ISO - fish fry, Karen Tashkovski

ISO Fish Fry: Rabbit Hole Tavern

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There’s nothing better than a beautiful summer Friday afternoon road trip.  I drove to Rochester, New York to deliver my painting, Mustang Dance.  It will be included in a juried group exhibition at Rochester Contemporary Art Center.  The show is titled Fire & Form and it celebrates encaustic art.

Karen Tashkovski, MUSTANG DANCE, 2012, encaustic & collage, 12” x 48”

The opening reception is scheduled for August 28, 2026 from 6:00-9:00 pm with a closing party on September 19, 2026.  Hope to see you there!

Janine found us a great restaurant for a fish lunch – Rabbit Hole Tavern – and they only have it as a special on Fridays.

Presentation:  I had the broiled fish with butter.  Janine had the beer battered version of the haddock.  Both were served with golden delicious french fries as well as coleslaw, and both were generous portions.

I loved the presentation!  The white platters with separate containers for the slaw.  So nice.  We chose to eat on the back deck overlooking the Genesee River.  We sat at this pretty turquoise table with enough shade for comfort.  It was just so beautiful.  And I was hungry!

We ordered drinks plus we each had a glass of water delivered to our table.  There was a condiment box complete with ketchup and mustard, salt and pepper, napkins and even wet naps!  They thought of everything.

Taste:  Everything was great.  I mean – I ate everything so I can’t really criticize.  The fish was a bit dry but not bad – it was probably healthier that way.  You could order the broiled haddock with toppings such as lemon pepper and Cajun flavoring but I chose just butter, although, as I am looking at the pictures, I don’t see any butter.  Oh, well.  The fries were so thin – I imagined them as diet fries.  Coleslaw cabbage was cut in thick chunks and had a lot of crunch, which was nice.

Restaurant Experience:  We were there around 2:00 pm, which is kind of like after lunch, so it was not crowded.  There were only two other tables occupied by guests out on the deck.  More people were inside.  I loved everything about this calm and serene place.  The wait staff were exceptionally nice – shout out to Reg (I think that was his name).  The view – lovely, as I mentioned.  The only thing I didn’t love was the price.  It was twice as much as any of the restaurants I’ve been to since I started this ISO Fish Fry series.

Location: Rabbit Hole Tavern is located at 284 Exchange Blvd., Rochester, New York 14608

Parking:  There is a parking lot out front.  This is a riverside experience so there are other restaurants sharing the lot.  There were plenty of spots available when we got there but I’m not sure what it looks like in the evenings for the happy hour and dinner crowd.

 

 

art, art exhibition, art for sale, art gallery, art in libraries

Immersion

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Thirty-six more paintings!  I started them today.  Created twelve new stencils.  Added the wax to the hardboards.  Traced the stencils onto the boards.

I will be taking down my art exhibition at the Fayetteville Free Library on Thursday and travelling to Rochester to deliver a painting to the Rochester Contemporary Art Gallery on Friday.

Karen Tashkovski, MUSTANG DANCE, 2012, encaustic & collage, 12” x 48”

The following week I will be installing a show at the Hazard Branch library then it’s back to the Canastota Public Library during September and October, and then back to the Hazard Branch during November!

Karen Tashkovski, Simplify, 36″ x 36″, 1997, oil & collage, $800

Can’t wait to get immersed in the process of making the new robes!  Stay tuned….

Karen Tashkovski, Lotus, 2025, encaustic & collage

 

 

found money

Found Money 2026 (Episode 10)

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Another nickel!!!  I am now up to $1.20  in found money for 2026.

book reports, books, Karen Tashkovski

Book Report: The Catcher in the Rye

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I just finished reading The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger.  I’m digesting it now.  I read a couple of articles on the Internet where people are expressing their thoughts about the book, reminiscing about having had it assigned as literature in high school English classes.  I did read it when I was a teenager and at that time I thought I understood Holden Caulfield until that guy killed John Lennon in 1980 and that other guy tried to kill Reagan in 1981, both of whom carried copies of the book with them, having cited that they aligned with the character’s alienation.  I was like, what the hell???  There is nothing in that book that suggests murder.

But suicidal thoughts, yes.

The opinions of all of these other people made me question whether we had all read the same book.  But then I realized that we all stamp our own thoughts and perspectives on novels, don’t we?  We read with our human existence slant – and yet, a great novel takes that into consideration and allows for interpretation, doesn’t it?

That is what makes The Catcher in the Rye sooo good.

Reading it again – wow – there are things in there that make you understand Holden and, after watching a documentary on Jerry Salinger, there are things about him that make the writing of this novel catharsis for both he and his protagonist.

  1.  Holden Caulfield’s brother Allie has died from leukemia.
  2. Holden has an area of gray hair on his head.  Although not mentioned as such, this is a sign of trauma – normally of a physical nature.  He mentions that he’d been hospitalized and could not attend his brother’s funeral due to having injured his fist after punching a wall, but he also says that the gray tuft has been there for as long as he can remember.
  3. Holden alludes to physical abuse again when he thinks his former teacher is caressing him inappropriately after calling him handsome.  He claims to be a virgin and keeping that innocence appears to be something he values – but – did something else happen to him???  Something much darker than what is offered?  Was he sexually abused somewhere along the line?

Holden is a person who cannot seem to process/verbalize his emotions due to these circumstances.  He is angry.  He swings and misses every time he tries to connect with people.  Then he reflects on the experiences and wishes he could have a redo.  He doesn’t hate these people because, it is implied that, he sort of hates himself.

Being the catcher in the rye is a daydream he has – that he wishes he could prevent children from physical pain, to rescue them if they get too close to a cliff.  He couldn’t save his brother.  He couldn’t prevent a tragic consequence of bullying involving another student that has happened at one of the many prep schools of his revolving door high school experience.

He knows he’s disappointed his upper crust father.  His mother has frequent headaches and relies on a housekeeper to rear her youngest (a daughter).  His older brother has left home for a successful writing career on the west coast.  The part where Holden complains about Hollywood-types parallels Jerry’s disdain for them – he never wanted to sell the film rights to his books.

Holden is on the precipice of destroying himself and it is his sister who lures him back with unconditional love.  He realizes that he wants to protect her.

Jerry Salinger was in the Battle of the Bulge on D-Day.  Surviver’s guilt is definitely a theme in The Catcher in the Rye.  It’s so much more than a story about teen angst.

Holden is from a wealthy family.  He has his own money, he’s attractive, he is well-read and well-bred.  On the surface he has the type of success that constitutes the American dream.  That is why I find this story so compelling.  The first person narrative offers the reader an insider’s view of this boy’s thoughts and views.  He makes decisions that are far too dangerous for a child his age.  I mean, was Manhattan as dangerous back in the late ’40s/early ’50s as say, the ’70s?  Or now?  He is tall, white, with a crew cut and a suit and tie, with money in his pocket – I don’t know.  I can’t imagine any sixteen-year-old in 2026 doing the things he does.  The cost of living back then, of course, was quite a bit less expensive than it is today.  It is a type of urban fairy-tale in a way:  Alice in Wonderland but with smoking, drinking and a whore/pimp thingy.  Holden knows where he is and yet, he is still profoundly lost.

The book starts and ends in this slice-of-life thing – we don’t really know what has happened prior to his brother’s death and we don’t really know if he is going to be okay.  If Holden was a real person, he’d be ninety-one today.  Salinger died in 2010.  He lived to be ninety-one.  I like to imagine that he, like Salinger, pushes through the PTSD, the emotional turbulence filled with bouts of anger and grief, and becomes a non-sell-out writer too.

I borrowed my copy of The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger from the public library.  You can get a copy here.

Karen Tashkovski

Found Money 2026 (Episode 9)

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I found a nickel in the parking lot of my favorite place. Now up to $1.15 in found money for 2026.

abstract, art, art exhibition, art for sale, crowns, encaustic, encaustic & collage, Karen Tashkovski

Encaustic Crowns @ FFL

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I just returned from installing my latest art exhibition.  This one is at the Fayetteville Free Library, 300 Orchard Street, Fayetteville, NY 13066.  The artwork will be on display through the month of July 2026.

There are six dozen 8″ x 8″ encaustic & collage paintings in this series.  They are part of my bigger arch – creating a multi-cultural kingdom where everyone is welcome and everyone gets to choose their place in the dream, selecting their level of participation.  In this world, there is only happiness and joy – no complaints, no violence, no illness, no misery.

I’ve incorporated international coins and stamps, origami and mulberry papers, embroidery floss, tartan ribbons, gold enamel and game pieces.  The vintage elements create a feeling of nostalgia, as well as a sense of deja-vu.

Last year it took me six hours to work out the site plan, move the apparatus around and install a similar amount and sized series.  This time I clocked it at four and a half hours.  Thank you, Laurie Heyboer, for ordering more hooks.  It was so much easier to mount the show!  I appreciate you!!!

 

 

book reports, books, Karen Tashkovski

Book Report: The Other Man

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The Other Man by Michael Bergin reads like a novel.  It is incredibly engrossing – is that the right word?  I could not put it down and basically spent all day immersed in this true story from the former model’s perspective.

I loved this book.  Michael Bergin starts with the day he meets Carolyn Bessette in New York City in the early ’90s only a few days after he’d moved to New York City to pursue a modeling career.

He then goes back in time to his youth growing up in Connecticut, his family, friends, early and awkward relationships, and some hijinks leading to fights and stuff like that.  This part is so honest because he allows himself to be vulnerable.  Naturally, the reader (me) immediately cares about him.

Michael meets Carolyn in a bar.  They have an on-again off-again thingy that is sex driven but it is also about visiting his family on weekends and later her family all while she is also seeing John F. Kennedy, Jr.

Carolyn is secretive about her life – deflecting direct questions (“he’s just a friend”) and that part is so weird.  I guess people who date multiple partners have to do that because otherwise they wouldn’t be able to continue stringing them along.

My take was that Michael didn’t have a lot of money and she liked surrounding herself with wealthy people and had the expectation she would manifest riches.  He would go on these modeling assignments and the pay was actually less than what it cost to travel to the venue after paying the modeling agency their cut and paying photographers to get the photos for his portfolio and whatnot.

He wins the Calvin Klein underwear campaign after Marky Mark is essentially fired for a past indiscretion (a combo of fighting and spewing racial slurs).  But Michael seems sure that Carolyn had nothing to do with getting him that job.  I kind of think she did.  I think that she wanted him to be successful and she must have put a good word in for him/vouched for him. She was the publicist for CK and they valued her opinion.

The climb to fortune takes a back seat to fame for Michael but eventually he becomes an actor and moves to Los Angeles for Baywatch.  I think the most surprising reveal, aside from her three abortions, was that Carolyn continues seeing him after she gets married.

I don’t understand how she was able to be incognito at that time, that part, IDK,  I mean, she visited him in California and they walked around the neighborhood and went into shops together and nobody noticed?  It was different in the ’90s.  I don’t think cell phones had cameras, right?  I didn’t get a cell phone until 2014 so I have no idea when that technology started making stealth actions harder to maneuver.

I wonder what her mother thought of this book.  And I wonder if Carolyn  confided in her family regarding her feelings, her decisions and all that or if she was so emotional (borderline personality disorder???) because she didn’t feel she could trust anyone.  She appears clingy and needy one minute and distant the next – what the hell is that?

That speculation – that’s what we all do to fill in a narrative.  We use our own perspective to decipher someone else’s life because we are busy bodies who love to pass judgment.  And Michael confesses to sharing his life with his family.  His parents knew about Carolyn before they met her, as his parents are depicted as highly supportive and loving.

After I finished reading the book, I Googled him.  I am happy to report that Michael Bergin is now a successful real estate agent and he is still with his wife Joy.  He married her in 2004, the same year the book was published.  They are a beautiful couple with two lovely children who are now adults, a daughter who is modeling and a son who plays baseball for the Marlins.

I think the only way Michael Bergin could have moved on with his life is the way it happened.  Not to say that Carolyn had to die so tragically, but their rather toxic relationship, IMO, would have never gone the distance.  It was almost as if people who have such a strong physical connection sometimes cannot verbalize their feelings and the result is excessive fighting.  Maybe it has to do with not being able to come to terms with perceived flaws or insecurities, or just  not trusting in positive outcomes.  I really don’t know.

I remember when JFK Jr.’s plane went down and we were all glued to the TV news hoping it wasn’t true, hoping they would be found alive and safe, because we all thought John-John would be the POTUS one day.  But none of us knew him.

Maureen Callahan has this YouTube channel called The Nerve where she loves to debunk things – like when she finds out hot gossip or sourced out truth about celebs, she takes them to the woodshed, lol.  And she has a lot to say about the Kennedys and how they destroyed and still destroy the women surrounding them.  She thinks that Carolyn’s husband was a dumb-ass.

People will believe what they want to believe.  I choose The Other Man.   It’s quite a remarkable “love story”.  And P.S., Michael Bergin is still very handsome.  I wish him only the best.

 

fish fry, ISO - fish fry, Karen Tashkovski

ISO Fish Fry: The Hawkeye

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A beautiful, sunny and breezy seventy-five degree weather day is a message from the universe commanding us to take a road trip to Cooperstown, New York.  Joyce, Bobbi and I visited the Fenimore Art Museum to see the Linda McCartney photography exhibit (picture taking inside was prohibited).

We had a snack at the museum cafe and later ventured (down the street)  to the Otesaga Resort Hotel for a look-see. The hotel, like the museum, overlooks Otsego Lake.  There is a gorgeous swimming pool alongside the breathtaking outdoor space of The Hawkeye Bar & Grill, which is inside the hotel.

Presentation:  Beer-battered cod was placed on a bed of malt vinegar and salt infused french fries, and served with a dollop of tartar sauce and ketchup.  We received two smaller plates in order to split the meal.  I’ve done this before at other restaurants but they usually offer one small plate for the other person and that never feels like an equal split.  So this was great!

Taste:  The fries had been sprinkled with that salt and malt vinegar powder, which made them the best fries in the world.  Have I said that about fries before?  This time I mean it!  Some still had the skin on them – they were freshly cut potatoes and perfectly cooked.  The cod was beer battered with a crisp exterior and inside I found the most tender thick chunks of mouth-watering fish.  It was an incredibly satisfying meal.  Bobbi and I split the meal and it was actually quite generous on the half.  This was a fish and chips meal – no coleslaw.

Restaurant Experience:  This was probably the best view of any restaurant so far in my quest/search for the best fish fry.  It was such a glorious day and literally everything about this place gets high marks.  The food, the staff, the service, the furniture, the decor throughout the restaurant and the hotel were all outstanding.  I mean, even the bathrooms were spectacular.  The time spent with friends:  priceless!

You must go there and see it for yourselves.  We had originally planned to go on Monday but the weather forecast indicated rain so we were able to pivot to today.  Cooperstown is picturesque and is meant to be enjoyed on a beautiful day.  So amazing!!!

Location:  The Otesaga Resort Hotel is located at 60 Lake Street, Cooperstown, New York 13326

Parking:  There is a large parking lot adjacent to the building.

 

 

 

found money

Found Money 2026 (Episode 8)

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Hooray!  With this penny find, I am now up to $1.10 in found money for 2026.

art exhibition, art for sale, Karen Tashkovski, oil painting

Naturally Human

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Penny Santy’s new art exhibition of oil paintings at Axom Home will be on display through September 18, 2026, so there is plenty of time to see it – however, the sooner you go, the sooner you can lock in your purchase before someone else beats you to it.

Axom Home is located at 661 South Avenue, Rochester, New York 14620.

The gallery is at the back of this home goods shop.  The artwork is surrounded by contemporary furniture and accessories and that helps customers visualize how these paintings will look in their own home spaces.  It is such a clever idea, as most people tend to overlook their walls when shopping to furnish their homes.

Penny Santy‘s paintings are a mix of abstract lines and figurative images with legs peeking out of clouds of beachy energy.  It is one of those now-you-see-it second take thingys.  The landscapes are fun to decipher.  Others are a bit more traditional yet created with the same depth of contrast, line quality and color schemes that define her recent work.

There are smaller works too, for those who would like to start collecting art.  I think one oil painting at 8″ x 8″ is priced at only $300 (above).

I attended the reception yesterday and I was so impressed with this wonderful place and with the way Penny’s art blended so well with all the other elements.  It is a must see.

hours

  • Tuesday to Friday 11am to 6pm
  • Saturday Hours 11am to 5pm
  • Closed: Sunday & Monday and all major holidays.
  • Free Parking located behind the store between Gregory and Hickory.
  • Handicap accessible

I love this store!  I bought a clock.  I love shopping in a well-curated store that also sells art.  It is a match made in heaven.  They also offer interior design services.  See their website for the details.

Visual Artist