Taking the Redeye to Ohio

This was a week when lots of projects came together. First, I finished the red-eyed tree frog piece, and I’m delighted with how it turned out. I think it’s actually cuter than the first version. He has a much more mischievous look about him as he climbs further out on the fern frond. He’s all packaged up and ready to travel to his new home. I’m also pleased that I was able to finish my new ‘Trail to the Clearing” piece. I’ve been taking pictures as the piece progressed, which I’ll share. I began by needle felting the path, which is made out of fleece that I dyed with goldenrod collected in Michigan earlier this summer, a little brown alpaca that I bought at the annual Spinners and Weaver’s guild auction and wool that I dyed using sumac stems that I collected from last year’s overwintered berry clusters. Tommie and I harvested the fading berries and stems on our spring break trip to Michigan waaaaay back in March. I then attached the tree trunks I made last week and I filled out the trees with copper-wire (thanks to our local scrap yard) wrapped branches. I added crocheted leaf clumps that I’ve been making while attending art-related meetings and while watching my boys at their after-school activities. I like the idea that the piece has materials and influences from all over, which is a concept that I can identify with. I embellished the path with some collected materials. I dug into my nifty collection of ‘rocks with holes’, mostly from Jackson Creek in the Yellowwood state forest, and found pieces that matched the path colors. I finished the piece by making the understory plants out of all sorts of green bits and pieces to give it the real feel of an area where

filtered sunlight comes through the forest canopy over a trail. I stitched the whole thing onto the frame and called it done! If you’re in the area you can check out the piece at the Bloomington Bagel Company on Dunn Street.

That reminds me—I have a show currently hanging in town, split over two locations. Half is at the BBC downtown, and that part reflects my bipolar artistic tendencies.

The pieces comprising the left half of the show are quite representational, and they include my forest woodland scenes and summer birches. And on the right the pieces become more whimsical and fun. The other half of the show is hanging at the Bloomington Playwright’s project on Ninth Street. Friday was the opening
reception, so I got to try out my new fancy top and stylish shoes I got in Michigan. Wearing the shoes was fun that night, but my back was a little sore the next day. Age condemns you to sensible shoes, I guess. Anyway, I had some very nice conversations with friends, old and new, and had a pleasant evening at the BPP.

As fall approaches the grand harvest of roots and tubers flood the farmer’s market, an inner signal goes off in me that says it’s time to make soup. When the onion skins cleared I had fourteen meal units of two varieties of soup. The first was a batch of pumpkin-potato-pepper soup that Jim thought was fabulous. We had it for lunch right after the pot came off the stove. At the same time I filled our second stockpot with ‘three sisters’ soup. I got this delightful recipe from a Bloomingfoods flyer, and it too is now a local favorite. It’s basically a corn-butternut squash-bean soup that’s a ‘stick-to-your-ribs’ kind of thick and hearty. Perfect for a cool fall afternoon, which we had in abundance this past week. And while the weavings came together and the soups filled the freezer, it marked an ending to the summer phase of my busy artists schedule. That means new projects and new things to make in the kitchen! Come back next week to see what’s new!

Until next week…

Martina Celerin