New York Streets
NEW YORK STREETS, 24X36
I’ve been to New York City several times, but this was the first year I took my kids. There is something so magic about experiencing something for the first time with fresh eyes. We couldn’t fully explain to them beforehand just HOW TALL the buildings actually are and HOW MANY of them surround you. It is nothing like the small downtown we’re used to back home. The amount of people and traffic always going so many directions at any hour of the day is exhilarating and like nowhere else. I remember the first time I stood in Times Square, I just felt like I was in the heartbeat of humanity— that everything else in the world pulsed out from right there. I love getting swept up in the rhythm of it all. I love going up to the tops of the buildings and looking down at how small the people and cars look— tiny toys moving about their lives. I love getting on street level and walking with strangers, picking up snippets of conversations and guessing about their stories and histories. One night, we were walking back late and my daughter asked me, “are we safe?” It was a good question and a good teaching moment. I asked her what she thought? I told her she might feel nervous because this is so different than our normal life back home on our quiet neighborhood street in suburbia. But look at the people around us, really look. That man is buying flowers. Those two look like they’re on a date. That father and daughter are eating ice cream. Look in their eyes. Do you feel like they’re safe? I watched her whole body relax as she looked at the people in their faces and realized, yep, they’re just normal people. I love that travel does this. I love that it broadens our normal perspectives, invites us to see beyond what we’re used to, open our eyes wider, reach our arms out to be more inclusive about how we love people around us. New York inspires me every time I walk her streets.
Join us for the opening reception Friday, May 17th at @alpineartframe from 6-9:00 pm during @gallerystroll ! Contact Alpine Art for purchase inquiries.