WordPress was down for a while last night, so rather than do one long post, I’m splitting it into two and will upload the other half tomorrow. I’m trying to finish two paintings before my class on Thursday, because we’re going to receive critiques from the entire group (ack!). As I said before, I didn’t know what I was doing the first two weeks, so now I’m reworking my first painting with the correct colors. Cannot believe how long it takes.
I’m also trying to get ready for a trip to Florida on Monday. More on that later.

So, after doing the Empire State Building, we hopped over to Washington Square in Greenwich Village:

Washington Square Arch was designed by renowned architect Stanford White (read his bio –it’s a doozy) in 1892. It replaced a temporary wood and plaster arch that commemorated the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration. I was hoping to see some street performers, but there were only chess players and this guy:

He was playing classical music and was quite good, but the piano was pretty tinny, not surprisingly.

We encountered another street performer near the Plaza Hotel and Central Park.

I took the photo, then realized he was beckoning and pointing to his torch. We wanted to see Central Park, so went on our way. I turned around and saw this:

Evidently, “Liberty Guy” will let you hold his torch and you can pose with him for money. Um, no thanks. He was probably giving me the stinkeye behind those sunglasses…. That’s the Plaza Hotel in the background on the right. I think of “Sex & the City” and “The Way We Were” every time I see that place.

Tomorrow, some shots of Central Park.

Just heard Liz Taylor died. What a life she had.

{ms. pearl}