Artist Magdalena Suarez Frimkess

Chelsea Morning
We have had a string of incredibly beautiful days. Sunny and crisp, golden trees, blue skies. On one of these mornings I traveled to the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. The weather put me in an euphoric state as I strolled slowly down West 22nd Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. The street is lined with trees and stately brownstones. Residents have lined their steps and small front gardens with Autumn touches. There are Chrysanthemums, pumpkins and the odd skeleton and tombstone, as Halloween is near. 

I was walking on air, it seemed.

I thought to myself, "Something great is

going to happen today."

What I love about these elegant neighborhoods

is that they are so artful compared to my

scrappy Lower East Side.

A creative arrangement of gourds and

the big cabbage thing.

Shadows play on a Chelsea facade.

 I would hire Dutchman Contracting

based on their sign alone.

 My destination this day was the Kaufmann Repetto

Gallery where there was a solo exhibition of the work of

Magdalena Suarez Frimkess.

 Suarez Frimkess works in small-scale ceramics

which are hand-painted and glazed.

Her work is fanciful; the tentative

quality heightens a sense of poetry.

This stern little tiger cat exemplifies

her imaginative approach.

 88-year-old Magdalena Suarez Frimkess was born in

Caracas, Venezuela and lives in Venice, California.

She is inspirational to me as I

hope to be creating art at her age. 

She often uses pop, cartoon characters in her work.

I love the broken-down quality of this cup.

These heads remind me of Paul Klee's puppets.

 A drawing by Suarez Frimkess.

She selects her subjects from her day's encounters,

which she says is like selecting a dish from a menu.

A teapot with a funny drawing.

A scary cup.

A drawing on clay with a rogue's gallery

of cartoon characters.

Teacup with one of my favorites flowers: the pansy.

A mouse or a dog? in a dress.

Something great did happen. A couple asked
me how to get up on the Highline, the railroad line
running above Chelsea that has been made
in to a wondrous park.
She was from Paris, and dressed in pretty things and
colors. We spoke French.


A Bientot!