One absolutely beautiful day,
two trains,
three boroughs,
equals a magnificent view of endless diversity.

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.”
-Confucius

-Swami Veda Bharati

I was sleepy too and left my sleepiness guide me through the streets of Brooklyn. I set my iPod to shuffle songs. The cool air woke me up when I found myself in DUMBO right in front of the water. I stopped for a couple of minutes to look at the view. It felt as if I was right in the center between the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge. I’m petite, but at that moment I felt so small. What an amazing place, I thought.

Bruce Springsteen’s song, Working on a Dream started playing. The song’s lyrics are beautiful and I love his voice when he sings: “I’m working on a dream, though trouble can feel like it’s here to stay…” The song reminded me of yesterday’s yoga class when the instructor asked us to find intention before we began the class. The purpose of my practice was to have strength and patience when life seems tough.

So here I am today, ready to do all I can to help a friend. I invite you to join Art Movement on Sunday, September 13, for the 19th annual 5K run/walk — Komen New York City Race for the Cure.

To join us or to make a gift, please visit Art Movement’s Race for the Cure. If you can’t be with us on that morning, please consider making a donation.

Every dollar counts! The money will help local organizations provide breast health education, screening and treatment.

Let’s be active, be part of the change, and help make the dream of a world without breast cancer true.

THANK YOU!

This morning, it was 70 degrees with a beautiful clear and blue sky. I ran towards DUMBO and decided to stop next to the Brooklyn Bridge to absorb it all — the sky, the water, birds, and the view of the Bridge and Lower Manhattan. I thought of the excitement that is about to begin, the 2008 Olympics.

I’m excited to see all the athletes, but I’m also excited about the new architecture especially the National Aquatics Center or “Water Cube”. It’s an amazing piece of public art and I can’t wait to see grand athletes performing in grand architecture.

The “Water Cube” is a collaboration between PTW, ARUP, and the China State Construction and Engineering Corporation (CSCEC). Inspired by soap bubbles, the architects designed a simple structure using a plastic transparent material called ETFE. The building works like a green house and the material allows more sunlight in than glass. The sunlight heats the pools and the interiors, making the building energy efficient. And that for me is the perfect match — a balance between creativity and sustainability.

For architecture and green lovers, there is more information about the building at the New York Times, Inhabitat and TreeHugger.

Enjoy the games!

I recently read the Brooklyn Rail’s Tribute to Elizabeth Murray (1940–2007). It was so nice to learn that Elizabeth Murray was not only a great (and famous) artist but an amazing person. My favorite part was written by artist Robert Gober:

“Elizabeth meant the world to me. My father worked in a factory and I grew up in front of the television. I had no idea what being an artist was about. I met Elizabeth because I had a terrible job demolishing her sheet rock walls and putting them in a dumpster—the lowest rung on the construction ladder. We got to talking and liked each other, and she told me that she needed someone to make her stretchers. She was making flat irregularly shaped paintings and I helped her transition to the overlapping and interweaving works. I spent five formative years in her home and studio while she unselfconsciously showed me what an artist’s life can be. On a normal day, I had a baby in one arm and a hammer in the other. That wouldn’t be my path, but made abundantly clear to me the fact of how art comes out of life, and that you had better pay attention.”

“Art comes out of life” – simple and beautiful words. I see an artist’s life like a circle – everything is part of it. In my experience – family, friends, nature, running, yoga are all part of my life and subsequently my art. I am very lucky to have a lot of wonderful friends. But there are two great artists that are my New York sisters: Bibi Calderaro and Lynne Harlow. We all grew up in different places in the world, but we have so much in common. As Robert Gober wrote about Elizabeth Murray, they “constantly show me what an artist’s life is about”. I admire how they balance their lives to be wonderful artists, mothers and people. They just amaze me!

Rossana Martinez, Art is Great! Life is Greater!, 2007
Letter for Escape from New York exhibition, SNO, Sydney, Australia; Curated by Matthew Deleget.