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gemmadigrazia
Happy Mother's Day! 17 years on the planet for thi Happy Mother's Day! 17 years on the planet for this one, and one of the greatest things that have happened to me ❤️
This is my feature in a recent French art magazine This is my feature in a recent French art magazine Pratique des Arts. Thank you @BarbaraLisy for the feature! Time to brush up on your French 🇫🇷👩🏻‍🎨 Get your copy here: https://tinyurl.com/kfn86a66 #pratiquedesarts #softpastels #artcollector #artistsoninstagram #gemmadigrazia
The news of Milton Glaser’s passing has left a h The news of Milton Glaser’s passing has left a huge hole in my heart. Milton was a connection to another time and place, and way of doing things. His passing also reminds me of the loss of my mother. They were old friends from their childhood neighborhood in the Bronx. The Workers Collective Colony, affectionately called the “COOPS,” was composed primarily of secular Jewish needle-trade workers who sought to create a vibrant community of socially and politically active individuals. That upbringing surely informed Milton’s design work, just as it influenced my mother. When I was in high school, Milton met with me and reviewed my portfolio. He was very kind and complimentary, told me about his time studying in Italy, his admiration for Giorgio Morandi, and wrote me a letter of recommendation to the School of Visual Arts. He was a once-in-a-generation artist that simply cannot be replaced. Not only did he create the “I ❤️ NY” logo, but he actually loved New York. I saved an article from years ago about living in NYC that quoted Milton: “Every day I ask myself why I live here. It’s gotten harder than ever to live here with grace. Of course, young people who come to New York don’t worry about grace, they worry about opportunity, about access.” “New York did the job that America was supposed to do. It’s accepted all kinds of people without trying to transform them. This city is susceptible to ideas the way no other place is, and they don’t get homogenized.” That is what I love about living here, too. And so, although it hurts to think about this place without him here: I ❤️ NY more than ever. [pictured: 1. I Love NY; 2.’The Nation’ political button initiative; 3. Space Force patch; 4. Global warming campaign; 5. “Together” COVID-19 project; 6. I Love NY More Than Ever; 7-10. Some of my high school paintings that Milton reviewed]
🌈Pride in the name of love ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 over my Upper West Side #nycpride2020 #ilovetheupperwestside #westsiderag #gothamist #gemmadigrazia
Instagram post 17843328512200365 Instagram post 17843328512200365
I 🌳 NYC! I love walking under the cherry bloss I 🌳 NYC! I love walking under the cherry blossom trees bursting with color in Riverside Park! They are plentiful here thanks to Japan ❤️🇯🇵 Over 100 years ago, cherry trees were to be presented as a gift from the Committee of Japanese Residents of New York as part of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration in 1909. The 18-day event commemorated the 100th anniversary of Robert Fulton’s steam-powered boat on the Hudson River and the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s exploration of river later named for him. However, the steamer that carried the original delivery of cherry trees from Japan was lost at sea! Thankfully, a new shipment of trees arrived in New York City in 1912 and were planted around Upper Manhattan, in Riverside Park and Central Park, including Sakura Park just East of General Grant’s Tomb. “Sakura” is Japanese for cherry tree. Cherry trees typically live for about 60 years in areas like public parks, so the ones blooming today are nearly all replacements. But the spirit with which they were originally given is always alive, happy, and colorful! (Oil on stretched canvas, 22”x40” From my vault of Central Park and Riverside Park paintings)
I 🌳 NYC! Riverside Park is a source of pride, I 🌳 NYC! Riverside Park is a source of pride, affection and beauty. I walk it’s paths, swing in it’s playgrounds, soak up sunshine laying in it’s grass, reflect in awe at it’s monuments, and gaze out across the majestic Hudson River at it’s shores. All this are steps from my apartment home. After the Hudson River Railroad was built in 1846, a park was proposed for the undeveloped riverside precipice in 1865, the land for the original section of the park, 72nd Street to 125th Street, was acquired in 1872. Frederick Law Olmsted prepared the conceptual plan for the new park and road, Riverside Drive. Subsequently, a series of designers set out to devise the new landscape, incorporating Olmsted’s idea of a park with a tree-lined drive curving around the valleys and rock outcroppings and overlooking the river. From 1875 to 1910, architects and horticulturalists such as Calvert Vaux and Samuel Parsons laid out the stretch of park between 72nd and 125th Streets according to the English gardening ideal, creating the appearance that the Park was an extension of the Hudson River Valley. With the beginning of the City Beautiful Movement in the early twentieth century, the landscape evolved. The Park became home to monuments and sculptures exalting the city’s heroes, and its border was extended north to 155th Street. In the 2000’s, the park was extended south to 65th Street. In 1980, the beauty of the original section from 72nd to 125th Street was officially recognized, when it was designated a scenic landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. (Source: Riverside Park Conservancy) Ahhh 😊 Home sweet home ❤️ (2 details and the complete Oil on stretched canvas, 60”x40” From my vault of Central Park and Riverside Park paintings, and a historical photo of Riverside Park circa. 1900)
I 🌳 NYC! My backyard for my whole life has bee I 🌳 NYC! My backyard for my whole life has been beautiful Riverside Park, NYC. Some Upper West Side natives say that “Riverside Park is for real New Yorkers” and while many would chose Central Park or another green space, the lack of tourists and access to the Hudson River certainly makes for a scenic and quiet sanctuary. ❤️ (Oil on stretched canvas, 22”x40” From my vault of Central Park and Riverside Park paintings) #creativeuprising
I 🌳 NYC! It is thought that the Parks Departme I 🌳 NYC! It is thought that the Parks Department's distinctive logo is based on the leaf of a London plane. In Central Park, Riverside Park, and throughout NYC, the London Plane tree is ubiquitous. First grown around 1670 in England, it came to dominate the urban planning of London, Paris, and Rome. The last Street Tree census conducted by New York City’s Department of Parks and Recreation found that more than 15 percent of all street trees were London planes! Tough, resilient immigrants from Europe, these hearty, carbon sucking, nearly indestructible trees, represent the spirit of NYC. (Oil on stretched canvas, 36”x48” From my vault of Central Park and Riverside Park paintings) #creativeuprising
I 🌳 NYC! The 91st Street Garden, is in Riversi I 🌳 NYC! The 91st Street Garden, is in Riverside Park, NYC. Tended by The Garden People, this jewel bursts into color every Spring and lasts well into Autumn. This was also the final scene of “You’ve Got Mail” with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks ❤️ (Oil on stretched canvas, 36”x48” From my vault of Central Park and Riverside Park paintings) #creativeuprising
I 🌳 NYC! Can you find the two teeny people in I 🌳 NYC! Can you find the two teeny people in this painting? That’s how I feel stuck inside sitting on my couch watching movies these days 😂 But it’s also a metaphor for how I feel in my studio. Rowing slowly, gliding through the water. The oars like a brush through my paint. And as I look around I see paintings everywhere, waiting to be chosen from my mind’s eye, and preserved on canvas. Be well until next time! We’re all in the same boat 🚣‍♂️ (Oil on stretched canvas, 38”x56” From my vault of Central Park and Riverside Park paintings) #creativeuprising
I 🌳 NYC! The Lake played peek-a-boo between t I 🌳 NYC! The Lake played peek-a-boo between the branches in Central Park as we followed the meandering trail. Only the occasional passerby interrupted the peacefulness. The air was fresh, the birds sang, until we reached the Bow Bridge. Where we stopped at the crest of the gentle incline, to admire the gliding ducks. See you next time... and stay safe! (Oil on stretched canvas, 35”x50” From my vault of Central Park and Riverside Park paintings) #creativeuprising
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