Trip to Surtex and NYC

This is a long overdue post. I have been back from my New York City trip for over three weeks. The purpose for my trip was, as you know, to exhibit at Surtex, the surface design show at the Javits Center in Manhattan. It was a wonderful trip. It is hard to judge the professional success yet. I talked to many people. Thank you to those of you who stopped by. I loved meeting people from companies that I have long admired, from new companies and wonderfully talented artists as well. Based on the response to my work, I feel confident that I am doing what I am meant to do.

On set-up day, after many hours of putting up art using poster tape, I returned to find much of it on the floor or barely clinging to the wall. It was disheartening. Thank you to Jamie Kalvestran and Nanc Gordon for generously sharing Velcro and their time so I could get my booth back in shape for the three-day show!

We extended our trip an extra couple of days to do the tourist thing. I had never been to New York and it was surreal seeing images I had only seen in pictures or on TV—The Statue of Liberty from the harbor cruise, Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Parsons, Wall Street, the site of the World Trade Center, the infamous taxi rides! I was surprised to discover that NYC was not as ominous as I had anticipated and I felt comfortable and safe at all times. Many areas were very charming. I loved the patterns created by the fire escapes and the water towers. I admired the creativity of New Yorkers creating their own little gardens in such limited space. I enjoyed walking Greenwich Village and Soho. I loved the little markets and shopping at Tinsel Trading, Fishs Edy, ABC Carpet & Home and my new favorite label OSKA. Being a huge Project Runway fan, the trip had to include Mood, seeing the Atlas apartments and Chelsea Garden Center (remember André’s grass dress?) We never did find Tim Gunn. The rain cleared out long enough for us to enjoy a lovely NYC double-decker bus tour. I was in heaven visiting the M&M store and finding one of my favorites, wild cherry M&M’s.

The garbage around the city was astonishing to me. In MN I don’t think you could get by with having the piles of garbage or even the garbage cans in view that seems to be commonplace in NYC.

The food was definitely a highlight of the trip. My favorite meal was Brazilian fare at the Emporium on 15 West 46th St. I ordered Filé de Peixe com Camarão, Abóbora e Leite-de-Coco—Sautéed red snapper filet, shrimp, pumpkin & coconut-milk. Jamie ordered Camarão na Moranga— Shrimp, hearts of palm & coconut milk in an acorn squash topped with catupiri cheese. We also enjoyed Brahama, a Brazilian beer. It was a fitting reward after a hard day of getting ready for the upcoming show. Delicious! I enjoyed one of the best hamburgers I’ve ever had in Soho at the Broome Street Bar. It came in pita bread instead of a bun and was served with a yummy salad. Additional fares included Italian, Vietnamese and Thai. One of our goals is to visit NYC enough times that we know our way around and return to our favorite restaurants at least once a year!

Since I don’t have any print and patterns posted on my web site at this time I am including some here. If you are interested in my print and pattern work or licensing images, please email me. I’ll get some images to you based on your needs.

Thanks Jamie for being a great traveling buddy and a wonderful friend! I look forward to our trip next year! Now…back to work!