I’m wearing long pants again so I guess this is the Fall Flickr

[andyg0404]

Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.

Today gave evidence that it is clearly Fall in fact as well as on the calendar. It was in the 60’s when I left the house and the high is only expected to be 70 degrees and there was a marked breeze out there also cooling things off. I wore my shorts to the grocery store but I’m glad that I thought better of it before heading into New York City. Had on the long sleeved shirt and long pants and regretted not bringing along the flannel shirt. It can only go downhill here for the six months.

I had occasion to go back to Sotheby’s today for the first time in a while as they had a preview of their upcoming American art auction. There were no big ticket items in this group, I would venture to say that the bulk of the art had a price tag below $30,000 with only one painting in six digits, Willard Leroy Metcalf’s Mountain Pastures – Vermont which was said to be in the range of $100K to $150K.  http://tinyurl.com/ppxrqgz As you can see, it’s a very colorful landscape. Metcalf was an American Impressionist and this was painted the year before he passed away.

While I was there I watched a live auction of champagne and the bidding went very quickly as people sat at tables with the catalog and motioned to make bids. I wonder about the people doing the bidding and I would think some of them must be from fancy restaurants purchasing these bottles for the cachet of offering them at table to your everyday hedge fund manager.

This is a link to catalog page at Sotheby’s where you can see all of the art up for auction, http://tinyurl.com/o6gpfzy  but I want to point out some of the interesting items I saw as I walked through the preview.

First of all they had something I’ve never seen before at one of these auctions, cheesecake or pin-up art. There were three watercolors by Alberto Vargas, the eminent purveyor of this genre of art. Two nudes and a wonderful portrait of the actress Irish McCalla in a diaphanous nightgown. Those my age may remember her from the very old TV show, Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. http://tinyurl.com/oqcd2sx Vargas created his Vargas girls for the magazine Esquire in the 40’s. I have a copy of the magazine with one of them from 1941, it’s wonderful. There are also 9 oil paintings by Gilette Elvgren, who Wikipedia tells me was another pin-up artist who specialized in the All-American ideal of femininity. He was an illustrator and advertising man who supplied art for calendars. This is an example, http://tinyurl.com/pcdx3tn 

Moving on to more regular participants at these auctions there were a number of Hudson river painters on display. Jasper Cropsey is a favorite of mine and they had one of his watercolors, something else that I can’t remember seeing. It’s another very colorful landscape, Mellow Autumn Time, http://tinyurl.com/nfssgfc Another beautiful landscape is by John Frederick Kensett, Idyllic Landscape, and in looking at the provenance, it was passed down from the artist to his descendants and was last sold by Questroyal galleries to the current owner. I wrote about visiting Questroyal on my vacation mentioning their wonderful trove of Hudson river painters.
http://tinyurl.com/on6bbn7  A few others from this school are William Trost Richards, Wooden Bridge at Sunset, http://tinyurl.com/nmyx62j A rather small painting, Rocky Mountain Sheep by Albert Bierstadt, http://tinyurl.com/nam6cbl There were no enormous canvases at this preview of the type Bierstadt is known for but the smaller paintings are all very nice. There were two paintings by Alfred Thompson Bricher, one in oil, a large, panoramic landscape, Lake George, http://tinyurl.com/okvcdqb and a lovely watercolor, Summertime, http://tinyurl.com/qx9l5wc Thompson moved into watercolors in his late thirties. The last Hudson river painter I’ll mention is George Inness, his Evening Landscape is dark but has a vibrant orange sun setting to which your eyes are immediately drawn. http://tinyurl.com/psyzz96

Other notables were Norman Rockwell, a study he did in pencil, charcoal and color wash for Maternity Waiting Room, http://tinyurl.com/naogvu3 Here’s the finished painting for comparison, http://tinyurl.com/neh62vc I’ve mentioned Reginald Marsh before, they had one of his watercolors, again something I haven’t seen many of, if any, Red Tug - Weehawken, NJ, which I liked I think because I lived close by for a number of years, http://tinyurl.com/p9uh5h2 Jamie Wyeth’s painting of Corbett House, an old fashioned house with a shingle roof and a chimney, the front of which is obscured for the most part by trees, http://tinyurl.com/o2rbyy7
And finally Ships in Choppy Seas by Thomas Birch, http://tinyurl.com/pesrxbw Birch was a nineteenth Century portrait painter and marine artist and I find this evocative of the many pictures of ships that another of my favorites, Fitz Henry Lane, painted. Here is Lane’s Three Master in Rough Seas, http://www.capeannmuseum.org/events/meet-me-museum-mar20/ I had the pleasure of visiting the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester which has the largest collection of Lane’s paintings, it was a wonderful experience.

Well, I think it must be time for the Flickrs now.

Andy G.

Tiffany Amber Rhoads

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tiffanytime/4881017512/

The Rest of It..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/24787235%40N06/12837645583/

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lisabacchae/15817365578/

There's a space next to me...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/testa540/6148074058/

chu chu...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/myy_mee/20694936921/

Sissy at heart

https://www.flickr.com/photos/36751344%40N02/20653641909/

Not what he expected...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/60741642%40N06/20192312554/

07161smeri

https://www.flickr.com/photos/meritats/20234092494/

Huong Giang Idol, a famous transgender singer in Vietnam, attends the ceremony and shows her support for the new innitiative

https://www.flickr.com/photos/usaid_vietnam/20643882158/

img112

https://www.flickr.com/photos/7554511%40N07/20738957141/

2 Worlds colliding. = *He's a Girl, She's a Boy!* > ***Who Knew?***.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/14676683%40N08/20706394642/

IMG_0427(900-2)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/76625201%40N03/19957200579/

Mother I wish I could Tell You I Loved You

https://www.flickr.com/photos/trinity_cross/10333247656/

[Angela M...]

Nice Art exhibits Andy, I also loved the Pin Up pics and remember Vargas in Playboy. I have many back issues from the 70's and 80's. Thanks for feeding my Art addiction as I don't get to see that much anymore. Thanks also for your weekly post and pics as it is something to look forward to on Saturday night. I often end up going through all the galleries and sub-galleries that people post and get lost in time until my eyes hurt. Then I realize it is 3 AM and I am very tired.

[BabyLock]

I especially like this one:

Tiffany Amber Rhoads
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tiffanytime/4881017512/

There are more outfits in the photo file by clicking the right or left arrows.

Always have had a love of the red plaid (outfits) !

And what's with this long pants deal Andy ?
Skirts and Dresses can be worn year round but obviously not in the Artic outback or desert sand storm.
The more leg up the better - sexy long legs to excite the mystery as to where they go up there !

[andyg0404]

I never have understood how girls go out in freezing weather in a skirt and blouse and don't freeze to death. I go out looking like the Michelin man and I'm still cold. Give me the warm weather any time. Please.

Andy G.

[Angela M...]

Hey Andy, I am like you and have started to get out my fleece lined tights in anticipation of the cold. I am already wearing my flannel PJ's. I guess it must be old age creeping in as I never felt the cold as much until a few years ago.

[BabyLock]

Recent news media reporting on why women are so unhappy at work with all the conveniences of air conditioning.
Seems that the temperature is set (by men - for men) in an office environment - these men wear suit coats
long sleeve shirts ties and the damn pants need to cool off while the women in the same space in their
sleeveless blouses and short skirts need to put on winter wear to ward off the temperature extremes.
Went to a Catholic grade school and was dumbfounded how girls had to wear dresses/jumpers during
the winter with no leg covering (except maybe going to and from school) while the guys got away
with as is in the damn pants.
Goofy stupid dress codes !
If you haven't guessed it - I am a male wearing skirts/kilts and bifurcated stove pipes are not in my wardrobe. 

[Betty]

There's quite a few places while wearing shorts in the summer, I have to leave because it was too damn cold. If they want my summer business, they're gonna have to keep it above 68F(20C).

Ironically these are the same places when I'm wearing heavy or layered clothing & a coat in winter, they insist on keeping the place at almost 80F (32C). Clearly there's some moron is in charge of the thermostat.

Suits are overrated anyway. I'd rather buy a used car from a place where the salesman has grease on his hands, & a wrench sticking out of his hip pocket, than a place with a guy in a suit hovering around the lot.

An office where the guys have their suit hanging on the back of their chairs, sleeves rolled up, & tie loosened is a place where people work a lot. An office where the guys are always buttoned up in a suit, & perfectly adjusted ties is a place where people talk a lot. And never trust a guy in a bowtie - - they're all nuts or crooks.

[Robyn Jodie]

It's easy --
During the petroleum crisis of the 1970s, the government recommended that everyone keep their thermostat at 65 in the Winter and 80 in the Summer.  Somehow people got it backwards, and that's how even today people keep their thermostats at 65 in the Summer and 80 in the Winter.
 

[Angela M...]

I usually keep mine set at 75 F all the time or shut down in the summer when the windows can be opened. In the winter when it gets extremely cold we set it at 65 F at night and put on extra blankets and then it automatically comes on at 5:30 and sets at 75 F for an hour or two while we get ready for the day. Afterward if I am home all day I will put on fleece tights and go about my daily chores keeping cozy doing the house work. Plan on adding extra insulation to my attic space this winter to save more on fuel costs. Each time I redecorate another room I will tear out the outside walls and re-insulate them also to beef up the whole house.  Some of my friends have done that and cut their bills in half or more using the new standards set by the builders association and the government. The government was offering rebates last year and I hope they continue this program again this year.

[Betty]

I usually just run my AC just enough to make it a few degrees cooler than outside. That way it removes a lot of that sticky humidity we have here so it feels better, & also helps me breathe better with my COPD. High humidity is rough with COPD. Ozone levels seem to be always high on humid days too, which is very bad for lungs. I usually always have a couple air filters running. If I tip them on their side they double as a fan to give me a nice breeze.

Most of the people I know never turn their heat above 68F (20C) in winter, except maybe at shower & bath time. That's a waste. It would be cheaper just to run a little electric heater in the bathroom or bedroom when you're gonna get naked, rather than crank up the heat for the whole place.

The past 2 winters I've never had my heat set to get into the 60s. So on the coldest winter days it's usually in the 50s, & has got down to the 40s overnight while I'm under the warm blankets. Sometimes when I'm really feeling the chill, I'll just turn on a small 400-800 watt radiant heater pointed at me to warm up, rather than burn the fuel to warm up the whole place.

Fortunately there's another apartment above me, below me, & on each side of me. So if it's a mild winter day or night, I don't need any heat on at all. The heat coming off the computer, the back of the fridge, & from making coffee or cooking warms up the place enough. On a windless 40F (4C) day, it could be in the 70s up here with no heat on & the windows cracked open.

But we had some severe cold the last 2 winters where it was so cold, my heat couldn't keep up with it... especially when it's windy & very cold at the same time.