Ruthie Bird

~ Life & Culture from the heart of NYC

Ruthie Bird

Category Archives: Art

Canvas, Chelsea

14 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by Sarah Ruth in Art, Decor, Home, NYC

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Canvas, Chelsea, Furniture, NYC, Vintage

A little over a year ago, the first Canvas store opened its doors in SoHo. Now, there are two locations: the flagship store in SoHo and a brand new location on 17th Street (and 6th Avenue) in Chelsea.

Vintage furniture, simple styles, and plenty of room to breathe-that’s what I love about Canvas. All I want to do right now is decorate!!! I like my apartment alright, but something is missing-it’s not quite a home. I keep pouring over Restoration Hardware, Architectural Digest, Pottery Barn, and Canvas catalogues for apartment inspiration, but I don’t think a home happens just because furniture is arranged to its greatest advantage. I think a house is a home when there’s a lot of love in the apartment. Oh man, that brings to mind a little plaque my mom used to have hanging in her room of a little brick house with a red cutout in the shape of a heart. At the top was inscribed the words: “A home is a house with love inside.” My roommates are awesome, so I’m sure our apartment will be a home pretty soon.

Until then, here are a few of my favorite items from Canvas:

Mercer Loveseat (hellooooo velvet!)

Vintage print (this is so Sarah Ruth it's not even funny)

Ivory cutlery (!!!!)

On the Street: Kazuya Morimoto

07 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by Sarah Ruth in Art, NYC, On The Street

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Art, Kazuya Morimoto, Liv Tyler, painting, street art, watercolors, West Village

Kazuya Morimoto paints on the street, but he does so much more than that: he’s a printmaker, watercolor painter, sculptor, and traveler who’s explored a lot of the world. Yet, he’s still drawn to NYC. “This city is so beautiful, it’s easy to paint something exquisite.” That is so true, especially on his perch on West 4th and Charles Street in the picturesque West Village. “This morning I spoke to my friend. He called me and told me to open up Page 6. I did and I saw a picture of Liv Tyler on the street holding one of my paintings!” If I were him, I’d probably be telling complete strangers about the fact that a celebrity was carrying my painting, even if it’s in one of the most ridiculed publications in the city.

He paints incredible abstract paintings like this one:

Some of my favorite Kazuya originals are his sketchbooks from NYC and Italy. Click on the image below for more sketches!

Visit his current exhibition, it’s open now through April 30th at the Jefferson Market Library, 2nd floor!

Battling the Weekend Woes: The MoMA

02 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by Sarah Ruth in Art, Coffee, NYC

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

free museums, free NYC, MET, Midtown, MoMA, museum, New York City, NYC, suggested donation, The Guggenheim, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Natural History, what to do in New York City

I love spending three hours on a Friday night after a long day at work doing something I really enjoy, and ending the evening feeling a healthy tired-not an exhaustion that takes the whole weekend to cure. Sorry Katy Perry, NOT this.

This Friday Night, my college roommate Virginia and I are heading over to the MOMA for a handful of reasons:

  1. It’s SO close to my office
  2. A new photography exhibit opened up two weeks ago that I’m dyyyying to see
  3. It’s free on Friday nights after 5p

Need I say more?

Something I love about NYC is that many museums here (the MET, Natural History, etc) have a “suggested donation” that the native New Yorker knows really means pay whatever you wish. If there isn’t a suggested donation next to the price, usually there are specific days and times that visitors can pay whatever they’d wish. At the Guggenheim you can pay what you want to pay on Saturday evenings from 5:45 until close (8:45-the last ticket is sold at 7:30), at the Frick it’s Sunday mornings from 11a until 1p. The Moma, however, is absolutely FREE on Friday nights. Seriously. My college economics professor always told us that there was no such thing as a free lunch, but I think free Friday’s at the Moma come pretty close.

Let’s face it, if you’re not all into modern art the museum is pretty weird. It’s cool, but ropes with knots tied on it and straws glued together to make a dollhouse remind me more of the arts and crafts projects the kid’s I babysit make, but there are some incredible galleries with works of art that you are bound to recognize: Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Starry Night (my most favorite painting of ALL time!!!!!), Picasso’s dancers, Jackson Pollock’s abstracts, Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup, and the list goes on.

The MoMa is worth a visit, especially on Friday night’s when it’s free. Although the museum closes at 8p on Friday (5:30p every other day), don’t worry about not having enough time to see everything.; it’s the perfect amount of time.  Even the least cultured of your crew won’t feel overwhelmed or exhausted by the art. The only downside to going on a Friday night is that it’s completely crowded because it is free, so expect a winding line and long wait outside.

Oh! If you go to the museum, stop by the café…they serve La Columbe coffee!

Shout it OUT!

03 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by Sarah Ruth in Art, Brooklyn, Coffee, Decor, Fashion, Food, Friday Favors, Home, Music, NYC, Technology

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We are Films, Brooklyn

02 Thursday Feb 2012

Posted by Sarah Ruth in Art, Brooklyn, NYC

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Aaron Craig, Alex Craig, Brooklyn, Ditmas, IndieScreen, LOLO Mag, Music Video, My Brightest Diamond, NYC, The Welcome Wagon, Vensaire, We Are Films

Brothers Aaron and Alex Craig of We Are Films have been shooting films as long as they can remember. “When we were little kids we’d film with our cousins when they came into town for Christmas break.We’d get our parent’s VHS recorder and take it out to the train tracks behind our house and film war movies, comedies about door-to-door-door salesmen, time travel movies…anything.”

Now, Alex and Aaron hav an abundance of real film credits under their belts: 3 music videos for My Brightest Diamond’s newest album release, plus a two part documentary on her move from NYC to Detroit and the creation of her newest album, a short music documentary on a Brooklyn based band called Vensaire (premiering Feb 2nd at IndieScreen in Williamsburg), The Welcome Wagon’s music video for their upcoming album, a promo video for the rock band Anberlin with a new organization called Downtime, NYC Fashion Week shoots for various online magazines like Lolomag.com, The Northern music video for their upcoming album, and a ton of other stuff that they’ve worked on individually. Keep an eye on these guys, they’ve got some increible shoots on the horizon, and are traveling to Iceland, Ireland, and Spain in March and April to film a short documentary.

Aaron continues, “As funny as it sounds, last year we made some new years film making resolutions and we basically accomplished them all. So we actually had a long conversation this year about our new years film making resolutions. Among others, starting pre-production for a full-length film is one of our top film making resolutions for the year. We have a few scripts we’re deciding between right now. So it’s just a matter of dedicating the next year to pursuing a particular script. It would be our directorial debut with a feature, so we’re trying to make sure whatever we decide to do is something we truly believe in.”It’s only natural the pair of twenty-somethings now pursue their favorite medium of art and expression as a career.  “It’s pretty cool.” Says Aaron, “We each have our unique strengths and weaknesses. So if one of us lacks in one area, the other can most likely fill the gap. Alex primarily focuses on cinematography and I mainly focus on video editing and business related stuff. We both also usually direct together.  Normally, it would be tough to have two different people directing, but I think it somehow works with people who are related because of some sort of strange connection.”

The Craig boys live in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. They’ve lived in the city for six years and are exactly what you’d imagine New Yorkers to be, dedicated, ambitious, and tenacious. “I just love how dedicated everyone is to pursuing their dreams here.” Says Aaron, “New York is a unique place where people don’t give up. But it’s also a double-edged sword, because a lot of the time I wish people would just chill out and not stress out so much. My other favorite thing about NYC, and I’m pretty sure Alex would agree with this, is that there are an abundance of coffee shops. My favorite thing to do on any given day is just to sit down in one of my favorite coffee shops and relax.”

Though Ditmas is a quaint, quiet area full of Victorian homes and trees that arch over the streets, there are plenty of things to do. Aaron’ favorite coffee shop Qathra is here and the amazing flower shop/bar called Sycamore is here too. “A lot of musicians call [Ditmas] home. The National has a home/recording studio here and Sufjan Steven lives down the street,” says Aaron. Talk about that for inspiration. “It’s really a blessing to work with some of our favorite musical artists, and more than just making videos for them, I feel that we’ve truly made some great friends in the process, which ultimately means much more than the videos.”

Watch We Are Films on Vimeo or visit the We Are Films website.

11 from ’11: The Best of Ruthie Bird

02 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by Sarah Ruth in Art, Brooklyn, Coffee, Decor, Fashion, Food, Home, Music, NYC

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

2011, Blackbird, Cameron Mitchell, Coffee, Decor, Design, Eyeglasses, Fashion's Night Out, FNO 2011, Food, James Vincent McMorrow, John, Josh Garrels, Little Talks, Manhattan, Mexicue, Music, NYC, Of Monsters and Men, Roman & Williams, Stumptown Coffee, The Best of 2011, Uniqlo, Warby Parker

Okay, have you tried to compile a top-11 list for 2011? It’s near impossible-at least for me. 2011 has been a great year of newness, exploration, and growth. But the most important thing I learned is that it’s not the stuff that’s in your life but WHO’s in your life that counts. Something like, the quantity of life isn’t as important as the quality of life. Love well and you’ll live well, and that usually means that to love others well, you must be the one to initiate.

With that tidbit in mind, I’ll just give a you a Ruthie Bird run down-a top 11 of 2011-complete with your favorite posts (at least, what my site stats tell me are your fav’s) from RB’s launch in August ’til now.

  1. Of Monsters and Men:
  2. Stumptown Coffee:
  3. Cameron Mitchell Music:
  4. Josh Garrels Music:
  5. Warby Parker, Eyeglasses:
  6. Mexicue:
  7. John Derian, Dry Goods:
  8. James Vincent McMorrow:*Ruthie Bird’s two cents* If I had my way, JVM would be in the #1 spot, but I’m listening to the people right now. JVM’s voice is perfect. Give him a listen, please?
  9. Uniqlo Cubes:
  10. Roman & Williams Buildings and Interiors:
  11. Recap: FNO 11:

What were your favorite things about 2011?

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

29 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by Sarah Ruth in Art, NYC

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Creche, Cloisters, Degas, History, Jackson Pullock, MET, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Paintings, Photography, Rembrandt, suggested donation, Temple of Dendur, VanGogh, Vermeer

On soggy, wet days, I find myself heading uptown, umbrella in hand, goloshes on my feet, and rainjacket zipped up to my neck. I love the rain, and I love spending rainy days reading books and enjoying beautiful things at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Somedays I like to go to the Frick Museum (pay what you want admission on Sunday mornings from 11AM-1PM!), but today, I think I’ll go uptown and finish my reading for class at the MET.

Continue reading →

Joshua Wicker Music

07 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by Sarah Ruth in Art, Music

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Acoustic, Cover, Don't Sigh Daisy, Folk, Josh Wicker, Joshua Wicker Music, Nicki Minaj, Singer/Songwriter, Sophia Grace Brownlee, Super Bass

Photographer/Musician Joshua Wicker is an old friend of mine from back home in Florida. He began playing bass, harmonica, and backing vocals in Don’t Sigh Daisy, a Mumford & Sons-esque folk band, and picked up photography as a hobby on the side.

Now, Wicker has branched out to cultivate his own acoustic/folk sound (with hints of Jason Mraz) and spin out fresh covers of overplayed pop hits and original songs on his YouTube channel, which is worth a visit. Don’t miss Josh’s cover of Ron Pope’s Drop In the Ocean, or Don’t Sigh Daisy’s Fear.

Download Joshua’s cover of Super Bass here.

While you’re at it, check out two ADORABLE girls (Sophia Grace Brownlee and her cousin, Rosie) and their remix of this Nicki Minaj hit.

Continue reading →

Mish Jewelry, NYC

14 Friday Oct 2011

Posted by Sarah Ruth in Art, Fashion, NYC

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

30 Bond St, Bangle, Bracelet, Color, Earring, Gems, International Best Dressed List, Jewelry, Manhattan, Mish NYC, Mish Tworkowski, Necklace, NoHo, NYC, Precious Metals, Style, Whimsy

Mish Tworkowski is rumored to be the best jeweler in America, for good reason. His classic jewelry is made with the finest craftsmanship from the finest gems and precious metal with a punch of whimsy and color. Mish, as his friends call him, is not the stereotypical New Yorker; he is gracious, enthuisastic, and will greet you with a handshake and warm smile. He is known for his impeccable style: dandy, custom tailoring and signature bow ties. In 2002, Mish was added to the International Best Dressed List. How’s that for style?

Mish New York recently relocated to a quaint space in NoHo (30 Bond Street between Broadway and Lafayette). Keep in mind, store visits are by appointment only, 212.734.3500.

Ruthiebird.com

04 Tuesday Oct 2011

Posted by Sarah Ruth in Art, Brooklyn, Coffee, Decor, Fashion, Food, Friday Favors, Home, Music, NYC, On The Street, Technology

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Blog, New, NYC, Post, Ruthie Bird, Website

My friend Jason Ulm put together a new Ruthie Bird Website for my birthday! His work is incredible, and I wanted to give you all a sneak peak of what it looks like. As soon as I figure out how to use the website, I’ll be transitioning over to http://www.ruthiebird.com full time.

What do you all think? I love it!

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Ruthie Bird

Ruthie Bird

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Sarah Ruth (Ruthie Bird) is a Fellow at the John Jay Institute. She graduated from The King's College in NYC and subsequently studied at Oxford University. SR loves adventure and has moved 17 times in the past 5 years. She is in search of the best cup of coffee the world has to offer, loves Brooklyn, GK Chesterton, and desires to pursue all things Good, True, and Beautiful.

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