Birches and Veggies…

I’ve been thinking about my excellent frame maker, Thom Bertolacini, and his family cabin.  I have never been there, but he’s told me stories about how wonderful a place it is.  From what I understand, it’s on a lake surrounded by birch trees.  It is serene and calm—just the place you need for some quiet thinking and solitude.  My thoughts led me to make “A View from the Cabin”.  It’s my interpretation of a peaceful northern lake, perhaps somewhere in my childhood home of Canada.  I like looking at it because it delivers a sense of calm that things are on track and happy for me.  I made the lake such that it feels large enough to swim in, but small enough that you might be tempted to swim to the other side. 

My life this week featured a lot of my usual routine.  I spent several hours in meetings and watching my boys do TKD, or teach other kids.  That means I got some needle felting done.  I am slowly producing the vegetables I need for my next composite piece called “Salsa”.  This week I focused on making the bodies of tomatillos and cayenne peppers.  They each need more detail, such as belly buttons for the tomatillos and petioles for the peppers, but I’m happy with the emerging color and shape.  I think they will fit in nicely with the other salsa components I’ve created.  I’m jogging my mind for what else I put in my salsa, and I’m coming up with red and green onions.  You can’t have too many onions in salsa, can you? 

I’m also pretty excited that I’m working out the details for another workshop this year in October or November in Charleston, South Carolina.  We’re still working on the exact date and details.  I’ll let you know when it is finalized here, and on my website.  I love doing workshops because it allows me to share the techniques I’ve developed over the years.  I get to watch people get excited about incorporating new approaches into their own art.  The next workshop on my schedule …and coming up quickly… is in Toledo, Ohio on May 13-14 with the Fiber of our Being FeltingGuild. 

My art career keeps me on the move.  On Monday I’m loading up Bluebell with a collection of my fiber art and heading south to Washington, Indiana, to hang a small exhibit of my weavings and tiles.  I’m also giving a presentation and demonstration at the WashingtonCarnegie Public Library on March 21^st at 6:30.  It’s fun to tell people I’ll be speaking at the Carnegie in Washington about my art.  I will discuss my weaving compositions and introduce a little about my techniques.  I’m looking forward to the adventure.  It’s always fun to see the looks on people’s faces when I talk about my history and convoluted path from a little girl in the Czech Republic through the frozen tundra of Canada (at least it felt that way) to a slightly graying fiber artist in Southern Indiana. 

Last night was date night!  Tommie is my usual basketball partner, but he was off at Butler University competing in Science Olympiad (Bloomington High School South got second place - woohoo!).  Jim and I got to watch an exciting game by the Hoosier men playing against Northwestern.  One highlight was watching Devonte Green (aka baby Yogi) launching a Hail Mary from beyond ¾ court to beat the halftime buzzer.  The shot arced so high that the ball disappeared behind the scoreboard for a second.  If that weren’t enough, Thomas Bryant snuck in a two pointer with two seconds left to tie the game and he finished it with his free throw for the win.  Wow!  And I’m still enjoying the glorious cherry pie from last weekend.  I get one slice a day for breakfast, which is healthy because it’s loaded with fruit.  Did I say I love pie?  Thanks Jim.  You’re the best.

Until next week,

Martina Celerin