Opening!

Inside the gallery

Friday night the exhibit Common Threads opened.  I met many new people, had a great time and if I do say so myself, the show looks fabulous.  Here is a photo of the gallery as well as the eight pieces I exhibited.  Unfortunately the images I shot in the gallery aren't as good as I would have liked but you get the idea...enjoy!

Air

Dancer

Soliloquy #7

Soliloquy #809

Soliloquy 935

Pastoral Wisdom

Birds and Berries

Keeper of Leaves

Common Threads

I think I mentioned quite awhile ago that I was invited to participate in an exhibit featuring textiles and I have been working on getting all of the pieces made.  Time has passed quickly and the show opens on Friday, April 20...just three days!  If you are anywhere near Stevens Point, WI come to the Riverfront Art Center and check it out.  Besides me other artists participating are Marilyn Annin, Donna Kallner, Ann Phillip, Pat Bishop, Kathie Briggs, Clairan Ferrono, Pat Kroth, Linda Witt Henke, Casey Puetz, Maggie Weiss and Trish Williams.  The show runs from April 20 to May 27. 

Spring in Chicago

Happy April!  The sun is out, the flowers are poking up and the trees have beautiful spring green leaves.  The mid-winter doldrums are finally over and ideas are flowing - thank God!  Last week my sweetie and I went to Chicago - he for a conference, me for fun.  On the night we arrived we took a walk and ended up on Oak Street Beach where I promptly took off my shoes and headed for the wet and a bit cold sand.  It felt great!  We found prints in the sand of someone that took to the beach in their roller blades - I suspect that was a tricky  walk!  We also saw this amazing shot of the setting sun coming through the buildings and illuminating a single tree -- so beautiful.

I spent the next day at the Chicago Institute of Art.  I saw much of the museum but I think it would take several days to see it all.  My favorite room was Asian sculpture...a huge room filled with Buddhas of every size and material and these little dancing figures.  It was so inspirational.  In addition to the Buddhas were Monet's, Van Gogh's, O'Keeffe's, Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte and Grant Wood's American Gothic and so much more.  

After a day of culture I hit the Miracle Mile.  My goal was to go to American Girl Place.  I really have no children to buy for but I've always been fascinated with those dolls and when I got there I wished I was eight again!  It was a great trip and sprinkled in there was Chicago style pizza and excellent croissants.  It was a great city to explore and I have only just begun.  I can't wait to go back.

Easy Cupcakes

Happy February! Last night a friend mentioned that we are halfway to spring! As if that wasn't enough reason to love the month there is also Valentine's Day. Time to pull out the lace, pink and red decor and figure out ways to make the days special for your loved ones. It was also 25 years ago that my sweetie and I tied the knot. Yes, it was on Valentine's Day!

I wanted to start the month out with a special treat and I was inspired by all sorts of beautiful food on the Internet. However, I got a bit overwhelmed with the effort it would take to make the cakes and deserts. I remembered the white cake mix I had in the cupboard and decided to make some cupcakes. I decided to make it a bit special and took out half of the batter and added some red food coloring. I filled the cupcake papers with half white and half pink batter and swirled it around. I did get a little decadent and made a cream cheese frosting (1/4 cup butter, 8 ounces cream cheese, 1 pound powdered sugar and tsp vanilla all whizzed up with the mixer). Personally desert just doesn't count unless there is chocolate involved so I topped each one with a kiss and some sprinkles. It was easy but makes for a special treat. So, find a cake mix and whip up some cupcakes for your sweeties!

New Work

I have recently been asked to show my work in April at the Riverfront Art Center here in Stevens Point. The show is called Common Threads and will include several textile artists. This will be the first time my work will be exhibited in Wisconsin and it has really motivated me. I have gotten away from showing my work and I am finding that making new work feels refreshing and fun. Here is the latest piece I completed yesterday.

The trees are made out of rusted wire and the small house is made by weaving shredded money. No, I didn't cut up my money, I purchased a bag of shredded bills quite a few years ago and have done a few things with the material. I discovered that if I ironed the small pieces flat they could be woven into a really interesting fabric. I guess this makes sense because the paper money is made out of has a high percentage of cotton rag. Let me know what you think of it!

Tea!

One of the hightlights of our trip to Colorado was a tour of the Celestial Seasoning's Tea factory. I have been drinking Celestial Season's Tea since I was in college and that was a loooooong time ago. All of Celestial Seasoning's tea is made in Boulder, Colorado and when we drove into the parking lot we saw a very colorful store front with graphic images taken from the art used on the tea boxes.

The tour begans in the tasting room where several teas, both hot and cold, were brewed and ready for tasting as well as individual cups of any tea we wanted to try. The tasting room not only has tea but also the original artwork used on the boxes. If you haven't looked carefully at the boxes, take a moment and pull out your teas and look at them. They have lovely illustrations. In addition they have a collection of artist made teapots that were great fun to check out.

After the tasting and a short film we went onto the factory floor and it smelled like heaven! There were bags of herbs and teas stacked to the ceiling. One of the rooms we went into was the peppermint room. They have to keep peppermint seperated from the other ingredients because it has such an intense smell. If it was kept with other ingredients it would start to change the flavor of the other herbs and spices. After standing in the room for a few minutes I could feel my head and sinuses start to clear!

Of course, the tour ends at the gift shop where I scooped up a few boxes of tea and a cute little dish in which to 1put my used tea bag. If you ever find yourself in Boulder, Colorado check out the Celestial Seasonings tea plant!

Colorado

My sweetie and I just returned from a great January get-away. We went to Colorado and visited my cousin and a friend. The mountains were beautiful, the food delicious and plentiful and fun was all around. We didn't ski (haven't done that for decades and the idea of ending up with something broken didn't seem like a good way to spend a vacation) but we did take a gondola to the top of Vail mountain and took photos and had lunch. Here are a few photos of the trip.

CHEERS!