Cool Lakes and Hot Soup

This week has been for finishing projects and starting new ones. I completed my piece from last week featuring birches standing next to a northern lake. I’m delighted at how it turned out. To me the water looks cool and inviting, and it came together so well I’m going to start on another water piece. I’m already combing through the blue yarns again.

This is also a preparation week. Next Saturday I’ll be showing my work at the Art Fair on the Square in Madison Wisconsin. I asked a lot of my friends about the show, and everyone seems to think it’s a great show. The sentiment was best summed up by Chris Busch, who urged me to “TAKE EVERYTHING”. I’m planning on taking pieces currently on display at the Wandering Turtle in Bloomington and Gallery by the Green in Nashville in case three-dimensional fiber art turns out to be popular in Madison. I also rented a full size van for the trip, which has to haul my booth, all the art, and the whole family support crew. This is our first art show far from home and we’re hoping it will be a big adventure for everyone. The HoA (Husband of Artist) has booked hotel rooms along the way with big breakfasts and indoor pools to help break up the travel. Happily, he learned that indoor pools are essential after booking us a nice hotel with a pool in Canada in the winter. We all took our bathing suits and ended up with sad faces staring at the frozen outdoor pool.

Last Saturday I did a workshop at McCormick’s Creek State Park, and one of the participants offered me some snake skins from her collection. They’re naturally shed and I’m big into recycling so it seemed like a good idea. When I saw them I was really surprised—some were as long as nine feet and they had beautiful patterns. They might end up on frames or they might end up in the weaving, but I’m sure I’ll find a home for them.

Speaking of making use of everything, I made a new and tasty soup this week. We got a lot of greens from the CSA group (community supported agriculture), and we don’t eat them green. They did go nicely into a fresh soup with sweet potatoes and quinoa that had freshly crumbled feta cheese on top. The melting feta made for an unusual taste and texture combination with the soup. This week Hungarian dumpling soup is back on the menu because I got a nice head of cabbage in our basket. I love summer!

I know I’m straying from art a little, but Tuesday I cycled with my boys to Blu Boy in Bloomington. They have the most delightful treats, especially after you’ve exercised a bit. One boy had ice cream, another had a cupcake, and I had the most amazing vanilla cheesecake. I’m sure it’s the best I’ve ever had. The boys did have to get past eating big treats with little tiny desert forks and spoons (savoring treats is something we’re still working on). On our way out we picked up three chocolate dainties to go, and that topped off the visit. Blu Boy is definitely one of Bloomington’s hidden treasures.


Until next week…