Creating work

Linking Communities Through Sustainability

2012-01-10T19:18:00.000-08:00

Skraptacular would like to thank the Green Team from the Chinese-American Planning Council in Flushing. This afternoon they graciously helped us decorate Skraptacular planters to use as gifts at our upcoming Skraptacular Sprouting Affair ( March 21st). Thank you, Green Team - They are all so beautiful!

Linking our communities through sustainability!

2011-11-14T11:42:00.000-08:00

When: Saturday, December 3rd

1p.m.–5p.m. $5 per person

Where: Muscota New School

between 204th & Academy (Subway: A train to Dyckman St.)

Skraptacular!

Holiday Eco Gift-Making Workshop

Don’t go to the mall, come have a ball making it all!

Get all your gift getting done early!

Open to the whole community, for all ages!!!

Local artists will be

on hand guiding us to create:

Hand-made poetry books,

bags, purses, mobiles, jewelry,

sculptures and whatever else

the artist comes up with.

All materials provided.

Also, you may bring items

that need festive patching!

For more information:

mdelg@mindspring.com

HOMEMADE FOOD & HOMEMADE FUN!!!

Presented to you by the Parents’ Associations

of Muscota New School and Skraptacular

Skraptacular Eco Fest

2011-10-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

Last Friday on October 7th 2011 we were blessed with a beautiful day for our Skraptacular Earth celebration. It was a day of marching, chanting, singing and raising environmental awareness in Northern Manhattan where residents recycle the least in all of Manhattan.

An enormous heart felt thanks goes out to Camille Wallin, Muscota New School principal and Dede Budd, the principal of PS 178 and all the staff, volunteers and students for supporting this urgent community effort.

Don't cut trees. Eat your peas! - Enrique, Muscota New School

1...2...3...4 Come let's reduce some more! 5...6...7...8 open that reusing gate!

- Ella, Muscota New School

Muscota elders leading the way to the land of no away

Thomas and Tara from Allstar Adventures welcome the marchers.

Enter under the golden arch with an E for Earth over your heart.

#1 cheerleader! Muscota music teacher, Megan Benay

Old friends reunited for a worthy cause

Troy leads the sing-along with Noelina and Jasmin's classes from Ps 178

I loved their creative design for Earth hats!

A Big thanks to all the community volunteers who lead the Earth Fest workshops.
Sarah from Solar 1 came all the way up town to host the Eco Jeopardy Game!
Pamela Peeters worked with students on The Sustainable Planet Eco Hero Project.
Jazmin from The New York Restoration Project gave 2nd and 3rd graders a lesson in planting
Natalie from the Lower East Side Ecology Center giving 3rd graders the dirt on dirt.
Thor from City Science taught Muscota 5th graders how to understand suspension and compression by feeling it.

Poet, Jane Lecroy taught young writers to use nature as inspiration.

Julia Attaway from Friends of Fort Tryon Trust explored our "back yard" to discover nature mysteries.
Ermin from Grow NYC Engaged young people in the Grow NYC Recycle Game. Don't forget, if it doesn't have a neck it doesn't get recycled!
Wilson Martinez from Unwaste NY introduced students to simple and innovative ways to reduce energy use.

Wow! Leisia's class from Muscota made REALLY beautiful signs! Thanks for rallying guys and gals!

A special thanks to all the parents who joined us with Earth loving energy to help keep our kids safe.

2011-09-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

Editor's choice blue ribbon for this year's Maker Faire....yea!

2011-09-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

The interns preparing well in advance for the Maker Faire Skraptacular Parade

2011-09-10T21:01:00.000-07:00

skraptacular!

Creating something GREAT from nothing!

For Immediate Release

Contact Michelle Del Guercio (917) 699 8136

www.skraptacular.org

NEW YORK, September 17th & 18th – SKRAPTACULAR! a grassroots recycling organization which works with New York City schoolchildren to creatively reduce and reuse waste materials, will have a larger-than- life presence at the second annual World Maker Faire at the N.Y. Hall of Science in Flushing Meadow Queens.

September 17^th and 18th.

SKRAPTACULAR! will be on hand educating Fair goers to rethink what they do with their waste. Northern Manhattan SKRAPTACULAR! crafty kids will take to the fairgrounds, encouraging and enticing World Maker Faire attendees how they can to do their part to make less garbage. A carnival of visual and performance arts, poetry and song will remind New Yorkers how to reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink how to save our environment and reduce waste while having fun.

SKRAPTACULAR! Performers will take the NPR "Rock-it-Science Stage", followed by a SKRAPTACULAR! Parade at 4pm on Saturday September 17th, open to all.

Visit our SKRAPTACULAR! booth to learn more about what we do.

2011-08-27T18:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Skraptacular supporters,
I hope your summers are going along swimmingly, despite Irene's rude interruption. I want to give you all the heads-up about a Skraptacular event DURING SCHOOL HOURS! The more kids, teachers and parents we have involved the better! Whether you could help by adding your child’s class or grade or school to the event… no contribution of participants is too big or too small. Spread the word! If you want your school to be involved, please arrange it with your school principal and child's teacher to confirm your reservation. If you know any eco-educators that might want to get involved, please have them call me. The beloved Miss Ufer, the PS 178 music teacher, is no longer there. Can anyone think of someone to lead the sing-a-long? I'm trying to contact Johnny and Troy, anyone have their e-mail? The event is just beginning to take shape. Camille has confirmed the date and is on board. Dede from PS178 is on board but has not confirmed the date as of yet.
The general idea is....

The First Annual Skraptacular Harvest Eco-Fest
Friday, October 7th from 9:30- 2:00
9:30-11:30- Parade and musical assembly
Students from Muscota, possibly PS 178 and a few classes from PS 187 will parade (with police escort) to Anne Loftus Playground at the northern tip of Fort Tryon. Assembly sing-along and then "Bash The Trash " musical instrument demonstration.

11:30-12:30 - Waste-free LUNCH on "Fruity Friday" along with a composting demonstration
12:30-2:30 - Eco-workshops that classes sign-up for in advance
Programs such as park walk with EPA educator, park clean-up, tree planting and ceremony, tree guard building, tree guard Skraptaculating, eco-theater workshop, the Dan and Ann Eco- Game show, the Farm Truck( hoping) and much more....

Michelle

www.skraptacular.org

cell # 917 699 8136

(include your best # & email)

World Savvy Global Youth Media and Arts Festival

2011-06-06T13:17:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we went to NYU to represent Skraptacular. World Savvy was helping students reuse reduce and recycle. We came with the project of Linking a Community through Sustainability which is a project that unites people by getting together and making links with bottle caps. Our goal is to connect as many communities as possible.On our way to the event we proudly paraded through the streets holding our chain of progress. We were definitely an attention grabber! cool downtown skateboarders took a video of us and while we were in a pizza shop, one of the links broke and scattered all over the tiled floor so that also got a lot of attention. At the end of the day we had doubled our chain. It was a feat to reach the chain across the gallery. Each link was made up of more or less 100 bottle caps. Everyone was asked to write their name,date and their community on a tag ( a re-purposed cereal box) that would be attached to the link that they made. Many people were joined together by the activity. We do feel that we succeeded in linking our community by inspiring consciousness

World Savvy Global Youth Media and Arts Festival

2011-05-18T16:50:00.000-07:00

Time

Thursday, May 26 · 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Location

34 Stuyvesant St (b/w 2nd and 3rd, E 9th and 10th) NYU Commons Gallery

More Info

Skraptacular is working in collaboration with World Savvy designing the installations and we'll be at the opening with our Skraptaculinks. Local and Global Sustainability, and the state of the planet through the eyes of NYC youth.

2011-05-16T14:30:00.000-07:00

Skraptacular had the honored of being asked to take part in the 2nd annual Urban Wildlife Appreciation Day. What an incredibly high quality, well organized, engaging, and extremely educational event and not to mention, A LOT of fun from all perspectives. Every attendee was given a passport when they entered the event. Each station taught about a different urban wildlife animal. The attendees would travel from table to table observing and learning about each urban animal. After a visit to each table the attendee would receive a stamp and once the stamps were completed the passport was turned in for a prize. - a great way to engage and educate. The live urban wildlife visitors were an inspiration for making urban wildlife sculptures from trash. The Skraptacular mantra for the day was , observe and create. Thanks to Emilio Banda and family, Skraptacular now has a mascot, Skraapy the Squirel inspired by the Day. If you would like to get up close and personal with Skrappy, she's on view at The One Hundred Overlook Towers. Lobby Gallery. Big shout out to Jennifer Hoppa and to all my interns-thanks for making this another Skraptacular event!

2011-05-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

Come play with Skraptacular and the owl mamas

Urban Wildlife Appreciation Day

This Saturday, May 7th

in stunning Fort Tryon Park in Washington Heights

(A train to 190th St)

We hope to see you there!

Save the Date for the Second Annual Urban Wildlife Appreciation Day in Fort Tryon Park, Cloister Lawn, Manhattan: May 7th, 2011, 12 PM - 3:00 PM

David Weinstone and "Music for Aardvarks" will be performing!

Join us for an opportunity to get up close and personal with NYC's wild residents. Learn about squirrels, raccoons, coyotes, skunks, eagles and more. Find out the best places in NYC and NYS to watch wildlife. Educational speakers, live animals, kids activities, puppet shows, interactive animal art projects with Skraptacular, food and musical performances by Music for Aardvarks! Everyone welcome!

Sponsored by the Urban Park Rangers and the Fort Tryon Park Trust.

http://www.forttryonparktrust.org/

Skraptaculinks across Northern Manhattan

2011-04-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

Skraptaculinks, linking a community through sustainability! You too can be a part of it- just start collecting.

Thank you Mid-Orange County Correctional Facility for individually hammering holes in 10,000 bottle caps, we wouldn't be able to do it with out your help. Our Skraptaculinks project is officially underway at PS 178, Muscota New School, PS 187.

Green Party Ideas

2011-04-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

Here's an idea that involves your friends and family in the fine art of trash collecting. When you're hosting a party always have clear signage that's fun to look at and helps the environment. It's all about being organized and neatly sorting your trash. These wrappers are yummier than the chocolates. I intend to use them on next year's Easter Bonnet.

Happy Earth Day

2011-04-22T11:28:00.000-07:00

Dear Earth Lovers,

Happy Earth Day from Skraptacular! This year we're postponing our Earth Day celebration for a month or so.

Come play with Skraptacular on May 7th in stunning Fort Tryon Park in Washington Heights. (A train to 190th St)

We hope to see you there!

Save the Date for the Second Annual Urban Wildlife Appreciation Day in Fort Tryon Park, Cloister Lawn, Manhattan: May 7th, 2011, 12 PM - 3:00 PM

David Weinstone and "Music for Aardvarks" will be performing!

Join us for an opportunity to get up close and personal with NYC's wild residents. Learn about squirrels, raccoons, coyotes, skunks, eagles and more. Find out the best places in NYC and NYS to watch wildlife. Educational speakers, live animals, kids activities, puppet shows, interactive animal art projects with Skraptacular, food and musical performances by Music for Aardvarks! Everyone welcome!

Sponsored by the Urban Park Rangers and the Fort Tryon Park Trust.

http://www.forttryonparktrust.org/

2011-03-31T15:16:00.001-07:00

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained,

“We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.”

That’s right, they didn’t have the green thing in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But they didn’t have the green thing back her day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But she’s right. They didn’t have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby’s diapers because they didn’t have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts – wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right, they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn’t have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item
to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power.

They exercised by working so they didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
But she’s right, they didn’t have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn’t have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar and kids walked or rode their bikes to school, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But they didn't have the green thing back then!
So what are you doing this year for Earth Day?

2011-03-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

Join the worldwide GLOBE at Night 2011 campaign: March 22 - April 6

What: The GLOBE at Night 2011 Campaign: Less of Our Light for More Star Light

When: 8pm to 10pm local time, March 22 - April 4 northern hemisphere; March 24 - April 6 southern hemisphere

Where: Everywhere

Who: Everyone

How: See http://www.globeatnight.org

Happy Valentines Day Mother Earth

2011-02-14T17:28:00.000-08:00

Skraptacular Love Letters to Our Planet

Happy Valentines Day to Our Beloved Earth

Nice photograph by Nico Ferri (above)

2011-02-14T14:22:00.000-08:00

Skraptacular has a new studio now at the Fort Washington Library Branch in the basement. We had to make some adjustments but now it is a great working space for Skraptacular. The staff at the library recently mopped the floors and cleaned out the entire studio and now it is perfectly in shape. We have running water, storage space and a great work table. Thank you to all the Skraptacular supporters out there who help us grow more and more each day.

By Gabbi, Skraptacular intern

Not only do we have a space at the Fort Washington Branch Library, we have also created a collection station specifically for bottle caps. We are embarking on our "Skraptaculinks" project. A chain of bottle caps, linking a community through sustainability. Beginning in Washington Heights and expanding as far as we let it. Come on folks, start collecting those bottle caps! You can bring them to Skraptacular headquarters in the basement of 535 179th St.

At the bottom of the stairs you will see our collection box.

2011-01-30T12:35:00.000-08:00

The plarn crochet plastic bag workshop took place on Jan 29th,2011. This workshop was a great hit for Skraptacular. I was there to witness some very nice and kind ladies that were very patient and helpful to some people who were beginners. One of them assisted me in understanding the objective of the crocheting and how to make different things. From there i could do it very well. i also saw many kids and adults very focused and making lots of progress. Everyone was very engaged in the work and successfully making adornments like celll phone cases and purses. This Skraptacular workshop was very successful with about 30 diverse citizens all entertained with their work. We introduced plarning to a whole community.

Library Workshops

2011-01-27T00:29:00.000-08:00

On January 15 we had the plastic bottle flowers workshop, though many people's creativity was sparked and they made more than just flowers. Some other creations were beautiful baskets, various abstract sculptures, mobiles and more. One of the highlights for me was this metal thing, that was pretty much like a screwdriver with a hot tip. When you made even gentle contact with the plastic bottle( even though it's main purpose was as a wood burner)it would burn a small hole in it (you could only use it with adult supervision and if you're older than 12 ). After you've done that you put your scissors in the whole an cut in a circle, so you cut off the bottom. after doing this you're left with the top which is sort of like a funnel. Then you cut the petals. Everyone had different method so all the petals looked different. Since the plastic was so versatile, all the flowers came out fantastic! You could leave the petals as they were( for a tulip like effect), flip them out( to look sort of like a sunflower) and even twist them. The ages were varied but everyone was engaged and came up with creative, original designs. What really made it all so special was that no two flowers looked the same. They will be displayed at the library some time near Earth Day but the exact date will be announced.

Julie, Skraptacular intern

Skraptacular intern, fully engaged at the bottle flower workshop

Plastic bottle flower sculptures. The first of four Skraptacular workshops at the Fort Washington Branch Library on 179th St.
This Sat ( Jan 29th) at 1:00 at the Fort Washington Branch Library Skraptacular will be hosting a Plarn Workshop. Nicky Kram Rosen will be teaching us how to crochet with plastic bags to create handy dandy items like cell phone holders and purses. Here are some pictures from our last workshop. Also, February 12th at 1:30 at Fort Washington Branch Library, "Skraptacular Love Letters to the Planet" using found words and images.

Found words for the "Skraptacular Love Letters to the Planet"

Skraptacular workshop on "Love Letters to the Planet" using found words, images and materials. This workshop was held at the Institute for Progressive Dominicans. These teachers will make "Skraptacular Love Letters to the Planet " with their students in after school for low income students. Their finished creations will then be a part of a large on going community art installation at the Fort Washington Bracnh Library .

Skraptacular holiday gift making event

2010-12-20T13:20:00.000-08:00

Anyone who attended the Skraptacular holiday gift-making workshop would know how much fun and a success it was. There was a large variety of crafts you could choose from. From sock monkey-making to making plastic bottle flowers, kids were delighted/thrilled to turn trash to treasure. The other crafts included book-making, collage, sewing, jewelry-making, ornament-making, sculpture collection boxes and many other fun crafts. Many people ended up making lots of things and this event was a great hit. The event made $1,400 and Muscota New School got partial money along with Skraptacular. This event took yet another step in our fight to become a greener planet and to save our beloved Earth.

Gabi Banda

and

Julie Rose Seager

Skraptacular interns

Eco-Gift-Making Workshop

2010-11-29T16:36:00.000-08:00

This Sat. December 4th from 1:00-5:00 p.m.

SKRAPTACULAR Eco-Gift-Making Workshop

At Muscota New School ( A train to Dyckman b/w Academy and 204th St.)

These ain't no ordinary crafts!

Home-made fun and Home-made cooking- Don't forget your mess kit!

Skraptacular News!

We are in this week's Manhattan Times News, We also made it into the Solar One News Letter.

Keep your fingers crossed for Amy Sedaris to choose the Skraptacular Christmas tree/mistletoe holder as the winner of her holiday craft contest.

See you at the Skraptacular Holiday Eco-Gift-Making Workshop!

Ms. Skraptacular

2010-11-01T10:24:00.000-07:00

Green Halloween For All

2010-10-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sick of having to go and buy your costumes? This year you can go green with halloween. Maybe you want to give it a shot this year! Grab some junk laying around the house to turn into the best halloween masterpiece! Turn cardboard scraps into the most horrifying mask or take soda tabs and colorful caps and transform them into a glamorous necklace or bracelet. Not only are you going to have a fun and an amazingly interesting costume but at the same time you'll be saving the planet and your environment. Another idea is to take empty juice boxes, clean them and use the reverse side for body armor and a shield. Just pull out your glue gun and glue it together..... much greener than duck tape or aluminum foil. It's more important than you think. It takes a village to clean a village and halloween can be even more fun when you know your helping your world.

2010-10-06T19:41:00.000-07:00

SKRAPTACULAR! will bring it back home to Washington Heights for the kick off of the 9^th annual Harvest Festival this Saturday, October 9^th at 12:30 with a SKRAPTACULAR! Parade reminding the Washington Heights community how they can do their part to make less garbage.

SKRAPTACULAR! Will take to the Harvest Festival stage with Skraptacular Rapatacular performing their rap and

The Girls in Action cheering about saving our environment.

Visit our SKRAPTACULAR! table and take a ride on the SKRAPTACULAR! Re-cycle

2010-10-06T14:15:00.001-07:00

Skraptacular Takes 1st Place at Maker Faire!

Inwood-based not-for-profit draws attention to recycling through art

By: Tammy McKillip

Photo By Tammy McKillip

Congratulations to Inwood mom blogger, photographer and enviro-artist, Michelle Del Guercio. Her recycling-based art booth won three blue "Editor's Choice" ribbons at this past weekend's World Maker Faire in Queens. The not-for-profit, which started five years ago to help raise money for the victims of Katrina, has maintained an active presence in Inwood and Washington Heights--teaching school children how to turn bits of garbage into works of art and encouraging neighborhood residents to volunteer for worthy causes and recycle, reuse and reduce the amount of waste they produce.

Visit SCRAPTACULAR at their Facebook page for more information on how your kids can turn trash into treasures, or check out her photography site to read her lastest blog.

Slideshow: Science meets circus at the World Maker Faire | Need to Know

2010-09-29T07:18:00.000-07:00

Slideshow: Science meets circus at the World Maker Faire | Need to Know

Skraptacular at the Maker Faire

2010-09-23T01:38:00.000-07:00

skraptacular!

Creating something GREAT from nothing!

For Immediate Release

Contact Michelle Del Guercio (917) 699 8136

www.skraptacular.org

NEW YORK, September 22, 2010 – SKRAPTACULAR! a grassroots recycling organization which works with New York City schoolchildren to creatively reduce and reuse waste materials, will have a larger-than- life presence at the FIRST annual World Maker Faire at the N.Y. Hall of Science in Flushing Meadow Queens.

September 25th and 26th.

SKRAPTACULAR! will take the NPR "Rock-it-Science Stage" on Saturday, September 25^th at 4:30, followed by a SKRAPTACULAR! Parade, open to all.

Visit our SKRAPTACULAR! booth to create joyous, “scrappy,” beautiful art made from found materials.

Best Maker Faire clip

2010-09-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

Skraptacular will have a larger than life presence at the FIRST annual World Maker Faire at the Queens Hall of Science in Flushing Meadow Queens September 25th and 26th.

Our main objective for being there will be to "make the Maker Faire garbage small". There will be Skraptacular groupies roving the faire grounds encouraging MF attendees to do their part. This will be achieved in a carnivalesque fashion through visual arts, performance arts , poetry and song.

Sat. 9/25 at 5 p.m. Skraptacular will take the NPR "Rock-it-Science Stage" followed by a Skraptacular Parade open to all.

Sunday 9/26 at 5 p.m. Skraptacular will join in the Bash the Trash Parade of musical instruments

2010-08-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

Skraptacular will be apart of the first annual NY Maker Faire. They are expecting anywhere from 17,000- 78,000 visitors! Kind of scary.....What's the worst that could happen? - we run out of garbage to use! It's overwhelming to think of but I'm jumping in head first. It should be a blast. Already, we've met so many great creative people through the M.F. I'm also looking forward to this fall because, for the first time in Skraptacular history we have interns. I'm very excited to get started. First on our agenda is sign making, designing and fabricating collection stations for the Maker Faire and forming a Skraptacular chorus. Back in July, I started making the art to decorate the M.F. tent. In the next couple of days I will post pictures of the art. Sorry for the six week hiatus. Skraptacular wants to hear from you. If you would like to help collect items or help out in ANY way shape or form let us know. Mark it on your calendar September 25th and 26th at the Queens Hall Of Science.

The Hudson Valley Skraptacular Debut

2010-07-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

Details of the art....
Orange on orange
Transporting the hupa/ hammock

Packing up the show.

Wendy Bernfeld, our newest Skraptacular contributer. A huge thanks to you, Wendy for all the hours you sat on the ground criss-cross apple sauce cutting, attaching and creating with the kids, the setting-up the poster-making and just the overall fun.

Exploring through the meadow.

2010-07-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

Friday, July 9th from 4-7 Skraptacular is bringing the eco-art exhibit, the Landscape of No Away to the Gardiner Library in Gardiner, NY. If you missed the show the first time around, you have another chance to see it and join in making art for this community based nomadic show.

BEST IN GREEN DESIGN

2010-06-18T01:38:00.001-07:00

Come on kids, we too can make beautiful utilitarian objects from what others consider garbage. There's inspiration all around us. This summer let's get to work and start saving(stuff and our beloved Mother Earth)

Sarah Turner (above)

Mauricio Affonso

2010-06-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

2 am the night before installing

Shelly and Keesje preparing for the next day..... thanks Shelly!

6 am placing the piece de la resistance atop Mt. Fiji of plastic. Amazingly, that was the only piece that did not make it back to headquarters. It wasn't secured in the bottle and must have flown off. It says a lot about our neighborhood that NOTHING was disturbed or stolen.....that's huge. I got immense enjoyment from watching people of all ages interacting with the art. From what I observed, everyone felt free to touch and play with the work yet, the were careful not to pull anything too hard. I've always loved this neighborhood but after this show, it holds a special place in my heart.

Big shout out goes to Rowana Shepard who worked tirelessly for weeks preparing and Lauren Jobson who helped install at 5:30 am. Together they did the most fantastic job hanging the center pieces. I absolutely love how they incorporated the art into the beautiful iron work. Great job ladies, thank you!

The first person to view the show at 6 am

There he is again, SB Square Pants..... Please note, when I retrieve things from the garbage, they are thoroughly soaked, scrubbed, and washed.

What are we leaving for them?

Thanks NF for your help disassembling!

SCORE! If only I found them before the show.

The Landscape of No Away will be traveling- stay tuned. Next, the Muscota

graduation ceremony will be decorated with the flowers. This was a wonderful experience, I thank Patricia Eakins and Keesje Fischer for writing the grant and initiating this wonderful project, It brought smiles to many faces.

What to do with your cd's

2010-06-09T17:29:00.000-07:00

Belén Hermosa, Panda chair, made from discarded CDs, Spain

This might be overly ambitious for some, just wanted to put it out there.....

What To Do With The Caps?

2010-06-08T16:49:00.000-07:00

Meylenstein, Shower Light, made from the caps of bath-product bottles, Berlin, Germany

Okay, if that's too much work for you, what about starting a collection box in your school, your building or your community. Not a hard thing to do. Make sure you have a sturdy container and good signage, letting everyone know what you're doing and contact Aveda to organize pick-up/drop-off. Imagine how many of these bottles get thrown away every day.

Aveda found that a majority of plastic bottle caps do not get recycled today.

Often these caps end up as litter or trash and migrate into our rivers and oceans. Birds and other marine creatures mistake them for food with tragic results. The magnitude of this pollution problem is devastating to our oceans and wildlife.

Your school can be part of the solution by joining recycle Caps with Aveda.*

Join Aveda's caps recycling initiative that helps extend the current boundaries of recycling and elicits participation from all corners of our community. With the help of our network of salons and stores, in partnership with community schools, we have created a recycling program for plastic bottle caps. Caps are collected at enrolled schools and then sent by Aveda to our recycler where the material is recycled into new caps and containers. Aveda has been able to work closely with our suppliers to develop ways to make new caps from the recycled caps and we plan to incorporate these caps into future Aveda products.

What type of caps do we collect?
The program accepts caps that are rigid polypropylene plastic, sometimes noted with a 5 in the chasing arrows recycling symbol.

This includes caps that twist on with a threaded neck such as caps on shampoo, water, soda, milk and other beverage bottles, flip top caps on tubes and food product bottles (such as ketchup and mayonnaise), laundry detergents and some jar lids such as peanut butter.

Excluded from collection are pharmaceutical lids and non rigid lids such as yogurt lids, tub lids (margarine, cottage cheese), and screw on lids that are not rigid. Please do not include any metal lids or plastic pumps or sprayers. Unfortunately, too much of the wrong types of materials can contaminate the recycling process. We appreciate your efforts in keeping it clean! Please help Aveda in our mission to encourage local recyclers to accept plastic bottle caps.

Join the Recycle Caps with Aveda campaign and feel great knowing that your plastic caps will be repurposed into new packaging and kept from entering our waterways and harming wildlife.

Want to know how your school can get involved?
Click to learn more: Parents | Teachers. Remember to contactcapcollection@aveda.com when you are ready to enroll your school.

Like to color or know a child who does?
Click here for a Fun and Educational Recycle Caps with Aveda Coloring Page. Enjoy!

For more information on how to enroll your school contact capcollection@aveda.com or call 1-877-Aveda09.

* Applies only the 48 contiguous United State

Passers by

2010-06-07T04:04:00.001-07:00

Due to popular demand Landscape of No Away will be extended until this evening.

Sponge Bob Square Pants - could sell anything to a kid. You would think Mr. Square Pants has enough money by now that he would utilize his influence in more positive ways that actually benefit children and do greater good. Oh right, I forgot, we're in America we're supposed to be making as much green stuff as we can despite all else. Okay, there's enough spewing going on in the Gulf, I won't continue.
On a more positive note, I'm LOVING this guy. I wonder if he made that bike with his own ingenuity. That's one way to get outside, exercise and have fun in the city on a beautiful summer afternoon. Though, it does concern me that he's not wearing a helmet, he's got headphones on and he's really high off the ground

2010-06-05T19:56:00.000-07:00

2010-06-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

The Landscape of No Away THIS WEEKEND!

2010-06-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

From 9 a.m. on Saturday June 5^th to 5 p.m. Sunday June 6th

The Landscape of No Away:
A community eco-art project that uses reused materials such as plastic bottles and found texts from discarded newspapers to create a garden of flowers. Originating artists: Keesje Fischer and Patricia Eakins. Community Partners: NYC Parks & Recreation; Isabella Geriatric Center; Michelle Del Guercio and Skraptacular, Time Bank, NoMAA, and friends & neighbors.
A FREE OUTDOOR EXHIBIT at two sites:
The Fort Washington entrance to the 190th Street A train Station
Isabella Geriatric Center, 515 Audubon Avenue @ 190^th Street
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Landscape-of-No-Away/118038634890534?ref=ts"

The Landscape of No Away is part of the Uptown Arts Stroll.
http://www.artstroll.com/

Haven't been posting much since I've been super busy getting Landscape of No Away pulled together though, I have been religious about documenting as I go along. 5:00 Saturday morning we'll be there installing..... If you can, come see it in person if not I will have plenty of pics and videos.

The first person to find the kiss in this collage will win a Skraptacular flower.

Detail of a flower

Art imitating life ?

Landscape of No Away will have an interactive component. We're playing and we want you to play....
Even my girls like the flowers : )

Okay, now let's talk about the giraffe. A little more tape than I was comfortable using, first off.

Initially, she was standing.....

Until the third layer of paper mache became too much for this girl to handle and then she just gave up on me, sitting on my pot of dead Geraniums. The kids at school never got a chance to decorate it BUT non-the-less, Skraptacular will be at Highbridge this Saturday to Hike the Heights and we've got a lot of fun things planned.

Trash Bash Fashion Show 2009

2010-05-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

Y'all, Start Saving Those Buttons!

2010-05-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

I've been looking for the site where I found these incredible pieces to credit the artist- Haven't found it yet.

.....

Sea Creatures!

What fine construction.

Octopus, spider, you name it. Skraptacular followers, start saving your buttons! If you have little ones, you can color sort them so they're ready to go by the time school resumes in September : (

Giraffes take over the garden

2010-05-18T20:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 5, 10 AM-3PM, Hike the Heights from RING Garden to Highbridge Park
This activity is more about community and (re)discovering our neighborhood. Yes We Can Inwood will once again participate in the 6th annual Hike the Heights event whose goal is to invigorate public spaces by bringing more visitors to northern Manhattan parks and to inspire young and old people to be more physically active.

We will gather at the RING Garden (Dyckman Street b/w Broadway & Seaman Avenue) at 10:00 a.m. The hike will start promptly at 10:30am when we will walk east on Dyckman towards 10th Avenue where we will enter Highbridge Park and then hike up through the park to the water tower. Hikers will be coming from 5 different starting points in northern Manhattan. All hikes will converge at the Highbridge Recreation Center on 173rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue. A hugecommunity celebration at Highbridge Park will follow with food, games, activities and performances. To watch a clip of last year's event and learn more about the event, visit: www.thegiraffenyc.org . There are also some great photos of last year's event on our website.

The event is organized by The CLIMB project (City Life Is Moving Bodies), part of the Center for Youth Violence Prevention at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Hope to see you in the park!

Skraptacular will be participating at this event! We'll be collaborating on another Skraptacular giraffe and I mean SKRAPTACULAR. I plan to bring some puppet-makers and sculptors to inspire and guide us with their expertise. Below is my first day at making the giraffes. Thanks Amy D. for helping me today and also for encouraging Skraptacular to take part in this fabulous and meaningful project! Once the giraffe is built, students at Muscota New School will decorate her with words and images relating to health, sustainability and global warming.

Legs are still looking too short. The more length and muscle the giraffe gets, the shorter my cutain becomes. This giraffe deserves long legs and healthy muscles.

Ooh the plastic bottle hooves are looking good!
I'm having trouble believing this box will end up looking like a giraffe, But I trust you, Amy.

Polystyrene is the WORST but at least we're saving it from going in the landfill. We will paper mache over the polystyrene so the students are not compelled to pick away at it like they do with their polystyrene lunch treys that, by the way, every single NYC public school uses, amounting to 850,000 treys per day! A tangent I couldn't ignore, back to the giraffes....

Yes, there she is...... I see her! Next, she needs reeeally long eyelashes-made from plastic bottles, of course.

2010-05-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

As you can see," The Landscape of No Away " is in Full Bloom.

Now they're prohibiting us from reusing? For some, this could get really confusing. What the H-E-double toothpicks?

Tell them to go #@!% brush their teeth!

What is this, vole, mole or platypus?

This innocent creature was either dragged in by my brother Chris or Maggie the cat, they're both denying it.

2010-05-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

Elvis made from Trash - by Patti Pippen a.k.a the Critter Mother

The Critter Mother has a blog if you like this blog you will be interested in what she has to say. Here's an incredibly creative lady with a lot of wisdom and facts about our perishing planet.

http://littercritters.blogspot.com/

Take back the Tap!

2010-05-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

Did you know, 200,000 barrels of oil are used per day to produce 1 days worth of plastic products in this country alone?( Thanks Sprout for the data) How sick is that?! Here's one way to reduce our plastic consumption...... don't fall prey to manufactured demand. Have a listen to my hero, Annie Leonard. She doesn't get depressed, she investigates and informs us all on smart consumerism.

Two Things Every Kitchen Needs

2010-05-02T18:11:00.000-07:00

A collection jar and a compost bucket......

Composting is an essential component to regenerating our soils. Where does your food come from? Is it part of the problem, or part of the solution? Each year the world loses an estimated 83 billion tons of soil. What does this mean for food production and what can we do about it?

2010-05-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

It's a week to remember -- or better yet, forget. Who could have imagined such a confluence of terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad events, rounding up what has to be the most disheartening "Earth Month" ever?

The Blossoming Project

2010-04-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

Thank you Zaiden and Rowana for your help on the project!
The originators of, The Landscape of No Away, Keesje Fischer and Patricia Eakins. As part of the Uptown Art Stroll, the flowers will appear in their glory at the entrance of the 190th St. A train stop June 4th/5th. This is TRULY a community eco-project. Thank you ladies for bringing this deeply fulfilling project to our neighborhood.

Maker Faire coming to NYC!

2010-04-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

Put it on your calendar, the Maker Faire is coming to NY! I've never been but from what I see from the videos, we won't be missing it. How often do you get to witness such creativity and ingenuity in one place with the creators their to explain? The NY Hall of Science September 25 and 26th 2010.

Swap-O-Rama-Rama will be there!

The Landscape of No Away

2010-04-26T21:22:00.000-07:00

One of the happy Dogwoods planted in Javits Playground in honor of Earth Day...... Thank you Fort Tryon Trust!

Plastic flowers were also made in the park in honor of Earth Day to then be a part of the community eco-art show, The Landscape of No Away. On display at the Fort Washington entrance to the 190th St. A train and the Isabella Geriatric Center on June 5th and 6th as part of the Uptown Art Stroll.

70's PSA Keep America Beautiful (Crying Indian)

2010-04-26T08:49:00.000-07:00

This ad made a huge impression on me as a child growing up in the 70's- it's time for the remake...... And who cares if the actor wasn't actually Native American, the message still good.

My Skraptacular table arrangement for our Easter feast - it's all about the plastic flowers

2010-04-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

Skraptacular Earth Day Eco-Fest

2010-04-24T05:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the shaky video, I was taping while speaking.....

It was a great day until I smashed the back window of my car while trying to fit the sound system in. No good deed goes unpunished....... Off to the Park to paint flowers for the eco-community art project for Uptown Art Stroll

Skraptacular Eco-fest

2010-04-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

Gearing up for the Skraptacular Earth Day Parade and Eco-fest this Friday in Anne Loftus Playground in Northern Manhattan ( A train to Dyckman stop and we are right there). We begin the day at 9:30 with a Skraptacular "Parade" comprised of 500 school kids that are determined to save the planet. Once we've gotten our message across loud and clear to Washinton Heights and Inwood the eco-performances begin. Here's the line-up: Skip Laplant from Bash The Trash doing a show-n-tell/concert with his musical instruments made from trash, The Critter Mother performs " I am Made From Trash"

and "Just Dream It Up", Granny ( the character from The Adventures of Pistachio, A Brooklyn Girl Made from Trash) does an interactive comedy routine around composting and after lunch World Musician, Skot Hanna, will perform with a multitude of eco-instruments from around the world. Please come to help us get the message out.

My first radio interview!

2010-04-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

First radio interview about Skraptacular tonight. I'm hoping my dear followers will tune in. If you're busy tonight at 7 you can always go online another time and listen. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/artistmagnet.

Sad Commentary

2010-04-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

Collections Add Up To A Lot

2010-04-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

First poster of the series. There's so much you can do when you have a lot of one thing

I'm Back and it's Skraptacular

2010-04-11T17:51:00.000-07:00

Residents from Isabella Geriatric Center create a factory of making flowers from bottles for the Landscape of No Away , a community eco-art collaboration that uses materials from the trash and found texts from discarded newspapers to create a garden of flowers. Originating artists: Keesje Fischer and Patricia Eakins. Community Partners: Friends of Fort Tryon Park; NYC Parks & Recreation; Isabella Geriatric Center; Skraptacular, Time Bank, NOMAA, and friends & neighbors. A FREE OUTDOOR EXHIBIT at two sites:

The Fort Washington entrance to the 190th Street A train Station

Isabella Geriatric Center, 515 Audubon Avenue @ 190^th Street

Sorry my dear followers for leaving you hanging for months. Let's just say I'm not the most consistent blogger but I haven't given up yet! Exciting news, I have taken Skraptacular into the non-profit arena. I'm keeping it local in the NYC district 6 school system and the Washington Heights/Inwood Community . This fall I will be doing the big fundraising push so stay tuned. Currently I'm gearing up for the Earth Day Parade involving my two Skraptacular model schools and then a rally/concert featuring Skip Laplant and Skot Hannah in the Anne Loftus Park on Friday April 23rd from 10am- 2:30 pm. On Saturady April 24th from 10-4 in Javits Park , Friends of Fort Tryon Park and Skraptacular team up with founders of The Landscape of No Away, Keesje Fischer and Patricia Eakinsin getting more plastic bottles cut and painted for the community eco-art project that will be an outdoor free exhibit at the Fort Washington entrance to the 190th St A train subway station and at Isabella Geriatric Center during the Uptown Art stroll on June 5th and 6th.

Health Care Reform Unity Rally

2009-08-31T12:27:00.000-07:00

To find out more about the rally go to the blog for Raising Women's Voices http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/raisingwomensvoices-blog/

Happy Birthday Nico

2009-08-16T23:52:00.000-07:00

Eight years old, wow! Time is such a crazy phenomenon........
Have a Skraptacular birthday kiddo!

Escaping The Heat

2009-08-15T23:48:00.000-07:00

2009-08-08T23:40:00.000-07:00

Summer fun at the county fair

2009-08-05T23:23:00.000-07:00

Save Some For The Birds

2009-07-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

Some one had some extra time on their hands.....

Congratulations to my sister-in-law, Janice Ferri Reed who co-authored the new book, Keeping the Millennials. It is a fascinating insight into a new generation. Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down...... I highly recommend it!

Back to Arbus

2009-06-16T07:47:00.001-07:00

Now that I figured out how to post the actual video I am reposting this. I have sat through all three videos 5 or 6 times in a week. I am fascinated by her and her method. Enjoy.....

2009-06-08T13:38:00.000-07:00

Arbus is one of my favorite photographers.

Diane Arbus Documentary part 1

Diane Arbus Documentary part 2

Diane Arbus Documentary part 3

Diane Arbus Documentary part 4

More Quotes for the People Photographers.....

2009-06-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

This morning while waiting for my printer to print I picked up Words And Pictures by William Hicks ( photo editor at Life ) Copyright, 1952. After twenty years of collecting dust, it was time. If only I knew there was so much to glean from this book twenty years ago ...... no use lamenting over lost time. Here's what I found when I opened to a random page....

"Know your people's surroundings, analyze their emotions, understand their motivations. Then by emphasis, get the significances of their actions. These add up to interpretation."

"If I have a secret in the taking of pictures it is anticipating the psychological moment"

- Eugene Smith

I wonder, are these things I am doing already on a subconscious level? Again, it doesn't hurt to reintroduce these principles and be conscious of them.

One Step Closer

2009-06-02T05:50:00.000-07:00

I am one step closer to my dream of creating an eco-studio. This weekend my family and I discovered Green-Phoenix Permaculture Farm in High Falls, NY. We learned so much about sustainable building from knowledgeable people that share a similar vision. As soon as I set eyes on the farm I knew we had arrived at the place where I would be guided into making my dream a reality. It is one of those things that is clear in my mind but I have no idea of where to begin. So I guess I could say this is the beginning for us. Green-Phoenix is on the property of Epworth Camp. Three or four years ago it was looking like Epworth was going to be forced to sell their land. A few veteran campers got wind of this and held a retreat to figure out a way to save the camp, their solution was to pump new blood into Epworth by starting permaculture educational center on the property. There are projects and workshops going on all the time and anyone who is willing to work is welcome to stay at the camp to volunteer and learn about sustainable living. My family and I look forward to spending a good part of our summer there......

Helpful Quotes

2009-05-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

"Like the people you shoot and let them know it". - Robert Capa

As a portrait photographer I found this to be an extremely helpful bit of advise. I think that comes natuarally for me but to be aware of it while shooting brings better results.
Here's another one that I keep posted over my desk and refer to at least once a day.

"I have learned there is no harm in charging oneself up with delusions between moments of valid inspiration"

- Steve Martin

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Today I leave to go shooting in the rolling hills outside Lexington, Kentucky...... how I wish I had an 8x10 camera for this.....my next purchase.

At Last

2009-05-19T08:06:00.000-07:00

After much anticipation and only several months over due, the birthing process is complete. My site mdelgphoto.com has gone live...... Hallelujah! Speaking of Hallelujah, Any lingering cynicism that might have existed for me about organized religion fell to the way side this past Saturday when I witnessed my son receiving the holy Eucharist for the first time. There is something so beautiful and sacred about the rite of any passage, with a few exceptions.

A gift from God

A look into my studio

2009-05-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

Salted prints on vellum paper.

Religion and Spirituality

2009-05-14T06:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend my pious son will be making his first communion. It never seizes to amaze me what I can learn from my kid. As I have spent the last twelve years estranged from my Catholic roots, my one and only child is helping me break down the defensive wall against my punitive Catholic upbringing. How can I continue to be such a cynic when he has been so earnest in his believes?

I was comforted by the words of Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso. When she was speaking about teaching spirituality to children, she explained religion as a process in asking questions rather than getting answers. Eisenberg was encouraging parents to explore their heritage religion before giving up on it. She described choosing a religion to be like choosing a language. Families should Choose the traditions that best suit their family and disregard the ones that don't.

As it stands, I'm not embracing though I am inspired to explore.

Half finished jewelry box I made for Nico to give to him on the morning of his first communion.

Detail from my home studio

2009-05-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

Freddy Hubbard's memorial service this past Monday
A friend from the Marble Hill Projects

There is so much more to being a photographer than just making images. The marketing thing can just be exhausting. I enjoy viewing sites and following blogs of photographers I admire but sometimes it just gets too distracting and overwhelming. There are so many of us out there doing amazing work. Deciding what direction to take can be paralyzing. I am most successful in my work when I put my blinders and just take the pictures that are calling me. The challenge comes in when I want my work to be seen. I enjoy Zoe Strauss' work and her approach to getting it out there for the world to see. She wanted a show, she gave herself a show, under I-95 in Philadelphia. How cool is that, she stripped away all the pretense and made her work accessible to the general public selling the pictures for $5 a pop.

Lately I've been questioning the point of this blog and I realized as I put my thoughts out there, I'm holding myself accountable...... kind of like a public to do list. Also it serves as a home to orphan images. Originally I embarked on this blogging venture for content to drive traffic to my site which I haven't pursued.... too forced and insincere.

All it Took was a Phone Call

2009-05-04T06:04:00.000-07:00

Imagine how many drinks in plastic bottles are consumed in the little league field of one town in one season. You would think they would have recycle bins next to every garbage...... not in this case.......

After three years of taking a passive roll in watching this atrocity play itself out game after game and year after year I decided to take this baby on. Okay, where do I begin? I guess the first call should be to the little league field manager. Initially he wasn't amenable and couldn't see beyond more work and money. Once I thanked him for his volunteer work, convinced him I wasn't criticizing and I was willing to take it on myself and that it was our duty as the adults to set the example for the next generation the door opened a crack. I made sure to point out that it's actually more expensive to cart away garbage than it is to recycle. After a while of back and forth he agreed to make an inquiry to the carting company.I was fully expecting the project to stop there. Much to my surprise, on opening day after the usual house keeping announcements just before the National Anthem there was one last announcement....... "Wallkill Little League wants to help the planet, we are now going green". The crowd of three hundred was silent(in preparation for the National Anthem), I took it upon myself to hoop, holler and cheer, the crowd was obliged to joined in. LET'S PLAY BALL. One phone call is all it took!

It all right in front of us.

2009-05-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

A close friend passed away a couple of weeks ago from melanoma. In a moment of reflection in the last e-mail, she wrote, " What we have to be happy for is all right there in front of us so just enjoy and don't sweat the small stuff." Something pretty simple that I've heard before, in this context it resonated....… I 'm working on applying the notion to my photography. I have a tendency at times to over think where I'm heading with a project, what the outcome will be, what if it fails , etc., all that self doubt that comes with being an artist( in many cases). So often I talk myself out of something before I even begin. It truly is all right there in front of us and we just need to trust the ideas, give them a chance to come alive and eliminate the self inflicted judgement. It is our job to just put the work out there. So that's where I'm at, just trying to enjoy the process document what speaks to me.

Monday is Freddy Hubbard's memorial at St John the Divine I'll be there shooting.

The Earth Day parade was a slight disappointment, a very watered down version of last year.

The spirit was there and the tradition of the tree planting ceremony and parade are now in place for years to come.

Happy Earth Day

2009-04-22T18:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Earth Day!

Before I begin I would like to thank my dedicated followers.

I am so sorry for abandoning all of you this winter. No excuses, I will try hard never to do it again and if I do, please give me a nudge to show you care........thank you Eve thank you Lizzi!

If you are a newby, welcome!

I figured Earth Day would make for a suitable day to resume my blog. Anyone read Elizabeth Kolbert's comment in the New Yorker this week? It could likely inspire me to start planning now for next year's Skraptacular 40th anniversay Earth Day Parade, doesn't Macy's begin their planning the Day after Thanksgiving?

This year I will be celebrating Earth Day on Monday April 27th with the PS 178 community. We'll have a parade first thing and hopefully I'll be able to convince the princiPAL to allow the children to stay in the park for the day with a no waste picnic lunch and a tree planting ceremony......I'm also envisioning tree rubbings, tree identifying and other fun Earth Day activities. I'll let you know how it all goes.....

My dreams of organizing a construction camp to help build a studio/learning space using sustainable materials is beginning to emerge into a reality more than a dream. Anyone one know an architect to help me with the initial plans?

Please don't think I have forgotten about my show I was planning this spring it has just been postponed. It's been a busy winter, well not really but everything takes longer than you think.

More good news, my website is days away from being launched! As my followers you will all be first to have access.

and MORE good news, my nephew Ben's film The Harpist wins Best Film, Critic's Choice, Best Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Sound at the 2009 Boston College Baldwin Awards. Great job Ben!

That's it for now.

.........stay tuned for more.....I promise!

Keep up the good work, what ever that maybe.

Forging into the future

2009-01-30T08:11:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Mcfee was my favorite inauguration encounter. While Obama was speaking, she pulled me close to her heart and pointed to him and said, "my husband handed that man his high school diploma." Sadly, he died a month before Obama was elected

Mrs. Mcfee: 2nd row on the right in the fur hat

Here I go, entering into the blogesphere, podcasting, viral marketing new world, at what feels like a vigorous pace, one I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with. Embrace it, I say, forge ahead don't be left in the dust......

I'm still trying to overcome my technical difficulties # 1 being my malfunctioning hard drive argh.... If any of you are interested I do have images from the inauguration up on my Facebook page or on my flickr site.......choose your poison.

www.flickr.com/photos/delguercio/

Inauguration observation:

I have never seen as much fur as I did down in Washington last week. But, the feeling was just too good for even PETA, no spray paint that day.

After the event I must have seen 100 single gloves on the ground in just the area where I was standing.

Here's to eight years!

Flickr

2009-01-28T11:29:00.001-08:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Good bye and good riddance!

2009-01-23T07:08:00.000-08:00

A collective sigh of relieve filtered down the mall followed by jubilation. Here's to a new day!

please be patient, my hard drive is still out of commision and the dog ate my home work. I hope to have all pictures up by Monday. I'm hoping you will come back:)

Michelle and the golden ticket

2009-01-14T16:10:00.000-08:00

I was working for Obama on election day with my son Nico and neice Isobella in Philadelphia. Because we were working hard there wasn't much time to document the historical day. I felt such deep regret over this that I vowed I would do what ever it took to be down in Washington during the inauguration. As the weeks passed, still with out a solid plan, accomodations not coming through, the weather getting colder, and 5 million people expected to attend, my grand idea was rapidly disipating until I abandoned the idea altogether. An exciting turn of events happened just after I let go. My lovely friend Melissa who I hadn't been intouch with in a while handed me an inauguration package. So my Obama photo series continues....... Stay tuned, images from the inauguration will be posted here beginning this Sunday after the kick off party at the Lincoln Memorial.

Though the inauguration plans are consuming my time recently, I continue to work dilegently on my upcoming show(date to be determined) of medical imagery on salted paper prints. This show has been waiting to come into fruition for ten years now!! Also, my new website is expected to be launched this month.

I look forward to sharing my images with all of you. Sorry, no pictures tonight due to a broken hard drive.

As this is the first post of the year.......

Happy new year to all my peeps and best wishes for an AWESOME 2009!

2008-12-22T19:06:00.000-08:00

Connecting With Out The Paper Trail

2008-12-18T05:34:00.000-08:00

Christmas really needs to come every OTHER year. I know...... ba hum bug! It just seems that in November I begin gaining momentum with my work then BOOM Thanksgiving comes and then preparing for the holidays and then recovering from the holidays. No matter how hard I try not to get consumed in the consumerism, I get sucked in. My 150 valentines last year were hand- made and personalized from the molded plastic and paper waste from gift packaging as an attempt to assuage my own guilt. This year I plan to go easy on myself not sending anything out except for maybe an e-mail. I get great enjoyment from sending small gifts of love but this year it is not happening. I am freeing myself ! Yes, I could just go to Snap Fish down load an image to send to everyone but then there's more paper.

So what am I doing with all my extra time? I am having fun with my photography. This weekend I used my down time to edit my black and white contact sheets from the fall. After reviewing the images I see that I have a great foundation to work with for my show this spring. Also, I reviewed images from my New Patriotism series that I started on just after the elections. Initially they were disappointing but going back with an open mind I am quite pleased with the series as a whole. Tomorrow I'm off to Pittsburgh for Christmas with the in-laws. I plan to do a lot of shooting....family traditions for my life style section on the web site. In early January there are a couple of shoots I have lined up relating to the same topic. I look forward to this winter and all the creative marketing that I will be doing for my new site. Even though we are in a recession that will only be getting worse, we have a lot to look forward to. We just need to reinvent ourselves possibly and learn to lean on one another........ Connecting with out the paper trail!

Lots of love to all my peeps and have a wonderful holiday season.

Back to hands on printing

2008-12-10T04:54:00.000-08:00

Digital images are not doing it for me lately. They're too disposable. I'm sick of sitting at the computer processing images. Yes, it's faster, cheaper, better for the environment etc. I'm longing for that tactile quality, the depth, the silver, the whole process that went into making prints from film. This weekend I will venture back into my dark cave after eight years to create salted paper prints on vellum. Typically it takes a few days to make a 5-10 images....... truly a labor of love. For me, it's well worth it. Nothing rivals that tactile quality you get from this process. Also, I've gone back to buying 3200 grainy film (film of choice). Since the film cameras have been sitting in the closet for 6 years they ALL need repair. It's been a slow and frustrating start, costing me a small fortune...... hopefully it will be worth it. Hey, I might even have a show coming up in the spring. Yikes, I wrote it in my blog, I guess now I'll have to really do it.....

2008-12-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

Gearing up for the holidays, the new year, the new administration. These are exciting times we're living in. The craving for human connection, reaching out, real food, hand made possessions, sharing, giving. This is what I envision for 2009.

Photo by Nicola Ferri 11/5/08