feeling shaky

I must admit, I haven’t been feeling especially creative during the last week. Instead, I (perhaps along with the rest of New York City and the East Coast) have been feeling a bit shaky. It started with Tuesday’s earthquake. As I sat on the 9th floor of the building that houses the Martha Stewart offices, glittering anything that was within reach, I noticed some commotion. It wasn’t until Martha herself, evacuating through our crafts studio, announced that the building was shaking that I realized there was a problem. Although I did not personally feel the quake, it was a somewhat frightening 30 or so minutes, during which no one in West Chelsea really felt like they were standing on stable ground.

The view down my block as Irene's winds began to subside.

After the chaos of the day, I was ready for a good, fruitful studio weekend. My dreams were gradually squelched as news of the impending Irene began to flow in. As the weekend grew nearer, I became more anxious, and my apartment’s location in a low-lying evacuation zone did not ease my concerns. With lots of bottled water, peanut butter, and flashlights at the ready, my roommate and I hunkered down in our apartment for a full 36 hours. As we watched the rain and listened to the howling winds, I realized that it’s just not easy to think creatively when you’re preoccupied with the possibility of your ceiling caving in during a hurricane. That said, I did manage to get outside for just a few minutes yesterday to see what’s happening around the post-hurricane neighborhood.

Neighbors had to bring their outdoor container gardens inside...a lovely addition to the building hallway!

Streets were desolate. Cabs line the streets with no passengers to pick up.

The storm seemed to make these people think creatively about materials to use to keep the water out.

These beauties seemed to weather Irene just fine.

The view from my bedroom window as the storm swept in and out. The neighbors taped their windows in a lovely lattice pattern in hopes that they wouldn't shatter.

I’ve decided that all of the anticipation, drama, and anxious energy has to have some sort of creative outcome. So I’ve decided to make a hurricane palette.

Who knows what could grow out of this? Perhaps a collection of extreme weather themed textile prints. Next time a hurricane comes to NYC, I can use them to sop up the rain that drizzles from the ceiling.