that allows you to create designs and graphics for your Instagram page. The app has a huge range of options to choose from and is free to use. Choose the type of project that you’re working on, such as a leaflet. You can then browse the templates available, and choose the design that works best for you. It’s then easy and simple to customize, adding images, writing text, changing colors, and much more. The app allows you to create your own professional and effective Instagram graphics, and easily post them on your Instagram page.
4. Boomerang
Boomerang is an Instagram app that is extremely popular with users. As you hold down the camera button, the app quickly takes 10 photos. These are then stitched together, making a short video. It repeatedly plays forwards and backward, which is the ‘Boomerang’ name comes from. The speed can be changed to suit your preferences. The Boomerang app makes a fun Instagram post, which can be more engaging than a photo and an interesting change from a standard video. The Boomerang video saves directly to your camera roll or photo gallery, making it easy to upload to Instagram.
Post Continues After The Jump!
Continue reading
Photo By Gail
In March of 2019, I attended a fun event-thing called the Barbie 60th Anniversary Pop-Up Experience, which was just insane. Imagine being wedged into a crowded labyrinth of bright lights, neon colors, and every type of Barbie-branded doll in the universe, including Gender-Nonconforming Barbie and Dad-Bod Ken. Now, add little kids with their parents, and millennial Instagram-whores, and you’re got an idea of the scenario that I consider myself lucky to have survived with my sanity intact. Still: super fun!
While I saw literally hundreds of Barbies that day, the one that I will surely never forget is this Pink Mink Stole-draped plastic goddess known as the Andy Warhol Barbie. Here’s why: this Barbie (the third doll produced in collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation) is the definitive celebration of Warhol, drawing inspiration from the original Warhol Barbie portrait created by the artist in 1986. Barbie’s strapless gown features a sweetheart neckline and an overall print of the Warhol Barbie Portrait (you can see a few details of Barbie’s face on the dress if you look closely at the above photo). Beyond the fabulous Pink faux fur stole with blue lining, the doll’s accessories also include blue pumps accented with glitter inspired by Warhol’s technique of “diamond dust” crushed glass on canvas, earrings, necklace, ring and doll stand. Rad.
Sadly I could not capture details of the glittery shoes, as Andy Warhol Barbie was encased in a vitrine, to protect her from molestation. The statement to the left of Barbie’s face in the above photo reads as follows:
Andy Warhol made his mark by creating images of American icons. Barbie was added to the list when Warhol painted her in 1986. The first Barbie portrait was reportedly inspired by Warhol’s muse, Billy Boy, a jewelry designer and member of new York downtown scene in the 1980s, who owned a vast collection of Barbie dolls.
Photo By Gail
This week I went on an adventure! I had to make a trip down to Wall Street for the first time since our work-from-home directive went down in mid-March, because I had dermatologist appointment. Wee! After braving my masked-up, socially distanced subway ride, I had about 30 minutes to kill before my appointment time, and I enjoyed walking about in the financial district in relative solitude. It was awesome. And what a fun surprise to see artist Arturo Di Modica’s now-iconic bronze statue, Fearless Girl, rocking a face mask to reflect the Covid Life we live in. Inspiring! If you happen to be in that area, you can find her on Broad Street standing across from the NYSE.
Photos By Gail
The original International Symbol of Access (image below) was designed in 1969 by Susanne Koefoed. Enlarged above is the Accessible Icon, a recent redesign that portrays a person in forward motion, propelling through space. Surrounded by small images that depict various iterations, the new symbol represents people in wheelchairs as dynamic, rather than static bodies. The Accessible Icon Project began as a social intervention with the goal of making cities more inclusive. Its symbol is open source and available in a multitude of formats and sizes. This image was designed by Tim Ferguson Sauder, Brian Glenney and Sara Hendren between 2009 and 2011.
Photographed in the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in Manhattan.
Brilliant Cure Covid Meme: Origin Unknown. All Other Non-Meme Images By Gail
Hello and welcome to week four of My Covid East Village Life! This week we are checking in with the act of Social Distancing, Masking-up, and related Covid Memes! Fun! Let’s get to isolating!
First off, if you’re not wearing a fucking mask every time you leave your house, I have ZERO sympathy for you if you get the virus.
A Trader Joe’s market opened in my immediate neighborhood earlier this year and shopping there for delicious food has allowed me to keep my shit together. Like most stores, TJ‘s began requiring customers to wear face masks a week or so into lockdown; which I have no problem complying with, because I am not a selfish cunt. Even Beary, the store’s mascot, is masked-up, as we all should be.
This mask with Red Rringe — worn by my very fashionable neighbor, Delphine — is definitely the fanciest face-covering I’ve seen.
Tiny dog, which I was told is a Miniature Pinscher, in a mask, spotted in the East River Park. He is saying: “Mask-up, Bitches!”
Mask graffiti on the LES.
Flyer seen in my neighborhood. Zero sympathy for the Chads and Karens as well.
Rules like this make me feel safer. Thank you, NYC, for giving a shit!
There is literally no excuse for not knowing the rules.
This Post Is Observing Social Distancing! More Photos After the Jump!
Being a bit of a foodie, but also someone who is not very experimental when it comes to my own cooking, the thing I miss most since NYC went into lockdown is eating a variety of foods. Fortunately, there are many tasty frozen food options (especially when you are looking for breakfast foods that are different, tasty, and also convenient) and one of my favorite discoveries is Bantam Bagels stuffed bagel bites. I was first turned-on to Bantam Bagels delicious mini stuffed-bagels at the Summer Fancy Food Show in 2018, where I was blown away by the innovative taste of oven- toasted bagels stuffed with scrambled eggs and cheese. Two thumbs up, for sure!
Bantam Bagel Bites Booth Display from SFFS18
If you’d like to give Bantam Bagels a try, and happen to be among the Graduating Class of 2020, check this out: through May 22nd, Bantam Bagels is running a campaign for graduating seniors. To celebrate graduation, and the stuffed Bantam Pretzel Bagel (pictured above), the company is giving three (3) Graduating Seniors a chance to win a year’s supply of Mini Stuffed Bagels!
Here’s How To Enter:
This Pretzel Bagel stuffed with Cheddar Dijon Cream Cheese is Oprah’s personal favorite, so you know it must be good. Please share this post with any graduates you know, and wish them good luck!
