FATE on the Gowanus Canal , work in progress- 140# Arches Coldpress
The Husband and I have just returned from a trip to California. We went for a family wedding and stayed to celebrate our own wedding anniversary. I have to say, I love California. Other than the mega-drought, earthquakes, mudslides, wildfires, taxes and traffic, it’s a wonderful place. I really would live there if I could afford it and wasn’t constantly in fear of the above named items. We were in San Francisco and Napa Valley and did all the touristy things we could in San Francisco including walking the Golden Gate bridge and riding a cable car.
Then we were off to Napa Valley which is gorgeous. Not a place for a non-wine drinker like me, but I learned a bit about wines. One of the more interesting things, for me at least, was reading the descriptions of the wines or more specifically the “Tasting Notes”. For example: brims with classic, savory aromas of boysenberry, ripe red plums and black cherries which is then complemented with hints of vanilla and a pinch of cinnamon. Concentrated blackberry jam, coffee, black pepper and tar. TAR? What about the descriptions that include “cat pee”. Yep, you heard me right, “cat pee”. Who, may I ask, is drinking cat pee and admitting to it?
Confused and fascinated I finally found this article from The Week which was quite helpful. Still not drinking cat pee, but was more informed. 17 disgusting descriptions for delicious wines.
What about a NYC wine? What would the tasting notes be? Opens with a splash of gunshot residue, followed by the buttery sweetness of hipster beard, ripe, red sidewalk bloodstains and the leathery taste of back-seat taxi sweat. High kicks of Broadway and soaring notes of skyscrapers & diversity. Hints of subway overcrowding and non-affordable housing. Finishing notes of despair.
Finally to add to the list of things I hate (flying was listed in the previous post) we can now add daylight savings time (yes, I know it’s officially “daylight saving (NO “s”) time). I get home from California which is 3 hours earlier than NYC only to have to change my clocks back for Eastern Standard Time. “Spring ahead, fall back”. I changed all the clocks and I bet you can guess what happened! Every clock in my apartment is wrong and now I have jet lag combined with SAD.
The painting above is of the extremely polluted “Venice of Brooklyn” a/k/a the Gowanus Canal, a superfund site of seriously polluted water. The graffiti on the corrugated metal said “hate” but I didn’t like that so I changed it to “fate”. Who believes in fate? Are things destined? I would rather contemplate fate than hate anyway. I need to make this painting a little “dirtier” and add more graffiti. Then it will be finished. Like NYC wine. I need to finish it with some despair.
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November 3, 2014 at 8:19 pm
padmaja
Loved this well written post Carol, your perspectives are always laced with subtle humor and I love that!Brought my own memories of Napa when I sat without tasting the wine and thought I was the only one who could do that!
November 3, 2014 at 8:33 pm
kk2n777
I had fun in Napa too. Though I don’t “drink”, I did “taste” many flights and enjoyed learning to decipher the subtle variations. My favorite was the combination of dark chocolate and cabernet sauvignon. They sure went well together. 🙂
The watercolor is beautiful and it took on such a positive note that you have honored fate rather than hate.
Hope to draw with you soon.
November 3, 2014 at 9:13 pm
candy7
I like the painting and think it was a great idea to change “hate” to “fate”. I’m with you on daylight savings (It’s still “savings” to me, too.) time. I would like to stay on it year round like Arizona does.
I love San Francisco. I’m glad you guys had a great time there. When you were doing touristy things, did you have clam chowder in a sourdough bowl? Yum!
Once again, you made me laugh and made my husband wonder what I was up to:)
November 3, 2014 at 9:22 pm
Joan T
Can you imagine if it was wine from near the Gowanus Canal? Maybe they could add with a tint of phosphoresence and industrial grit. lol Sounds like a wonderful vacation. The time change and daylight savings all at once…oh, my…time overload! I was wondering where you were since you weren’t posting. I knew you had gone to sketch at the Gowanus while I was away for the month. Susan felt bad that somehow you two didn’t end up in the same location. Are we going to see paintings from California? You have to come back over and see all my posts from my trip…Greece, Istanbul, Rome, and Lake Como. Glad you are back.
November 3, 2014 at 10:05 pm
jimmyboi2
THIS IS EXCELLENT: “What about a NYC wine? What would the tasting notes be? Opens with a splash of gunshot residue, followed by the buttery sweetness of hipster beard, ripe, red sidewalk bloodstains and the leathery taste of taxi back-seat sweat. High kicks of Broadway and soaring notes of skyscrapers & diversity. Hints of subway overcrowding and non-affordable housing. Finishing notes of despair.” Love the painting, too!!! ❤
November 3, 2014 at 10:45 pm
suzanne
Carol, you amaze me!!!
November 4, 2014 at 2:23 am
nicsearth
Oh Carol, I’ve missed your blog posts. I swear you should write ‘the New Yorker’s guide to touring America’. The description of NYC wine is hilarious. I’m not a wine drinker and i find all that sniffing the glass, swilling it round and spitting it out then suggesting there is a hint of whatever (cat pee?!) Is all quite pretentious. I love that you changed hate to fate and how you’ve managed to make something fugly into a lovely painting.
November 4, 2014 at 4:11 am
croquedessin
I like the atmosphere of your painting !
November 4, 2014 at 5:56 am
judylobo
Fun post – you were missed while on the left coast.
November 4, 2014 at 8:14 am
elenacaravela
Fate certainly outranks hate:) Love the painting so far, Carol! As for wine, I’m a non-drinker too. It gets pretty nutty, the descriptions and the obsessive hunt for adjectives. I like your NYC wine qualities best:)
November 4, 2014 at 8:27 am
Sam
Hate to admit it, but it seems the older I get, the harder it is to adjust to time changes. I’m pretty sure sleep deprivation is what kills us all in the end.
November 4, 2014 at 9:03 am
Sys Trier-Morch
HI Carol,
What fun it is to read your blog! It’s almost like getting to know you better!
Just wanted to tell you that at Tim’s workshop at Joan’s studio this last weekend, they mentioned you and showed your last painting THREE times in two days!!! “Carol is a GREAT painter!” burst out Tim one time. “I just lover her paintings,” said Joan, as she showed it. And once more, Tim made reference to your treatment one of the elements in it. Were your ears burning from all that praise??!!
Sure wish you could come to Kaaren’s class on Wednesdays. Sundays are getting a little impossible for me in the next long time, so I’ll miss my only chance to see you.
Love, Sys
>
November 4, 2014 at 9:29 am
Mary
Enjoyed your post Carol, I used to live in San Francisco and can relate to it all – never had so much company as what I did when living in that great city. Nice painting – looking forward to seeing it completed.
November 4, 2014 at 10:57 am
Beth Parker
What a great post, Carol! I miss you! I need to get over here more often. I love the painting and will look back to see if you post it after the finishing notes of despair are added. I love how you add the dirty!
November 4, 2014 at 12:14 pm
Sharon K.
I love that you changed “hate” to “fate.” There is beauty in everything, if you look hard enough.
Wonderful painting, Carol.
California is a great place to visit………………
🙂 🙂
November 5, 2014 at 6:28 am
tomsimard
Nice painting. Yes, fate is (at least we hope) better than hate.
Great take on NYC wines. “Finishing notes of despair” – it doesn’t get much better than that.
November 5, 2014 at 10:08 am
lesliepaints
For an old ugly canal, you sure dress it up nicely. I like your paintings of this canal. They are each so interesting. I love it that it has a water tower in this one! You made me think about this “fate” thing. I think I consider fate on a bad day. On a good one? The future always appears new and fresh and I think of it more as a gift. Good choice to change the graffiti word.
November 7, 2014 at 1:57 pm
Carol King
Thank you all for your comments.