Art-full Greenwich Village

Today I'm kicking off a weekly post: TOO GOOD TO MISS TUESDAY. On tuesdays I will share past travel faves that deserve appreciation, fun stuff that has been kept in my back pocket--due to no fault of its own.

Starting with one September day in NYC, the end to a week of beautiful weather in the Big Apple. We hit many of the iconic landmarks but found the most fun wandering the neighborhoods. Our last day we (my old/new roommate Amy and I) went back to an area close to our hotel with a hip vibe: Greenwich village!

Looking to do some last minute shopping we stumbled upon the motherload: blocks of street vendors selling jewelry (oh if only that ring had been in the right size), 10 minute back massages (they know how to reel you in), t-shirts screenprinted with balloons and bicycles, food. . . and art of all kinds.

Welcome to The Market NYC

I still dream of these beauties especially those 2 on the far right, in the lower background, but alas my carry on max was already at its limit and those are whopper woven creations, even if they are aqua. So I went with a baby lavender version. I love it, but the visual impact is just not the same.

 

Who can pass up the "best CANNOLI . . . imported from Brooklyn". Hey that's what they advertised. It was pretty good.

My favorite part was sauntering down the street and seeing this art display out of the corner of my eye, doing a double take, walking over trance-like without telling my travel buddy where I'm going and being sucked into these beautiful ink drawings. I pulled one after another out of the stack, my new favorite friends. The artist is Dan Butler, yep that's him, totally cool guy. He draws primarily without looking at his paper . . .

And he openly tells you about each piece, a story for each one. Like my purchase on the right of a fire escape in Chinatown, where a large crowd gathered to watch him. And Amy's purchase on the left, he just had to get the tree outside his window at the moment he was struck by it, making him late for an appointment, oops.

Bonus: I (and you) can buy more at his Etsy shop Handmade in Brooklyn.