A Visit to the American Folk Art Museum

After giving my 7 year old son the camera at the Met, I realized that was the key to keeping him interested and occupied at the museum while I'm looking at the exhibits. So, I let him take more pictures at the Folk Art Museum. He took these shots specifically for me to use as quilting designs.  Great idea!

Ball Point Pen Drawings by Eugene Von Bruenchenhein

These are pen drawings by the outsider artist, Eugene Von Bruenchenhein.  Actually, a guard came over and explained that we weren't supposed to be photographing them.  But the pictures were already taken, and I think they're neat, so I'm sharing.

A few other highlights of the museum:

Improvisational Quilts

Cute strawberry applique

Even cuter dog applique - Pugs, perhaps?

I've also been a huge fan of Paula Nadelstern's work and I was excited to finally get to see one of her Kaleidoscope quilts in person.  I've tried making one of these myself, and got as far as one block.  Her process is so exact and intense.  I like a challenge, but it's hard for me to see the big picture when working with such tiny bits.

Paula Nadelstern's Kaleidoscope quilt

Infinite Variety - The Red and White Quilt Show

The Red and White Quilt Show!

I can't believe how lucky I am that I just happened to be in New York the same week as the show, Infinite Variety, Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts, hosted by the American Folk Art Museum at the Park Ave. Armory.  Since I make and sell quilts under the name, Peppermint Pinwheels, you know I've got a soft spot for red and white quilts.

It. Was. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!  And that could be an understatement.  The show was only up for 6 days and I caught it on the very last day.  There were 650 quilts - all of them red and white.  I took so many pictures.  I hope you can get just a little bit of the overwhelming awesomeness that was this show through my pictures, and if you want to see more, you can go to the Flickr site set up by the Folk Art Museum to document photos taken at the exhibit.

Did I have a favorite?  I don't know yet.  I'm still processing all the different designs.  The show was unbelievably, wonderfully, incredibly, impressive.  (Can you tell I looked up the word awesome in the thesaurus?) 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Different Perspectives

We spent the second day of our trip at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I've prepared a photo essay to show the difference between the things I found interesting, and how the exhibits were viewed by my 7 year old (or "8-ish," if you ask him).

My photos from the Met featuring mummy wrappings, 19th century graffiti on Egyptian tombs, and a painted ceiling from New Guinea.

The Met through the eyes of a 7-year old boy.  It's all weapons, body parts and "creepy" sculptures made from found objects.