SILK ROAD thru LAMBERTVILLE 04/27/12

Kick off Shad Fest celebrations with a visit to our "success partner" - the Bank of Princeton~Lambertville (home of my C.A.T.T. business account) ~ which will open the weekend event on Friday with "The Silk Road Passes Through Lambertville" from 4 to 7 p.m.  The bank's charming art gallery will be transformed into a room from a sultan's palace to include, a silk road caravan of food, music, carpets and dance.  

Participating organizations include Marhaba Restaurant, Pasha Rugs, Farley’s Bookstore, Philips Fine Wines, Wild River Review, Forrest Green Plantscapes Inc.; and Antidote Natural Chocolates and more.  Enjoy meeting local authors and business owners, Joy E. Stocke, Kim Nagy and Angie Brenner.

After enjoying the exhibit, stroll through the delightful riverside town before the next day's crowds arrive.  May we suggest  Marhaba (naturally) for your dining pleasure,  Lily's on the Canal (right across the canal & BYOB), or any one of the many wonderful restaurants in Lambertville  (many of the best, like The Boat House <after-dinner cocktails> & the $$$-but-worth-it Anton's at the Swan, are tucked away, off the beaten path).  We could never show our heads again at Fred's if we didn't give a shout out to The Landing, a quick nip across the bridge in New Hope, with it's delicious menu & best-seats-in-town riverside outdoor seating.


SHAMELESS PLUG - John's mid-summer art show will be at the same charming art gallery!!

Lambertville SHAD FEST 04/28 & 29/12

My Mom & sister Mim were the big shad roe fans in our house - never cared for it myself.  BUT am always up for fun & it happens to celebrate the return of shad to the Delaware, then party on!


Alas, John was unable to finish his Shad Fest 2012 poster design in time to submit by the deadline (a pesky Pet-traits project distracted him from finishing*) to the art event but that won't deter us from have a fab time in our beloved Lambertville this weekend.


Over the decade, the once low-key art show celebration has become the great & glorious SHAD FEST, a nationally recognized award-winning art & fab fun event, featuring the area's finest artists & artisans, great food &  family entertainment. The 2-day extravaganza continues to honor its community roots, serving as a venue for local non-profit organizations to raise much-needed funds.  

There's so much to do from 12:30 - 5:30, Saturday & Sunday, rain or shine ~ ~ and FREE:

Artists and Crafters

Food Court 

Family fun: Face Painting, Cotton Candy, Sand Art, and other children's activities can be found throughout the event and this year kids will go crazy for the rides because they're back! 

Historical Walking Tour of Lambertville.

Live Musical performances both days – listen to rock, blues, jazz fusion and more!

Poster Display and Auction - Over 100 original art posters, created and donated by local artists (boo hoo - not John), are on display during Shad Festival weekend at the First Presbyterian Church, 31 N. Union St. These posters will be auctioned off on Sunday at 3 pm – with monies going to scholarships for students pursuing a career in the arts. Don't miss posters by local schoolchildren, on display at the Justice Center, 25 S. Union Street

* When it's done, we'll give the completed poster to our "success partner" at the Bank of Princeton - Lambertville  ~ Marianne, who takes such good care of us & our BofP business account.  (When we started snapping resource photos for the painting ~ two cats on the bank's cozy comfy porch ~ John came up with the perfect title:  Waiting for Marianne!

Science Festival SCAVENGER HUNT

THIS Saturday, April 28 ~ What better way than a good, old-fashioned SCAVENGER HUNT to fledgling scientists of all ages help unlock Philadelphia's rich science history & heritage!  

Using an an i-Phone app & QR code reader to trek through city streets, participants will track down clues and learn some of the amazing scientific discoveries made in Philadelphia from colonial times to the present day. 

Visit museums and historic landmarks — maybe even a grave site or two! — while racing for prizes and solving riddles along the way.

Free BUT reservations are a must!

Gotta Go - VAN GOGH

Zowie!  Our own Philadelphia Art Museum is the ONLY venue in these United States to host this major Van Gogh exhibit!

Considered by many to be the epitome of the tortured artist who died penniless & unappreciated, only to make millions of dollars for art dealers all over the world, Vincent van Gogh was an artist of exceptional intensity, reflected in his use of colors, his exuberant application of paint, and in his personal life. 

As Dan Neil described Van Gogh in a Wall Street Journal article, "Vincent Van Gogh was a handful: almost certainly a victim of epilepsy, perhaps an alcoholic, maybe mad from the leaded paint he worked with, but in any case a raving, God-haunted lunatic most of the time and nobody's favorite neighbor."  

Apparently, focusing on details in nature was a form of self-medication for the tormented artist.  It couldn't save his life, but it certainly enriches ours.  His works—particularly those created in the years just before he took his own life—engage the viewer with the strength of his emotions. 

The exhibition (which runs to May 6) focuses on these tumultuous years, a period of feverish artistic experimentation that began when van Gogh left Antwerp for Paris in 1886 and continued until his death in Auvers in 1890. Many of the pieces come from private collections.

De Pueblo a Pueblo

De Pueblo a Pueblo - "From Town to Town" - is an 8-week celebration kicking off on April 27 with events through June 16.  Honoring our local Mexican community by promoting greater understanding of Mexico's traditional arts, language & history.

The festival kicks off on April 27 with the opening reception for Echele Ganas: A Life Left Behind, a photographic exhibition featuring the people of Sierra Norte de Puebla, a rural mountainous region in Mexico. This event and exhibition will take place at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, which will  serve as the geographic & visual hub of De Pueblo a Pueblo.

Over 25 participating groups are providing more than forty opportunities to learn more about Mexican culture and have fun in the process.  Hands-on activities, performances, traditional foods, crafts and folk art, and discussions about immigration provide many windows to learn about our neighbors south-of-the-border.

NEW HOPE RENAISSANCE FAIRE - today & tomorrow!!!!

Almost forgot - today is the New Hope Renaissance Faire!!  11-6 both days.

OFFERING of the ANGELS - April 21~Aug 10 2012

Offering of the Angels opened today at the James Michener Art Museum, Doylestown.  


Okay, the full name of the exhibit is Offering of the Angels: Treasures from the Uffizi Gallery!!  Drawn from the holdings of the incomparable Uffizi Gallery in Florence and curated by its director, Antonio Natali, it features examples of art created between the 15th and 17th Centuries, paintings by Botticelli, Titian, Tintoretto, Parmigianino, Cristofano Allori, and their contemporaries.  


Along with two tapestries from the same period, the exhibit - organized by Amici degli Uffizi of Florence, Italy - the exhibition arrives in the U.S.A. after extensive tours across Europe; here in the U.S.A., it will be hosted by a select group of museums, beginning with our SE PA's own Michener!!

Springsteen Tix on sale THIS Sat - 04/21

Speaking of Springsteen....  Tickets for  Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s Wrecking Ball World Tour  appearance at Citizens Bank Stadium (Sun Sept 1 & Mon Sept 2) go on sale this Saturday, April 21,  at 10 a.m. sharp!!  Get them through ComcastTIX.com, the Citizens Bank Park Box Office, or charge by phone at 1 (800-) 298-4200. Tickets are $68-$98. 

Philly & Springsteen - perfect together!  Just check out the awesome Springsteen exhibit currently on view at the National Constitution Center!!  

Primary Palooza!

Whatever your political shadings, join your fellow citizens on PA’s Primary Day – Tuesday, April 24..  Primary Palooza! will be in full swing from  5-8 p.m. ~ general admission is free (current Bruce Springsteen exhibit will be just $5). 

While the Center’s claim that "you can track primary results” rings false (polls close at 8, same time the party ends), the fun will be certifiable!  Be among the first to see the Center’s  brand new Election 2012 exhibits/programs; share your political views at the the debut of Address America: Your Six-Word Stump Speech;  watch primary coverage on the BIG screen; view the 10 best political ads of all time; and play presidential trivia & quizzo & win prizes!  

Walk ins are welcome, but reservations are encouraged; please call 215.409.6700

Philadelphia Science Festival 04/20-29

My heart races at the thought of the 2012 Philadelphia Science Festival, running all over the city from April 20-29!!  My big dream for 2013 is to have enough spare shekels to go to the amazing events AND to take some of my older buddies along for the ride - just the sort of activities my dear old Mom loved to soak in, even as she nipped into her nineties. 

If a Philly phairie waved her magic wand to make it so, where would I be headed in 2012?

•  Mix It! Science Fest Opening Night Party: Friday, April 20, 7-10 p.m., Frankford Hall, $5 
•  Grow it, Cook it, Eat it: Sunday, April 22, noon, Bartram’s Garden, $10.  Discover the science behind raising meats and learn how to grow veggies — or how to choose and enjoy the wares at the farmers markets popping up all over the city.   
•  Wine Chemistry — Worst and Best Pairings: Tuesday, April 24, 6:30 p.m., DiBruno Bros., $35 
• All About Ales — The Science of Beer: Friday, April 27, 7 p.m., Yards Brewing Company, $35   
• All Things Fermented — The Science of Beer and Cheese: Saturday, April 28, 3:30 p.m., Triumph Brewing Company, $50
•  Magic & Science of Baking: Sunday, April 29, 2 p.m., Cook, $115.  Watch and taste as Whipped Bakeshop owner Zoe Lukas demonstrates some of the science behind baking with her delicious cupcakes.

Best City Drive on the Planet!!

Right in our own backyard! Small wonder Frommer's tagged the City of Brotherly Love among the best in the world for parks.

My favorite drive features long stretches of Philadelphia's park system. Begin with a jaunt over to Chestnut Hill, where Willow Grove Avenue nips past Pastorious Park, continuing to St. Martin's Lane (left) to Mermaid Lane (right) to Cherokee Street (left) to Allens Lane (right) which becomes Wissahickon Avenue, then right onto to my mega-beloved uber-windy roady Lincoln Drive which becomes the East River Drive; nip across the river at Falls Bridge, then up the West River Drive (aka Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive) that swoops you back across the river to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway!

Head up (right) the Parkway, all the way to City Hall; loop around City Hall, then be prepared for the stunning drive back down the Parkway ~ ~ past the grand fountains at Logan Square (which I've always thought of as a circle, since the Parkway circles around the fountains), past epic buildings to your left & right (including - but not limited to - the Cathedral Bascilica of Saints Peter & Paul, the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences). Drive past the flags of the nations, which line the Parkway, snapping in the breeze. There, in front of you, in all its eye-popping glory, is the Philadelphia Art Museum!! Never ever fails to give me a thrill!!

As you approach the Art Museum, you have a choice - take Kelly Drive back to the River & Lincoln Drives for the return home OR do a backtrack & head back over to the West River Drive, which requires a bit of a deft driving? I'm a sucker for beauty, so I forego the Kelly Drive to return the same way I came.

Same route, but totally different view - the drive in blows your socks off with stunning vistas of Philadelphia & the Art Museum, but it's on the return drive that you get to really soak in the famous Boat House Row in all its glory.

Love it! Love it! Love it!

TODAY!!! Hie Thee to TRAVIS GALLERY!!!

Shake a leg & head on up to TRAVIS GALLERY - on Rt 202, about mid-way between Lahaska & New Hope - for the 26th Annual Byers Bucks Fever Art Exhibit, celebrating contemporary visions~artists of Bucks County!!!

The always delightful opening reception is TODAY - yes, on a Thursday - from 5~7. We're all atwitter, since quite a few of our friends were invited to participate in this highly prestigious event that features the work of 94 artists that live and/or work in Bucks County. A broad range of mediums will be featured, including oil, acrylic, watercolor, sculpture, mixed media, photography & jewelry.

Super opportunity to see incredible art & meet the artists ~ ~ a special "must see" if you got to the recent Michener show, The Painterly Voice.

CLOVER MARKET - Ardmore, Pa

Word on the street is that the CLOVER MARKET is funky fun out in my beloved Ardmore, PA. (Oh, the multitude of memories ~ jaunts out to Suburban Square with Mom & Mim, leisurely lunches at Salad Alley, sundae building at Hillary's with Whitney & Reynolds, breakfast or lunch at Dean's Diner...)

Held once a month, rain or shine, from spring - fall (April 15, May 6, June 3, Sept 16, Oct 14, Nov 4 - all Sundays, no market in July & Aug), you'll find treasures ranging from handmade soaps to reclaimed/recycled/repurposed architectural pieces, handcrafted clothing & jewelry, and more, much more.

How serious are organizers about the quality of each vendor? They carefully curate each one before inviting them to participant. Oh, and the mix of craftspeople & artisans can change each time - added incentive for making it there each month!

Almost forgot - hours are 10-5.

If you work up an appetite, Clover Market also offers a small number of restaurant stalls serving up baked goods, pizzas, wraps, coffees etc. There's often some music to soothe your inner shopping beast & even a children's craft being demonstrated.

It's easy to get to, by train or car or even bus - their website offers exceptionally good information on how to get there.

Do NOT go expecting a flea market ! The best way to get a taste of what to expect is to check them out on Pinterest. This year's slate of participants includes...

Antiques & Collectibles:
American Hand
APK Handmade - new
Brandywine View Antiques
Circa Dee
French Vanilla - new
freshvintage
Fun Retro
In With the Old
Isabella Sparrow
Kitsch N Kaboodle
Larkspur Interiors
Meadowsweet Vintage
Megan Simon - new
Nannygoat Antiques
Olde Good Things
Phantastic Phinds - new
RedAsh Redux
Reclaimed Crafts
Rose Hip Antiques - new
Saturday Evening Experience- new
Shish Interiors
trove
Vintage Junk In My Trunk

Crafts & Handmade:
ABJ Glassworks
All Things Belle
Almanac Industries
Art Star
As The Crow Flies - new
Babee Crafts
Barbara Shelley
Black Cat Pottery - new
Brand Eye
Cane and Rush
Charlie and Sarah - new
Chez Sucre Chez - new
Chirp and Bloom
Christine Shirley
Clay Place Pottery - new
Collier Leeds - new
Crash Pad Designs
Dools Handmade
Dop Dop Designs - new
Earth and Wears
Fitbliss Organics - new
Gilbert and Leona
Gordon Swenarton - new
Gritty City Philadelphia
Hello Bluebird
Kaye Rachelle
Kites of Glass
Leisure Woodworks
Lili Belle
Little Flower Designs - new
Made by Liddy - new
Marie's Soap
Milkshake Crafts
Momo Trees
Press No. 9
Rachelink - new
Remwoodz
Sara Smedley - new
Sardine Clothing
Sevani Botanica
Spotted Horse Textiles - new
Sweet Sally Soaps - new
Tadpole Creations
The Flippin Bird
The Pillow Works - new
Tiny Marie - new
Vintage Vinyl Journals - new
Virre Li
Winks Quilts - new

Jewelry (New & Vintage):
Anna Beau Designs
Aryal Ames Jewelry - new
Charms City Company
Creations by Esther - new
Dawn Boyer
Dessa Lea - new
Gypsy Barn Market
Heirloom - new
joeyfivecents
Little Blue Studio - new
Love. Honor. Upcycle
Lura Jewelry
MetalledWith
Michabella Creations
MWM Designs
No. 27 Collection
Olive and Frida
Paperspoon - new
Payton Woodcraft Jewelry Design
Penelope and Anastasia
Pink Andie - new
Rachel Shoshana
Real Fruit Jewelry
Reagan Hayhurst
Salvation Nation
Skylark Studio - new
Susana Bernardini
Spitfire Designs - new
t8 Designs
The Collected Collage
Trinkets and Treasures
Vintage Relics - new
vintagearts

Original Art:
Andrew Pinkham - new
Annika Lane Art and Jewelry - new
Apricot Basket - new
Armond Scavo - new
Basement Press - new
Black Heart Letterpress - new
Bob Dix
Carol Maguire - new
Colleen Attara Studio
Dar Hosta - new
Ellen Sall - new
Gina Waltersdorff
In Liquid
Jay O'Brien
Jenn DiGiglielmo Photography - new
John Sturgis
Kristen Stein
Lionword
Monique Kendikian-Sarkessian - new
Nature Scripts
Open Eyes Press - new
Selvin Glass
Super De Duper
Steven L. Miller Words and Images - new
The 50/50 Company - new
twopaperdolls

Vintage Clothing & Accessories:
Hinterland Vintage
Lulu Boutique and Gifterie - new
My Vintage Valentine
Vickie Geis