A School of Visual Arts freshman class has a show of self-portraits up at their facility on West 21st. It is unique and impressive not only because of the age of the folks involved (did I mention they are freshmen?) but also for the technique. Evoking Chuck Close, all the portraits are composed of grid segments artfully developed and manipulated into a comprehensive whole. Its well worth stopping in to appreciate what these young artists are doing. Its free . . . and they're FRESHMEN!

Paula Chung's quilts, worked in silk with monofilament to extraordinary detail, are on display at the City Quilter on W. 25th Street, Manhattan. This is only one example from a show that causes your jaw to drop more and more as you move from quilt to quilt. no moatter what form of art you may THINK you like, you should go see this show.

This Russian Cookbook, with its Marc Chagall inspired cover, was a real thrift store find. Published in 1990 with over 400 recipes from the 15 republics of the former Soviet Union, it represents a fascinating bit of "history on the move". It also shows how extremely diverse the cultures and cuisines of the U.S.S.R. were and will, likely, remain for a very long time. Its packed with tidbits of information about techniques and variations that make it a fascination read in its own right - and, gratefully, no glossy pictures of finished dishes. Tonight I'm making "Farshirovanniy Rulet" which sounds much more exotic that the translation of "Russian Stuffed Meatloaf". But with eggs, scallions and sour cream additions, its one to which I'm really looking forward.

This a collage diptych of what I've been up to lately. The overlapping strips of hand-painted and found papers form sometimes surprising abstractions. Its always a bit of a mystery where this particular journey will end once begun. What do you think?

There are some fun bits of "transformational" art currently on display at Kathy Grayson's new gallery, The Hole on Bowery. Many are original, some transform classic works with overlays of witty snipits that remind me of the 2010 Banksy exhibition in Bristol, UK. All are great fun.

This is Chester Higgens, a photographer I much admire for his images of the African culture. He emphasizes Ethiopia in is work.

This is his grouping of nine photos that did fine work in capturing the themes of the group show opening tonight at The Gallatin Galleries 1 Washington Place @ Broadway. Well worth a look if you're in the area . . . or even if you're not.

This pair was putting out some really good sound in Union Square. You don't see a dobro all that often. I especially liked that they worked without any amplification. Don't know about you but I'm getting a bit tired of buskers with electric guitars hooked up to car batteries.