Fine Craft

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Well, I guess these aren’t the clearest photos.  I have not got these postcards in hand yet, just the digital file with poorer resolution than hoped!

The Details:  Tapestry: Ancient Art for Modern Times
                   Clifton Arts Center Gallery
                   900 Clifton Avenue
                   Clifton, NJ  07013
                   973.472.5499

              September 23 – October 31
              Gallery hours: 1pm – 4pm, Wed. thru Sat.

Okay, I posted this because I’m tooting my own horn.  How shameless!  Out of the 16 images on this card, four of them are mine!  This has never happened to me before so I’m reveling a bit!

Here are the image credits:
Top row: Helen Gold, Alta Turner, Helen Gold, Don Burns (all works from ‘Not Gone for Baroque’ collaborative piece)
2nd row: Alta Turner, AnnaByrd Mays, Don Burns, Brenda Osborn (moi!) (again, these works are from ‘Not Gone for Baroque’ collaborative piece)
3rd row: AnnaByrd Mays, Brenda Osborn, Susan Martin Maffei, and Barbara Burns (all individual works)
Title row:  Brenda Osborn (my Stone Buddha!)
Bottom row: Carol Bitner, Annelise DeCoursin, Brenda Osborn

Now…back to my regular life of chores…..

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Visit the website and their real home, with gallery, in Topsham, Maine, if you possible can!

BEAU-CHEMIN PRESERVATION FARM, Waldoboro, ME.
JoAnn and Wayne Myers.

 

 

 

 

Left: field of heirloom plants, where JoAnn gave me copious woad seeds!  Right: three Leicester Longwool ewes stampeding to greet us!

 

 

 

Beau-Chemin Farm, Leicester Longwool ewe with nursing lamb and Leicester Longwool ewe in the pasture.

 

 

 

 

Left: Soay ewe at Beau-Chemin Farm. Right: owner JoAnn Myers telling me about her work in preserving heirloom livestock breeds and heirloom flowers and vegetables.

SPRINGTIDE FARM, Bremen, ME.
Wendy Pieh

Male kids rushing to greet us!

Tyler, the male kid, with his adorable bangs and goatee!

Left:Owner Wendy talking about her goats.  Right: Donkey guarding the rams.

Rams.

Ewes, who are guarded by a Great White Pyrenees whom I did not photograph!

I also visited two fiber artists, but did not get photos.  In Rockland I stopped by Maine Island Rag Rugs, where weaver Mary Ann  Small has a wonderful fairytale studio with her loom and a display of colorful rag rugs sits in a beautiful shed built by her husband and surrounded by lovely gardens.

Last stop of the day was Botanical Shades, where Jodie McKenzie dyes some wonderful hues on beautiful wool and wool/mohair blend yarns that are stunning!  She is in between homes right now so I cannot give her address!  Hopefully she’ll be settled soon!

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I’ve been away from blog writing for some time now….too long!  And almost everyday I’m writing blog entries in my head, but not at the computer. 

But hasn’t it been a glorious summer!  Since I’m not a fan of hot weather, I have loved the lush, cool days with or without rain.

I am spending most of the August on board Pandora (where you can see our sailing adventures in Maine), with lots of knitting and spinning projects. Yesterday was a glorious day, part of an exciting weekend of open studios of members of the Maine Fiber Arts Association!  I only managed to visit four of the 80+ listings for this event, but I made really good choices!  I must make this annual event a priority in future!  I will post photos of that next!

Before arriving in Maine on Aug. 3rd, I spent a long weekend in Gettysburg, attending the biennial Mid-Atlantic Fiber Association Conference which was held at Gettysburg College.  It was an awesome weekend!  Attendees took one 2 1/2 day class from a stellar line up of choices:  Sharon Alderman, Inge Dam, Su Butler, Jason Collingwood (to name only a few).  I was so engrossed in my class that I neglected to take the photos I should have!  It was a terrific event, with late night shopping at The Mannings nearby and  Just Our Yarn, Serendipity Farm and Lunatic Fringe in the vendor hall (again, I’ve only named a few!).  There was a Saturday evening impromptu fashion show, the second annual one, where you just show up in your creation and walk the runway.  This unplanned, un-rehearsed event has worked very well and is a highlight of the weekend! I wish I’d taken a photo of Karen Donde’s wonderful ruana.  It defies words, so hopefully I’ll get a photo from a friend shortly and post it. 

 

 

 

Left: Students admiring Inge Dam’s work. Right: Susan Wilson displaying her crackle samples.

I took a class with Jason Collingwood on 3-end block weave and shaft switching which was completely enthralling to me!  I’m inspired by the freedom of design, the simplicity of the shaft switching technique, and Jason’s affable teaching style!  I hope to christen my Toika loom this fall with a rug!

One of Peter’s  design samples and one of Jason’s.

Jason demonstrating weft clasping.

 

 

 

 

The photos I didn’t take:  The vendor hall where several bags of corriedale fleece from Ruppert’s Farm sang enticingly to me (I brought that on board to spin!), the three friends of mine who shared my dorm suite and kept me up ‘til 2 am three nights in a row!…the open studio evening where we visited other classes and saw their work.  And I wish I had more photos of Jason teaching us, but I was busy writing notes and weaving samples!  Hopefully something very fruitful will come of that!

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Gardening, sailing, knitting, weaving, beautiful weather!  I’ve even managed to spin a little.  It is a lovely summer!

Sailing on the Mystic River during the Wooden Boat Show.

 

 

 

Alpaca and fiber at the Casey Farm market in Kingston, RI

July 4th on board a friend’s boat for the fireworks.  We had our own bagpiper!  Next morning this little sparrow sang to use from our stern lifeline.

The Spring ‘09 GoddessKnits Mystery shawl blocked and finished!  I’m taking it to the MAFA (Mid-Atlantic Fiber Assoc) Conference later this month.

A window box at Mystic Seapot and my dream house and garden in Watch Hill, RI

My next lace project from Renaissance Dyes. A farm in RI where llamas are used as guard dogs for the flock.

Nappatree Beach in Watch Hill, RI

Fringed poppy in my garden at home…. a braid made for a friend…..and lastly, the slow but steady progress on my latest tapestry….

I’m off for another long weekend sailing in Rhode Island.  I hope to visit the alpaca farm I mentioned at the beginning and also, hopefully, a couple of RI weavers!  

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A soft Sunday morning in June with a cup of capuccino, my Goddessknits mystery shawl in progress, and lots of blooming shrubs, vines and trees in view from the porch!  Does it get any better than this?

 

 

I was trying to capture how dramatic the light was.  There were ominous dark clouds, left over from yesterday’s deluge, and the first brilliant rays on sun hitting the clematis and andromeda while the maple tree nearby was still in deep shade!

A short while later there were blue skies and bright sun!  It’s been a glorious day, and I spent it all outside knitting and weaving!

My lace shawl is not worth photographing yet…it just grows into a larger spongy amoeba until I can block it…

 

(I tried, unsuccessfully, to include the word “idol’ as well.  I’m sort of a language nut…can’t help myself)