It has been a jam-packed month since I last posted. This is likely to be the summer pattern until
I make it through the summer art fair travel season. On the bright side, my days have been filled
with family time, enjoyable workshops, work on commissions and preparations for
travel to art fairs. First came the
family time. At the end of the school
year we made our annual trek to Topsail Island in North Carolina. I thoroughly love people and interacting with
them to share ideas, but at some point I just need some down time with my
wonderful family. This year we opted to
spend two wonderful weeks relaxing on the beach.
It was exactly what I needed to recuperate and
regroup before my busy summer schedule begins.
We ate fresh ocean fish (grilled amberjack was a very nice surprise),
walked in the surf, collected fossilized shark’s teeth and found seashells. Jim
made three glorious pies while we were there.
One was a blueberry-strawberry pie from local fruit and two were peach
pies, baked together when Jim realized he had way too much filling for the
available pie plates. The time off was
just what I needed.
On the drive home from Topsail the boys dropped me off in
Richmond Virginia for my workshop. One
of the organizers is a long-time Facebook friend, Elizabeth Woodford. She met me in Richmond and brought me to
Fredericksburg. We had a fabulous hour-long
drive where we finally got to talk one-on-one and bond. I think we must have been sisters in a
previous life. She’s an amazing person
and I’m so glad to have finally connected with her to share a big hug. After dropping boxes of workshop supplies at
the Artful Dimensions gallery, Elizabeth delivered me to my hosts, Barbara and
Bobby Posey.
What amazing people! They were gracious, generous, fun and
interesting. I just can’t even come up
with enough positive adjectives to describe them. We had such wonderful conversations. I’m just delighted to be part of their
world.
I arrived in Fredericksburg early enough to be a tourist for
a day. I had the opportunity to visit some
interesting local sites, some historical and some artistic. I was as struck by the cannonballs embedded
in a church since the civil war as I was exploring the local galleries that
featured contemporary artists.
That
includes some fiber artists using synthetic felt and heat guns to create
sculptures and textures that almost looked aquatic. I have stored away some ideas that I’m sure will
influence future pieces of mine. We
walked and had a wonderful time, but I was jarred into some of the realities of
the civil war era. The slave auction
block in downtown Fredericksburg stands in stark contrast to the quaint charm
of the historic southern town.
The next day, Monday, was the beginning of the
workshop. Fifteen participants arrived,
bringing a very high level of enthusiasm.
Working with them was somewhat intimidating because most were
accomplished artists in their own right.
They embraced my ideas of weaving outside of the conventional structured
methodologies and incorporating non-conventional materials into the weave
structures and the weavings.
We all had
fun pushing the envelope of creating art in unexplored areas. I truly enjoyed seeing the pieces that were
created at the workshop and the sharing of ideas among the participants.
I’m looking forward to seeing how their workshop
experiences influence their subsequent pieces.
On Wednesday I flew home to Bloomington for a day and a
half. That was just long enough to do
laundry and re-pack my suitcase for a trip to Michigan.
At Grandma’s house in Kawkawlin we overlapped
with Martha and Dave from Mississippi and Haley, Kris and Arya from New
Mexico. It was a full house, including
one giant family dinner with the Gibsons from next door and Aunt Lois from
Essexville.
Dave and Kris each got to
spend a day with Jim and Tommie on Saginaw bay fishing for walleyes. This was the first venture of the new boat
onto Michigan waters. They were very pleased
with the boat and the fishing, resulting in a delightful fish fry and a freezer
full of walleyes to bring home.
During all my early summer adventures I have been working on
my commission piece, which involves needle felting of a large number of
leaves. I have a mountain of sweet pea
leaves completed as well as leaves for a lily plant and a blueberry bush. Now that I’m home I can start assembling the pieces
I created on my travels. I can’t rest
for too long, though, because I’m scheduled to travel to the Des Moines Art
Fair next weekend.
I picked up my weavings from my exhibit at the Bloomingon Bagel Company and I’m beginning to pack the
rest of my weavings for the trip. I’m
looking forward to my first art fair, but there hasn’t been a pie for breakfast
since North Carolina. On the bright
side, we caught the tart cherry pie season yesterday morning at the Farmer’s
market and bought enough tart cherries for three pies later in the season. Tart cherries make my favorite pie, so I know
I’m in for some treats.
When I get home
I’m imagining that I might get a blueberry pie as a reward for a successful
trip west to Iowa. Bring on the art
fair!
Until next week, or sometime soon,
Posts
