Hudson Artswalk...

Today started out very dark and rainy, not an ideal environment in which to walk around the main street of Hudson, NY. My nephew Mike's girlfriend Kate has some of her artwork on display in the Space 360 gallery as part of the annual Hudson ArtsWalk presented by the Columbia County Council on the Arts and billed as "A ten day celebration of Painting, Photography, Sculpture, Dance, Music, Theater and Festivity!"

I drove to my brother's house at noon and the six of us (my brother Ray and his wife Isabelle, their son Mike, and my sister Linda and her husband Louie, and me) rode together for the hour trip to Hudson. Hudson is a nice small city, but at the same times a bit weird. The main streets are lined with many antique shops, art galleries and restaurants. Many of the older structures seem well preserved and quaint. Maybe because of the weather there were not many people on the streets, but I kept getting the feeling that the buildings lining the street were almost facades only. Kind of like a ghost town, but not totally devoid of people.

Our first stop was the Space 360 gallery. Kate was one of seven other College of Saint Rose artists displaying their works. I wish I had a copy of the write up that Kate had written in the front page of her portfolio. I am putting this in my own words, but her works show the evolution and merging of the mechanical world of the past (e.g. metal, clockworks, auto mechanics, typewriter) and the digital . . . and the fusion between the two worlds, sort of like one dissolving into the other. The images she creates are amazing to me. The Space 360 building also offers venues for retreats, business meetings and entertainment areas. In a beautifully designed kitchen on the lower level, a series of cooking classes are offered by a NYC chef, with courses in gourmet dinners, Christmas baking, brunch fare and how to give a party!

We spent the most part of the afternoon browsing the antique shops and specialty shops along Warren Street, stopping in the Nolita Bakery and Cafe for coffee and pastry, and to give our clothes some time to dry out after getting caught in a sudden downpour! We continued to browse up to around 5:00pm when we went to Vico where we had dinner reservations. We spent a little over two hours enjoying each others company and a delicious meal! The food, from the salads to the desserts were excellent! (I had the Pera salad, Pasta allo Sceriffo and Gelati). It was a wonderful afternoon spent with family! Kind of like the old days . . . sitting around, talking and eating! We need to do this more often!