So I’m afraid I may have been rude, dear reader. All these posts, and we’ve never been formally introduced. So please, accept my apologies and watch this video:
It’s been a pleasure to meet you. Leave a comment and introduce yourself.
Ravels in Review Friday
It’s been a long time since I did a Ravels in Review post between my trip to Costa Rica and skipping last week because there was very little that needed to be summed up. It’s so nice to be swinging these art ravels in full force, you won’t even here me rail on the weather. Especially as it is supposed to be a fantastic 71 degrees in NYC today.
But as to these past ravels, you’ll see we have some interesting debates raised as to beauty, what it is and whether society values it, tales of rapscallions both old and new, a review of MoMA’s photography exhibition Into the Sunset, and we even poked our nose across the pond to check out happenings at the Louvre and the situation for art recovery in L’Aquila.
Whew–time to take a breath. I also am excited by the idea of a public cafe cum art studio. So read, enjoy, comment: I always like to hear from people.
If you’re wondering why I’ve said so little about Costa Rica, it’s not that it was a cultural black hole per se. Watching a soccer match between Costa Rica and Mexico proved to be quite the cultural experience, and Costa Rica possesses great natural beauty. Not to mention surfing, zip lining, sloths (like the cute one above), toucans and tons of monkeys. It makes for a wonderful vacation, just not so artsy.
I surfed! (the smallest waves). Anyhow, happy Friday to you all! Enjoy the warm weekend!
Raw Canvas
It’s rare, even unheard of, that I offer you business advice. If you have any sense of this blog at all, you know my thoughts do not that way tend. However, I do follow a super fun and interesting trend-spotting site, Springwise, and I want to share a trend that I wish would spread to NYC:
Hoping to unleash everyone’s inner artist, Vancouver-based Raw Canvas is a creative hybrid: bustling café and full-service art studio.
Besides offering the usual café fare—organic coffee and tea, snacks, comfy couches and wifi, as well as wine, beer and tapas at night—Raw Canvas encourages customers to pick up painting. They can drop in at any time, buy a canvas and just get started in the open studio space that’s connected to the café. Raw Canvas provides paints, brushes and all other supplies, and staff members and resident artists are on hand to offer encouragement and tips.
Inspired by popular art jams in Hong Kong, Raw Canvas aims to provide a low-threshold venue where people can come in for a few hours and explore their artistic impulses without committing time or money to a series of classes. With, of course, the added pleasure of a latte or glass of wine. Canvas pricing varies by size, ranging from CDN 40 to CDN 80. If you’re a café owner looking to add a new source of revenue to your business, be inspired and get creative!
Now I don’t think it’s just me: the appeal of going to a cafe, maybe having a glass of wine with a friend, and then doing increasingly goofy portraits of said friend is universal. In fact, I might start throwing art parties as the weather in New York gets warmer and we can paint en plein air.
Anybody up for a painting party?