Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Weekend Inspiration

A bit blurry, it's true. But the whole weekend was a wash like a rainy windshield. Tony and I took a weekend to decompress in one of our favorite areas, the outer parts of Cape Cod. I have a small digital camera which I use for downloading pics onto my computer. It takes lithium batteries, which do not last long. For most of my day, the batteries were running on low and causing too long of a shutter speed, creating nothing but blur. I erased most of my photos. Above is just a shot of a couple on Commercial St. in Provincetown. Flags were flying across Commercial St. from one end to the other because of a recent festival. Even in the rain it was festive.
The map is of the area in which we stayed. Our choice of motel is not far from the entrance to Marconi Beach, my favorite beach. The motel is on a large plot of land which abuts the bike path running through Wellfleet, so you can rent a bike for the day to go to the beach or to go the length of the path, which I believe goes down into Orleans at this point. Mother Nature just did not cooperate, however, and a brief visit to Marconi was all we could endure, with strong winds and a biting, cold mist, not to mention that sharks had been spotted in the waters off of Truro (the next township)feeding on seals. So we shopped. We started Sunday out with the flea market at the Wellfleet drive-in theater. The rain hadn't started to fall yet and we found lots of fun antiques to poke through. There are so many wonderful galleries in P-town. We spent hours looking in many of them. It is so inspirational to see the creativity of others. Our favorite gallery was Bowersock Gallery. You can check out the art at www.bowersockgallery.com. Another was a crafts gallery we found in Brewster on our way home following Rt. 6A down to the Bourne Bridge. Its name is The Spectrum and you can check them out at www.spectrumamerica.com.

I spoke to Bobby at the Newport Bay Club upon getting home last night. Firmed up plans to be in Newport quilting on the 25th of September. I have a lot of work to do to prepare for being there. More time in the studio and less time here!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

I just received a cold call from someone in Newport, RI offering me a spot in the Newport Bay Club sponsored show. Every Saturday during the summer and fall, artists set up on the plaza in Newport doing what it is that they do, paint, sculpt, throw pots and in my case, quilt, while the public walks through watching. They also offer spots to hang the artist's work in local shops for the duration.

I am considering it for Saturday, September 25th. It will be a lot of work, preparing and setting up, but I can't think of a better way to spend four hours on a Saturday afternoon. Everyone, please pray for clear and sunny weather for the 25th. And if you are in Newport, please come around to say hello. I will be posting more on this as the days go by.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

OMG! It has been forever. My job has indeed taken over my life as I now have gotten a second promotion and am working 37 to 40 hours every week. In one very special way this is a blessing. Full time workers get health insurance benefits! My health has improved. I have lost 25 lbs since January, my diet is better, and I am exercising fairly regularly. The focus of my "off" time has been on health these days, not art.

My gardens are just delightful this summer! Above and below are my spring iris, and a bud from the peonies that I just adore. The blooms from the peonies were so large they were 10" in diameter. The bee balm and the many coneflowers came back from last year doubling their size in the gardens to the glee of the many hummingbirds who frequented them. The blooms are already dieing off and the hummingbirds have moved on. However, I have a new pastime watching a huge family of native turkeys wander my and my neighbor's yards. We live on the edge of a large woodland area, so they have roamed down to our yards to feed all summer long. Two females had very large broods, which are presently mature enough to have their own broods. Yesterday, I noticed one of the more mature early spring babies with three of her own very tiny babies following her. I've tried to get some photos, but they aren't very happy about my intrusion into their space. I also, had a wren make a nest very close to the house inside my closed deck umbrella. The song of a wren is so joyful and the babies were truly a joy to watch as I was able to see them emerge and fly off to the trees with their mother. Mother Nature can be such a joy!

I recently took the photo below of one of my studio cats, Pete, formally named Peter Pan by my daughter, who actually owns the cat and two others. He is such a gorgeous cat and very well behaved. I find him to be such a sweet companion when I am working in the studio. He has plunked himself on top of my workspace, claiming the area for his own. My daughter, Andie, has recently decided that living at home doesn't suit her needs anymore, so she is looking for a place to move into with her boyfriend. At nearly 23 I guess it is about time for her to fly off on her own. But as I will miss Peter Pan in my studio, I will be missing Andrea much more.
With so little time to devote to my art these days, I am surmising that I will never get enough time to get "Peter's World" entered into a show. So I have decided to show some photos of what I have been up to. The photo below is of my son, Peter, posing on a bench at his Dad's house for me. I set him up the way I wanted the drawing to be, took several shots, and ended up with this one as my model for the drawing...

Peter is now 19 years old. He was 11 in this picture. As you can see, it takes me a long time to work through my projects!
Above and below are some detail shots of Peter's face. All the curves have been hand stitched and the smaller pieces in the face are reverse appliqued. I am leaving the body in large pieces to give myself some flexibility when stitching them down to the background of wicker and leaves. Its coming along, but slowly.
For those of you who like to buzz around to read and view other blogs, including mine, I have to apologize for such a long hiatus from writing. It has not been very "blog-like" to have taken so much time between posts. I will endeavor to be better about this. Thanks for reading and checking in on me. TTFN. Nancy