The (S)Lowdown

Enjoying the journey, Sleepy Hollow edition

For a fairly technologically adept lady, I lean way luddite.

Driving an ancient Tesla (2013), named Katinka, with free unlimited supercharging grandfathered in is like willfully choosing the oldest bricked computer to drive around as a car. But it works, and the joy of free charging (effectively driving for free) has taught me to relish the journey. Anything over two hours will likely require a stop along the way, and while the car is regrouping, we paused-passengers can chat, play games, eat at a roadside stand, buy drinks and/or pee at the otherwise useless gas station, press the escape hatch and go for a walk and surmise the landscape beyond the highway. I never cared much for driving, but I adore this stopping.

The older I get, the more I want to slow down. I do a lot—too much—but I am not the most efficient. I pride myself on doing things by hand, with intention and interest. I like manual labor and the sore proof after.

The other day, I started listed highlights of the so-called Slow Movement from my own life:

• Charging my EV with activities packed for the breaks

• Reading books on paper from the library (and walking there to get and return them)

• Walking or riding a bike whenever I can around town instead of driving

• Rather than using a notes app, writing notes on paper in a leather-bound composition notebook I switch out when full (this leather cover is among my favorite things in life, and I’ve had it for decades)

• Cooking from cookbook recipes

• Literally bookending the day with books—reading in bed (on paper) before sleep, and with coffee in hand when I awake

• Meditating, just ten minutes, also in bed, before I have time to talk myself out of it

• Sending homemade cards via snail mail with old 10 cent stamps glued all over the envelope

• Homemade gifts with care for anyone will appreciate them

• Printing photo albums into annual coffee table books, or one per trip

• Downsizing not upsizing my phone when I need to get a new one (and only ever refurbished)

• Watching movies via DVD, also retrieved on foot from the library

• Going off-grid on the weekends as much as possible. I may have power there, but I do not have phone use

• Board game night with strangers that become familiars (also at the library)

• Taking baths, when time allows and stress requires

• Propagating plants from cuttings

• Adult coloring or any kind of crafting turned up a notch

• Saying No to things, setting over-commitment boundaries

• Which also leaves room, as I’ve written here before, for more valuable yesses

• Collecting things from beaches (such as, currently: those spiky seed pods from the nasty water chestnut; these deserve a post for themselves, stay tuned)

I am grateful to live in a place that not only understands such values, but seems to promote them at every turn.

Here in the Hollow, we have artist/activator Kersten Harries encouraging us to decorate squares for our community quilt, cover the fences with hand-cut snowflakes, and weave with shredded t-shirts.

In an age when the National Endowment on the Arts says “Reading’s at risk,” we have two newish bookstores in our little zip code (leaning literary at Transom, Tarrytown; and for youth/teens at Sleepy Hollow Bookshop) with another tantalizingly named Devoured one for fantasy/lore growing via pop ups.

Recently I attended the Picture Book Appreciation Society at SH Bookshop where adults read their favorite illustrated children’s books to each other. What could be sweeter or finer than that?

Enter two new slow, wonderful shops, one of which has gone viral, the other which is quietly luring the arts-inclined to play with ink and paint:

Shopping local is about having an experience, making connections. The opening of the new retro-inspired Village Confectionary was an event Beekman Ave has never seen outside of Halloween season, complete with police on standby (in case anyone went into sugar shock?) and a cotton candy machine. Giddy families lined up all day down the block just for the privilege of being an early bird to scoop up ounces of classic and custom candies presented with love by former TV/movie producer Kate Bolger.

Then there was the more meditative way I entered the new Marigold Arts studio space—by quiet invite, where beloved local arts teacher Jane Kang Lawrence conducts intimate workshops for the after-school crowd, adults by evening, drop-ins, and custom classes/parties tailored to your needs at 19 N Broadway, 2nd Floor. Her schedule is here.

The space is charming as is Jane, who inspires an ease with watercolor I never before enjoyed (pictured in images I share above). In this introductory watercolor sketch session I learned some key lessons I never heard and improved the experience: stop to let your paper dry and return to it later; pool your color in a wet patch and play; swirl a brush tip as you finely drag to make a long thinning line… It was all so satisfying.

Jane’s online introduction, complete with flower:

It’s been exactly one month of Marigold🌼 and I realized I never properly introduced myself, so hello! I’m Jane! I’ve been teaching art in NY since 2005. I currently teach ceramics, studio art, & photography at our local HS and I also teach clay camp @tarrytownartscamp. I previously taught in NYC for 17 years, including at an international HS where visual arts supported students in building language skills. I am a @pulitzercenter Teacher Fellow and an advisory council member, I believe deeply in the power of art education in student development and am committed to sharing its importance locally & globally.

I love helping people discover their creativity and grow their skills as artists! I especially love teaching adults. It is never too late to start something new or return to a creative practice. One of the reasons I opened this studio was to create a welcoming space where kids & adults can learn, explore, and make art without pressure. My classes focus on building skills, confidence, and joy in the process.

Cheers to building skills and increasing joy. Going slow is the best possible speed, all the better to chat to your cozy art class tablemates as we rinse our brushes and explore new techniques and colors.

Clearly Sleepy Hollow Country, like a fine New York bred wine, keeps improving as we age with grand new entrepreneurial ventures to lure you up and down the main ave from DeCicco’s, Cozy Coven, Honey and Gold Flowers, North River Oyster Bar. Cast a spell, smell the marigolds, slurp an oyster, bella la vita.