Thursday, February 28, 2013

Out & About...


Brooklyn Brainery...

Abi recently discovered the Brooklyn Brainery - a little place in Carroll Gardens that offers all sorts of classes and courses. So last night we went along to see what it was like...


It was a lovely little place, just two rooms, which looked like two neighbouring shops that had been joined together. There were all sorts of tools and frames and things up on the shelves as they seem to run so many different classes, from cooking to stand up comedy.

Being incredibly interested in current events, classic literature, scientific theories and stuff like that, we thought the best class to go to would be one about...


We went to an evening class to learn all about Nintendo - the history of Nintendo and the influence their hardware has had over the gaming world.

It was actually VERY interesting and really fun - and it felt like a very Brooklyny thing to do.

The guy running the class was a SUPER Nintendo fan, he had an official Nintendo satchel full of nearly every GameBoy ever released as well as all sorts of different controllers... and he knew a LOT about Nintendo. It was all really interesting - and I learnt quite a lot, and now Abi and I want to play a LOT more Super Mario!

We're definitely going to keep an eye out for more classes at the Brooklyn Brainery - they're all really affordable (this one was only $10) and they all sound really fun.

Kittery...

Last night Abi and I were in Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn for an educational evening at the Brooklyn Brainery (more on that later), but before we fed our brains we fed our tummies at the Kittery...


The Kittery is a very lovely seafood restaurant on the corner of Court Street. We weren't sure where to eat in Carroll Gardens as we'd only been there a couple of times, but I'd seen the Kittery before when I was cycling through - and I think we're attracted to anywhere with a big red lobster painted on the outside.

We had some mighty fine sandwiches - Abi had a lobster roll and I had a BBQ shrimp roll, which came in a big slice of buttery bread rather than a bread roll... they were deeeeeeelicious!

As we walked around it looked like there were LOADS of really lovely looking places to eat around that area, so I think we'll be back to explore and sample soon, but we thought the fish would help our brain power for the evening...

Sunday, February 24, 2013

ESPO's Creative Outlet...

This afternoon I went along to 4th Avenue and Bergen in Brooklyn to find Steve 'ESPO' Power's Creative Outlet...

The Creative Outlet is mainly the new workshop space for Icy Signs, but it's also a little gallery/shop space for Steve Powers - I popped in for a bit of a nosey...

 Mr. Powers wasn't there today, but there was someone working on a new piece - Work Piling Up!

As well as the big metal pieces (like the Work one) there were also lots of smaller pieces for sale, there were books, stickers, brilliant mugs as well as some smaller screen prints (a bit more affordable than the $1000+ metal pieces)...

But as well as it being a studio, a gallery and a shop, it's also a working sign painting business too! I've started noticing more of Icy Sign's work around Brooklyn at some pizza places and tattoo parlours. I was watching a video about Steve Powers and Icy Signs and there was a great quote...

"A business with no sign, is a sign of no business"

There's a print that I've got my eye on - one of the smaller screen prints, so hopefully come pay day there'll be some left... if not I'll happily settle for a mug!

So, stay tuned - there might be a post about a new piece of art on our walls soon.

Out & About...

How & Nosm - Late Confessions...

On Saturday I managed to get to the How & Nosm - Late Confessions exhibition at the Jonathan LeVine gallery, before it finished this weekend...

It was great to see their work in an exhibition setting, especially after seeing some of their huge outside murals in Miami. There were all sorts of different sized pieces, using different mediums, from canvas to woodblocks to huge cardboard/plastic fish like creatures in the middle of the floor...

It was the first time I'd seen the smaller pieces and the first time I'd been able to get close enough to see all the crazy detail - I can't imagine how long each canvas must have taken them, they were so intricate in parts.

 I had a sneeky peak at the price list, unfortunately all the pieces (even the little ones) were waaaaaaay out of my price range - nearly all of them were sold anyway... Oh well.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Missing Miami...


We've only been back a couple of days and we're already missing the sunshine!

Miami Motors...